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 Hanan Relief Group (HRG) is an international aid organization that provides services for refugees, migrants, and those who are homeless. HRG is listed as a supporter of the Welcome Corps, a U.S. Department of State initiative and private sponsorship program for refugee resettlement in the United States. Listed partner organizations on Hanan Relief Group’s website include Islamic Relief USA, United Palestinian Appeal, Global Communities, and the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
• The John E. Fetzer Institute is a private foundation that promotes the concept of a “Sacred Movement,” or a common connection among all religious and spiritual traditions. The organization was founded in 1991 through an endowment left in the will of the late John Fetzer, a radio and television executive and former owner of the Detroit Tigers MLB team. In 2023, the organization made grants to groups that included the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the Social Good Fund, NEO Philanthropy, the Alliance for a Just Society, the Donors of Color Network, the National LGBTQ Task Force and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
• Mass Alliance is a coalition of left-of-center organizations and advocacy groups that promote the campaigns of Democratic candidates running for state and local offices in Massachusetts. Tax filings show that the coalition previously received grants from left-of-center organizations including the Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts Education Fund, All Hands on Deck Network, and the Service Employees International Union’s Local 32BJ. Mass Alliance’s executive director, Vanessa Snow, previously worked for MassVOTE, SEIU Local 509, and the Greater Boston Labor Council
• Bucks County Sierra Club is a member of Southeastern Pennsylvania Group, which in turn is part of Sierra Club Pennsylvania, the state chapter of the Sierra Club. Bucks County Sierra Club is a member of the Better Path Coalition, a Pennsylvania-based environmentalist group that is opposed to conventional sources of fuel such as fracking. The group’s parent organization, Sierra Club Pennsylvania, is a member of the HERE 4 Climate Justice coalition alongside the Philadelphia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Clean Air Council, the Climate Witness Project, and POWER Interfaith.
• Michigan Interfaith Power & Light (MIIPL) is a faith-based advocacy group that promotes “green” energy technologies for places of worship within the state of Michigan. The group is a member of the national Interfaith Power and Light network that promote similar energy sources for similar faith-based institutions across the country. In 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $80,000 grant to Adamah Detroit, MIIPL’s partner organization, to operate a series of climate workshops promoting left-of-center environmental policies.