American Progress Action Fund conference: Background on Fund and Attendees

I. Center for American Progress Action Fund

A. Background
> The Center for American Progress Action Fund is headed by John D. Podesta, former chief of staff to President William J. Clinton and a professor at Georgetown University Center of Law.

> It describes itself as a "progressive think-tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action."

> It is established as a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

B. Officers/Directors

Directors (2007 - latest data available)

>Peter B. Edelman - Georgetown law professor. During the Clinton administration, he served as Counselor to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and then as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

> Judith Feder - She is a Georgetown professor of public policy and, from 1999-2008, served as dean of the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. In 2006 and 2008, Judy was the Democratic nominee for Congress in Virginia’s 10th congressional district.

> Ron Klain - Currently Chief of Staff to Vice President Joe Biden.

> Broderick D. Johnson - He is currently a partner at the Bryan Cave law firm. From 1998-2000, Johnson served in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. He was named deputy assistant to the president and House liaison, acting as the Clinton administration’s primary advocate before the U.S. House of Representatives during 1999 and 2000. From 2000 to 2007, he worked as vice president for congressional affairs with the AT&T and BellSouth corporations. In 2004, he also served as the senior congressional affairs advisor for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign.

> Tom E. Perez - He was appointed by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley in January 2007 to serve as the Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Attorney General Janet Reno, chairing the interagency Worker Exploitation Task Force, which oversaw initiatives designed to protect vulnerable workers

> Hillary B. Rosen - She is Editor-at-Large for The Huffington Post and CNN Political Contributor.

Officers (current)

> John Podesta (Director, President and CEO)

> Sarah Rosen Wartell (EVP for Management / Treasurer) - She served in Clinton White House. After spending the first term at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, she became Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council.

[Sources:
1. Center for American Progress Action Fund website, http://www.americanprogressaction.org/aboutus
2. Center for American Progress, staff, http://www.americanprogress.org/aboutus/staff, http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/FederJudy.html
3. Georgetown University, bio of Edelman, http://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/facinfo/tab_faculty.cfm?Status=Faculty&ID=246;
4. Bryan Cave attorney bio, http://www.bryancave.com/broderickjohnson/
5. Huffington Post, bios, Rosen, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-rosen/
6. CAP 2007 Form 990, http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2007/300/192/2007-300192708-049c91b1-9O.pdf]

C. Funding
> In 2003, George Soros pledged $3 million in startup money.
> The Sandlers (Herb and Marion) gave $500,000 for startup and $2 million the next year.

[Source: "Anti-Bush Billionaire to Give More," By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE, New York Times, September 29, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/29/politics/campaign/29soros.html?fta=y]

II. Advancement Project

A. Background
> The Advancement Project describes itself as "a policy, communications and legal action group committed to racial justice, was founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1998."

> The entity states that its "mission" is: "To develop, encourage, and widely disseminate innovative ideas, and pioneer models that inspire and mobilize a broad national racial justice movement to achieve universal opportunity and a just democracy!"

B. Board of Directors

> Gerald Torres, Esq. - Chair: Mr. Torres is Professor of Law at the University of Texas and former Senior Attorney in the Justice Department during the Clinton Administration.

> Molly Munger, Esq. - President and Co-Director, Advancement Project: Before becoming a staff attorney with the Los Angeles office of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1994, she was a partner in the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.

> Stephen R. English, Esq. - Co-Director, Advancement Project and Secretary/Treasurer: Stephen English was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius for twelve years.

> Jose (Joe) Alvarez: He is the Northeast Regional Director for the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

> Harry Belafonte: Internationally acclaimed entertainer and social activist.

> Penda D. Hair, Esq.: Former Director of the Washington, D.C. office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc.

> Gerry Hudson: Executive Vice President, SEIU.

> Bill Lann Lee, Esq.: He is currently a partner at Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson. He has served as Co-Director of the Los Angeles office of the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc., and as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration.

[source: Advancement Project website, http://www.advancementproject.org/about/board-of-directors.php]

III. Center for Community Change

A. Background
> The entity was formed in 1968 " to honor the life and values of Robert F. Kennedy."

> Among the accomplishments it lists on its website is that it "[h]elped establish the Community Reinvestment Act (1977)."

> It lists it projects as:
Campaign for Community Values
Community Voting Project
Crossing Borders
Fair Immigration Reform Movement
Genealogy Project
Generation Change
Health Rights Organizing Project
Housing Trust Fund Project
Worker Justice

B. Board of Directors
> Deepak Bhargava
Executive Director
Center for Community Change
Washington, DC

> Heather Booth
Director of Health Care Reform Campaign
AFL-CIO
Washington, DC

> Tom Chabolla
Assistant to the President
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Washington, DC

> Bill Dempsey
Director, Capital Stewardship Program
United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Washington, DC

> Patricia Dinner
Consultant
San Francisco, CA

> Jane Fox-Johnson
Consultant
Washington, DC

> Sara Gould
President & CEO
Ms. Foundation for Women
New York, NY

> Pronita Gupta
Director of Programs
Women Donors Network
Oakland, CA

> Jonathan Heller
Project Director
Human Impact Partners
Berkeley, CA

> Alan Jenkins
Executive Director
The Opportunity Agenda
New York, NY

> Paulette Meyer
Chair
Equal Rights Advocates
San Francisco, CA

> Manuel Pastor, Jr.
Professor, Geography and American Studies & Equity
Director, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity
USC Department of Geography
Los Angeles, CA

> Lenora Bush Reese, CCC Board Chair
Consultant
Columbia, SC

> Justin Ruben
Executive Director
MoveOn.org
Austin, TX

> Frank Sanchez
Senior Program Officer
The Needmor Fund
Roswell, NM

> Dorian T. Warren
Assistant Professor of International & Public Affairs
Columbia University
New York, NY

C. Officer and ACORN connection

> Marvin Randolph - the Director of Organizing and Politics - previously served on the staff of the Democratic National Committee, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), directed primary operations in 3 states for Clinton/Gore, served as the Founding Executive Director of Virginia Citizen Action, and as Executive Director of Project Vote.

[source: Center for Community Change website, http://www.communitychange.org/who-we-are/our-staff/bios/marvin-randolph; http://www.communitychange.org/who-we-are/our-staff; http://www.communitychange.org/who-we-are/who-we-are]

IV. Common Cause

A. Background

> Common Cause describes itself as a "nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 by John Gardner as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest."

> Common Cause has nearly 400,000 members and supporters and 36 state organizations.

> In 2000, the organization created the Common Cause Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity, as its public education and research affiliate.

B. President - Bob Edgar

> In May 2007, Bob Edgar was named president and CEO of Common Cause.

> He had previously served 12 years in Congress and was the general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA for seven years immediately before arriving at Common Cause.

> He ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 1986 against now Sen. Arlen Specter.

[source: Common Cause website, http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4860183; http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4860231]

V. Fair Elections Legal Network

A. Background

> It describes itself as "a national, nonpartisan network of experienced private and organizational election lawyers who are involved in removing impediments to increased voter participation by traditionally under-represented constituents."

> Its list of supporters include the standard liberal funding entities, such as the SEIU:
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
American Institute of Social Justice
Arabella Legacy Fund
Arca Foundation
The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation, Inc.
BLS Investments, LLC
John Merck Fund
HKH Foundation
Leo Hindery
National Education Association
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Rockefeller Family Fund
Rockefeller Financial Services
Service Employees International Union
Election Administration Fund of the Tides Foundation
Wallace Global Fund
Woodbury Fund

[source: Fair Elections Network, http://www.fairelectionsnetwork.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=473&parentID=472&nodeID=1; http://www.fairelectionsnetwork.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=474&parentID=472&nodeID=1]

VI. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

A. Background
> "The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights coalition, consisting of nearly 200 national organizations, representing persons of color, women, children, labor unions, individuals with disabilities, older Americans, major religious groups, gays and lesbians and civil liberties and human rights groups. LCCR was founded in 1950 and has coordinated national lobbying efforts on behalf of every major civil rights law since 1957. LCCR is a 501(c)(4) organization that engages in legislative advocacy."

> "The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of LCCR. LCCREF produces educational materials such as special reports, email newsletters, the Civilrights.org website, and the Civil Rights Monitor. In addition, LCCREF tracks legislation, court decisions, and the enforcement of civil rights laws. LCCREF is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax-deductible."

B. Officers/Directors

> Its directors include John Podesta (head of the Center for American Progress).

> Wade Henderson (CEO): Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR); and counselor to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF). He is also the Joseph L. Rauh, Jr., Professor of Public Interest Law at the David A. Clarke School of Law, University of the District of Columbia.

- "Mr. Henderson is actively involved with the newly reconstituted National Quality Forum Board of Directors that seeks to improve healthcare quality through performance measurement and public reporting; and the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, which was created in 2006 to provide the FDIC with advice and recommendations on important initiatives focused on expanding access to banking services by underserved populations."

- "He also leads an effort to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), legislation to revive the right of workers to organize unions."

- "Prior to his role with the Leadership Conference, Mr. Henderson was the Washington Bureau director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In that capacity, he directed the government affairs and national legislative program of the NAACP."

- "Wade Henderson was previously the associate director of the Washington national office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where he began his career as a legislative counsel and advocate on a wide range of civil rights and civil liberties issues. Mr. Henderson also served as executive director of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO)."

[source: LCCR website, http://www.civilrights.org/about/lccr/biowade.html; http://www.civilrights.org/about/lccref/board_of_directors.html; http://www.civilrights.org/about/]

VII. People for the American Way

A. Background

> People for the American Way (PFAW) was established in 1981 as a Tides Foundation project designed to counteract the allegedly growing influence of what its founder, television producer and political activist Norman Lear, denounced as the "religious right."

> In 1998 PFAW established the People For The American Way Voters Alliance, a political action committee.

[sources:
1. Lawyer to lead PFAW ; Puts focus on rights cases
Matthew Cawvey
Matthew Cawvey, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
348 words
7 February 2008
The Washington Times
2. Guidestar, http://www.guidestar.org/pqShowGsReport.do?partner=justgivews&ein=13-3065716]

Tags: ACORN

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