Public & Societal Benefit
Common Cause Education Fund
WASHINGTON, DC
Total revenue
$25.1M
Total expenses
$17.0M
Net assets
$28.9M
Grants received
$63.3M
697 grants
EIN
311705370
Tax year
2023
Mission
The common cause education fund works with common cause, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of american democracy, with the goals of ensuring open, honest, and accountable government; promoting equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empowering all people to make their voices heard as equals in the political process. Ccef works across four major issue areas: voting and elections; money and politics; ethics, transparency, and government accountability; and media and democracy.
Programs
3 programs
We work to create people-centered redistricting and representation that is transparent, fair, and inclusive, including the following representative campaigns:we filed a lawsuit against the city of anderson, indiana, which had refused to redraw the city council district since 1982 in a clear and unambiguous violation of the 14th amendment's guarantee of equal protection. Ultimately, we prevailed, and the court engaged a consultant to draw a new city map that actually complied with the constitution in time for the november 2024 election.ensured that the voices of black voters in michigan were not silenced by gerrymandering by helping them to advocate for their own communities before the michigan independent citizens redistricting commission.
We engaged in education, research, and litigation around state-based money in politics and ethics issues, including the following representative campaigns:florida enacted a law 26 years ago that created a matching program that candidates could access to help to fund their campaigns. When an effort emerged to repeal this program, common cause florida worked hard to educate voters, the media, and civic organizations about what was at stake with amendment 6.as multnomah county, oregon the state's largest county took steps to follow portland in adopting a public financing program, we reached out to residents to help them understand how the program would affect their ability to support the candidate that best represents their interests.new york state is one of the only jurisdictions in the country that doesn't provide audio or video of court proceedings. When president trump was set to begin his criminal trial in a new york city courtroom, we filed suit and won to make the transcripts available to every american who wanted to follow this historic event.
We engage in efforts to protect a free and open internet and an independent and constitutionally protected free press, to ensure that voters have accurate and reliable information they need. To do this, we worked on the following representative campaigns:after the federal communications commission (fcc) unanimously voted to outlaw robocalls that utilize artificial intelligence (ai) voice-cloning tools to mislead voters, we launched a campaign to educate the public about the deceptive use of ai in our elections.as the culmination of our successful net neutrality campaign, common cause education fund collected and delivered more than 126,000 member petition signatures directly to the fcc thanking chairwoman jessica rosenworcel and her colleagues for restoring net neutrality.the attorneys general of missouri and louisiana and private plaintiffs filed a lawsuit claiming that the federal government's communications with social media platforms violated their first amendment free speech rights. In response, we signed on to an amicus brief in support of the government's position, arguing that the spread of mis- and disinformation on social media represents a major threat to our democracy. The supreme court voted 6-3 to strike down the injunction barring government contacts with the social media platforms over the spread of mis- and disinformation.
Financials
FY 2023
Revenue
Expenses
People
38 listed
ELIZABETH G MARCHANT
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (UNTIL 3/24)
$222K
22.5 hrs/wk
MARILYN CARPINTEYRO
CO-PRESIDENT (UNTIL 2/24)
$196K
37.5 hrs/wk
JORDAN DAVIS
CO-PRESIDENT (UNTIL 2/24)
$187K
37.5 hrs/wk
REGINALD BREWINGTON JR
VP, FIN. & ADMIN (AS OF 11/23)
$29K
22.5 hrs/wk
NICOLE M AUSTIN-HILLERY
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
RICHARD BAINTER
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
BRAXTON BREWINGTON
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
REBECCA COKLEY
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
DAN CONLEY
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
GREGORY DISKANT
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
ARCHON FUNG
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
SHAE HARRIS
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
WILLIAM N HUBBARD III
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
MARILYN MELKONIAN
BOARD MEMBER (UNTIL 10/23)
—
1 hrs/wk
LENNY MENDONCA
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
CHANG K PARK
BOARD MEMBER (UNTIL 10/23)
—
1 hrs/wk
BILAL DABIR SEKOU PHD
BOARD MEMBER (UNTIL 03/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
DAVID BEAUMONT SMITH
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
WES TOMER
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
JESSIE ULIBARRI
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
TRACY WESTEN
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
ALAN WIERSBA
BOARD MEMBER
—
1 hrs/wk
CHRIS MELODY FIELDS-FIGUEREDO
BOARD MEMBER (AS OF 06/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
VANESSA GONZALEZ
BOARD MEMBER (AS OF 06/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
JENNIFER GREMMERT
BOARD MEMBER (AS OF 06/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
PETER REINKE
BOARD MEMBER (AS OF 06/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
MARK REV THOMPSON
BOARD MEMBER (AS OF 06/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
OLENA BERG LACY
TREASURER (UNTIL 10/23)
—
1 hrs/wk
VIRGINIA KASE SOLOMON
PRESIDENT/CEO (AS OF 2/24)
—
30 hrs/wk
WENDY FIELDS
VICE CHAIR (AS OF 6/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
OLGA KAUFFMAN
SECRETARY
—
1 hrs/wk
NANCY RATZAN
VICE CHAIR (UNTIL 3/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
SHAREEN PUNIAN
TREASURER (AS OF 6/24)
—
1 hrs/wk
MARTHA TIERNEY
CHAIR
—
1 hrs/wk
KATHAY FENG
VP, PROGRAMS & STRATEGY
$165K
37.5 hrs/wk
PAMELA WILMOT
VP, STATE OPERATIONS
$154K
18.75 hrs/wk
JESSE LITTLEWOOD
VP FOR CAMPAIGNS (UNTIL 10/23)
$133K
18.75 hrs/wk
KAREN HOBERT FLYNN
FORMER PRESIDENT
$98K
0Independent contractors
BOARDWALK CONSULTING
EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Grants received
Showing 200 of 697
Funded by
$63.3M from 300 funders · 697 grants · 2017–2024
$6.0M · 3 grants · 2020–2024
$5.5M · 8 grants · 2017–2023
$5.4M · 5 grants · 2019–2023
$3.5M · 5 grants · 2019–2024
$2.9M · 4 grants · 2020–2024
$2.8M · 7 grants · 2017–2023
$2.4M · 6 grants · 2017–2023
$2.3M · 11 grants · 2018–2024