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:

• The Paul and Minnesota Foundation is a grantmaking organization that claims to have a commitment to “dismantling a belief in a hierarchy of human value, with a focus on racial equity.” Its investment strategy incorporates the concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). In 2022, the foundation provided grants to left-of-center organizations including Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Ujamaa Place.
• The 5Rights Foundation (5RF) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom that pushes for policies to increase online safety for children, protect user privacy, and regulate artificial intelligence (AI). The founder and chair of 5RF, Beeban Kidron, is a member of the U.K.’s House of Lords and is a commissioner on the United Nations Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. In July 2024, 5RF sent a letter to Meta claiming that the company had failed to remove content or accounts on the social media platform Instagram showing illegal child sexual abuse material.
• The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) is an environmental advocacy group that pushes for what it considers to be clean energy policies, as well as for ending so-called “destructive mining practices.” It has participated in environmental lawsuits alongside state-based organizations, Native American tribes, and left-of-center groups such as Earthjustice. MEIC has received grants from funders such as the Brainerd Foundation, the High Stakes Foundation, and the Montana Community Foundation.
• The Philadelphia Young Communist League (YCL) is a radical left political organization that advocates for the “transformation” of the United States into a “socialist society” through “democratic struggle.” The YCL is affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), authoring blog posts for the CPUSA website and describing itself as a “training ground” for youth who will eventually graduate to the CPUSA. The YCL supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and called for an end to the “occupation” of Palestine following the October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel by the terror group Hamas.
• The Jewish National Fund is a pro-Israel organization based in the United States that raises money to fund infrastructure, education, and other public works projects in Israel. The group has received funding from grantmaking organizations including the Harvey and Gloria Kaylie Foundation, the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and the Schwab Charitable Fund. Following the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas, the Jewish National Fund coordinated relief aid for Israeli civilians, such as through opening shelters for displaced people and providing emotional support services.