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:

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a United Nations (UN) agreement for member nations to promote biodiversity conservation. It is partnered with other UN institutions such as the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Development Program. Partners listed on the Convention’s website include the World Wide Fund for Nature (also known as the World Wildlife Fund), Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and The Nature Conservancy.
• Western North Carolina Workers Center (WNCWC) is a labor-aligned advocacy group that helps organize workers around Asheville, North Carolina, particularly regarding health and safety issues in the poultry-processing industry. It is a participant in the AFL-CIO’s Worker Center Partner Program which connects worker centers with state and regional labor union federations and labor councils. Funders of WNCWC have included the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), the Ford Foundation, Interfaith Worker Justice, the Southern Vision Alliance, the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and the NEO Philanthropy Action Fund.
• Nonprofit Information Networking Association (NINA) is a nonprofit that runs Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ), which publishes stories on nonprofits and civil society. Among other things, NPQ covers “equity-centered leadership, philanthropy, racial equity, economic justice, and nonprofit advocacy and public policy.” NINA has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the National Philanthropic Trust, the Kresge Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
• Maynard Institute is a media education nonprofit that promotes the “national, collaborative drive for equity, belonging, and diversity in news media.” It has worked with the Associated Press, the Ida B. Wells Society, the Nieman Foundation, the Online News Association, Open News, Politico, and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The Maynard Institute has received funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the New Venture Fund.
• Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is a South Africa-based legal advocacy group that promotes left-of-center policies regarding migration, housing, environmentalism, and penal reform. Between 2007 and 2024, LHR received over $3 million in funding from the Ford Foundation. Other funders include the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and the European Commission.