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Center for Empowered Politics at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Center for Empowered Politics

Cep specializes in people of color-led grassroots movement building 501(c)(4) organizations taht have been on the cutting edge of c3/c4 innovations, engagement in ethnic communities, campaign consultation, and integrated voter engagement 2.0.

$1.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$600k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Civil Rights$1.4MPublic Benefit$1.2MCommunity Improvement$336kHealth$178kHuman Services$143kEnvironment$80kCrime & Legal$78kEducation$74kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 26 grants below total $1,421,006, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,645,656 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $224,650 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $39k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $358k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $425k
  • $250k+1 grant · $600k
$20,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$9.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
RISING VOICES ACTION FUND$599,969
ONE APIA NEVADA$140,000
ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER POLITICAL ALLIANCE$120,000
NCAAT IN ACTION$115,000
ASIAN AMERICAN ADVOCACY FUND$50,000
MISSISSIPPI VOTES ACTION FUND$42,500
AZ ASIAN AMERICAN NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER ADVOCATES$40,000
SILICON VALLEY RISING ACTION$37,500
OUR FUTURE IS BLACK PAC$27,687
FORCE FOR CHANGE$26,850
ELLA BAKER CENTER ACTION FUND$20,500
CHINESE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION$20,000
EAST BAY ACTION$20,000
ASIAN AMERICAN MIDWEST PROGRESSIVES$20,000
DRUM BEATS$20,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $372k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 30% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHINESE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL: $50k → 16%YOUNG WOMENS FREEDOM CENTER: $50k → 10%Jakara Movement: $23k → 19%NCAAT IN ACTION: $115k → 8%CHINESE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION: $20k → 16%Young Womens Freedom Center: $31k → 10%Asian Youth Center: $20k → 14%NCAAT ACTION FUND: $50k → 8%YOUNG WOMENS FREEDOM CENTER: $13k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
NE
KY
VA
AZ
NM
NC
DC
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

34%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 10 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
48

Total granted

$1.2M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+43%

Still filing today

70%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 27% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’19’20’21’22’24
Civil RightsCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEducationHealthEmploymentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NI
    NCAAT IN ACTION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $165k · revenue +212%
  • YW
    YOUNG WOMEN'S FREEDOM CENTER
    3× · 2020–2024 · $94k · revenue +149%
  • BC
    BVM CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTE INC
    2× · 2020–2024 · $23k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • CHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $155k · revenue +236%
  • MA
    MICHIGAN ACTION
    one grant, 2022 · $115k
  • AH
    ALL HANDS ON DECK NETWORK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $75k · revenue ×20
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Caaav Voice Inc

CAAAV Voice is a grassroot organization aiming to empower Asian immigrant communities by organizing against gentrification, tenant rights and promote social justice.

—
2
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta Inc

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta's mission is to protect and promote the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in Georgia and the Southeast through policy advocacy, legal services,…

Human Services
3
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
4
Asian American Advocacy Alliance
Community Improvement
5
Asians for Collective Action

Asians for Collective Action (ACA) harnesses the strenghts of Asians and Asian Americans to drive systemic change to create a just, healthy, and thriving community for all.

Public Benefit
6
Asian Law Caucus

The Asian Law Caucus's mission is to promote, advance, and represent the legal and civil rights of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist…

Crime & Legal
7
Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote

It is the mission of APIAVote to encourage and promote civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public processes at the national, state, and local levels. APIAVote also aims to educate and inform Asian…

Civil Rights
8
Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action

APEN Action is dedicated to the education, advocacy and mobilization of voters in the Asian Pacific Islander community toward environmental, social and economic justice for all.

Human Services
9
Black in Action Collective

Black in Action Collective exists to build Black political power to transform systems and radically reimagine what is possible for ourselves, our families, and our communities

Civil Rights
10
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates Inc

Asian Immigrant Women Advocates empowers low-income, limited English speaking immigrant women and youth through education, leadership development and civic participation programs.

Human Services
11
California Black Power Network Action Fund

The Organization's primary purpose and mission is to build black political power through civic engagement and policy advocacy programs.

Civil Rights
12
Colorofchangeorg

Colorofchange.org works to strengthen the voice of black americans and increase the level of accountability and responsiveness of elected officials to underrepresented black constituencies using the internet as a lobbying and…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ella Baker Center Action Fund; the most unlike its peers is St James Infirmary. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 78 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
63/64
Grantees still filing
30/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RISING VOICES ACTION FUND: $626,819 · OtherRISING VOICES ACTION FUNDOur Future is Black: $315,687 · OtherOur Future is BlackASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER POLITICAL AL LIANCE: $170,000 · OtherASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER POLITICAL AL LIANCEMICHIGAN ACTION: $115,000 · OtherMICHIGAN ACTIONALL HANDS ON DECK NETWORK INC: $75,000 · OtherONE APIA TEXAS INC: $65,000 · Other+29 more: $488,853 · Other+29 moreASIAN AMERICAN ADVOCACY FUND INC: $150,000 · Civil RightsASIAN AMERICAN ADVOCACY FU…ARIZONA WINS: $115,000 · Civil RightsARIZONA WINSChinese for Affirmative Action: $70,284 · Civil RightsChinese for Affirmative Ac…ASIAN AMERICAN MIDWEST PROGRESSIVES: $70,000 · Civil RightsASIAN AMERICAN MIDWEST PRO…NAKASEC ACTION FUND: $50,000 · Civil RightsNAKASEC ACTION FUNDCENTER FOR CIVIC ACTION: $50,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR CIVIC ACTIONMISSISSIPPI VOTES ACTION FUND CORPORATION: $42,500 · Civil RightsONE ARIZONA: $40,000 · Civil RightsFLORIDA RISING TOGETHER INC: $35,000 · Civil Rights+16 more: $213,000 · Civil Rights+16 moreNCAAT IN ACTION: $165,000 · Human ServicesNCAAT IN AC…YOUNG WOMEN'S FREEDOM CENTER: $93,625 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMEN…CHINESE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesCHINESE PRO…JAKARA MOVEMENT: $23,466 · Human ServicesJAKARA MOVE…ASIAN YOUTH CENTER: $19,530 · Human ServicesCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION: $155,000 · HealthST JAMES INFIRMARY: $23,250 · HealthBLKHLTH INC: $7,875 · HealthONE APIA NEVADA: $140,000 · InternationalDRUM Desis Rising Up and Moving Inc: $50,000 · Community ImprovementPILIPINO WORKERS CENTER OF SOUTHERN: $21,498 · Community ImprovementMAINE PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $15,000 · Community ImprovementHOPE ENTERPRISE CORPORATION: $13,500 · Community ImprovementCATALYST MIAMI INC: $7,875 · Community ImprovementSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $77,750 · EducationDWIGHT HALL AT YALE: $15,000 · EducationEDUCATION REFORM NOW INC: $7,500 · EducationCHANGE TODAY CHANGE TOMORROW: $7,500 · Education
Other$1,856,359Civil Rights$835,784Human Services$371,621Health$186,125International$140,000Community Improvement$107,873Education$107,750

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNCAAT IN ACTION: $165,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION: $155,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN ADVOCACY FUND INC: $150,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetONE APIA NEVADA: $140,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetARIZONA WINS: $115,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S FREEDOM CENTER: $93,625 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $77,750 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetALL HANDS ON DECK NETWORK INC: $75,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetChinese for Affirmative Action: $70,284 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN MIDWEST PROGRESSIVES: $70,000 over 2y, 29% of budgetCHINESE PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL ACTION INC: $70,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetDRUM Desis Rising Up and Moving Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetNAKASEC ACTION FUND: $50,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CIVIC ACTION: $50,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetChicago NORML: $50,000 over 1y, 63% of budgetAsian Pacific Environmental Network: $49,946 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMISSISSIPPI VOTES ACTION FUND CORPORATION: $42,500 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetONE ARIZONA: $40,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSilicon Valley Rising Action: $37,500 over 1y, 22% of budgetFLORIDA RISING TOGETHER INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSIXTEEN THIRTY FUND: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetData For Black Lives Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCommunities for A New California: $25,000 over 1y, 72% of budgetPOWERCA ACTION FKA MOBILIZE THE IMMIGRANT VOTE ACTION: $25,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetCENTER FOR EMPOWERED POLITICS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJAKARA MOVEMENT: $23,466 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetST JAMES INFIRMARY: $23,250 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBVM CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTE INC: $22,875 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetELLA BAKER CENTER ACTION FUND: $20,500 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetDRUM BEATS: $20,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetEAST BAY ACTION: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetASIAN YOUTH CENTER: $19,530 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetRED WINE & BLUE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPICO California Action Fund: $15,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMAINE PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDWIGHT HALL AT YALE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHOPE ENTERPRISE CORPORATION: $13,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $10,875 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCare in Action Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAPANO COMMUNITIES UNITED FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKHMER GIRLS IN ACTION: $9,032 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetOaklanders Together - For A Safer Oakland: $8,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOne Voice United Inc: $8,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetRYSE INC: $7,875 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARIZONA COALITION FOR CHANGE: $7,875 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetEssie Justice Group: $7,875 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFlorida Immigrant Coalition Inc: $7,875 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCATALYST MIAMI INC: $7,875 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Tides AdvocacyTides FoundationOpen Society Action F…Sixteen Thirty FundAll Hands on Deck Net…Amalgamated Charitabl…New Venture FundNEO Philanthropy Acti…America VotesNEO Philanthropy IncChinese Progressive A…Organize Action
Tides AdvocacyCA46.4× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tides Advocacy · Tides Foundation · Open Society Action Fund Inc · Sixteen Thirty Fund · All Hands on Deck Network Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · NEO Philanthropy Action Fund Inc · America Votes · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Chinese Progressive Association · Organize Action

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Center for Empowered Politics funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Center for Empowered Politics. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 52%
  • Salvation and Social Justice a Nj N: 52% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Center for Empowered Politics?

Find your warmest path to Center for Empowered Politics through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 78 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Center for Empowered Politics’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home