InfluenceWatch Friday

InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers’ funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.

The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested parties research to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.

CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:

• ShareAction is a registered charity based in the United Kingdom that acts as a “pressure group” to push companies and governments into adopting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. In 2023, it began a campaign to require pension fund managers to adopt carbon “net zero” policies even if said policies led to lowered investment fund returns.
• Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GMVP) is a voter registration group that advocates for increasing voter turnout for Muslim communities within the state of Georgia. In 2021, the organization filed a lawsuit challenging the Election Integrity Act of 2021 (B. 202), which included a ban on mobile voting units, the usage of voter identification to obtain absentee ballots, and reducing early voting in runoff elections. The lawsuit is ongoing as of August 2023.
• Laundry Workers Center (LWC) is a labor union-aligned worker center based in New York City that provides services to improve working and living conditions for workers in the laundry, warehouse, and food service industries. In 2023, film studio A24 Films auctioned props and memorabilia from their Academy Award-winning film Everything Everywhere All At Once and donated resulting proceeds to the LWC.
• Alliance for Democracy is a policy advocacy organization that pushes for limiting or eliminating business interests in politics, economics, and even the media. At the time of its formation in 1996, the organization claimed that there were roughly 55 local alliances across the country. As of 2023, the organization’s website only lists two local groups: one in Portland, Oregon, and another in New England.
• The Resource Center of Dallas is an advocacy organization that promotes LGBT interests within government and education settings. In 2023, the Resource Center was one of 200 organizations that signed onto a letter organized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemning retail company Target for relocating or removing transgender-themed clothing from their stores following public outcry.