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 Lands Council is an environmental advocacy group that promotes conservation practices in the Northwestern United States. It has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, as well as environmental groups including Save Our Wild Salmon and 1% for the Planet. The Lands Council has received funding from the New Priorities Foundation, the Patagonia Foundation, the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, and Network for Good.
• Tent Schools International is a religious charitable organization that helps provide education centers and other services for refugee and displaced children. The group’s executive director, Emily Klooster previously worked with World Renew and AmeriCorps. Tent Schools International has received funding from the Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund and the National Christian Charitable Foundation.
• Sustainable Marin is a local activist group that promotes left-of-center climate policies in Marin County, California. It has sponsored and supported local initiatives to reduce greenhouse emissions, advocate for low-carbon lifestyle changes, and operate local climate activist networks. Sustainable Marin has received funding from the Marin Community Foundation and the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment.
• The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding is a religious advocacy group that provides training and other educational materials to prevent “religious prejudice, hatred and violence in specific settings such as schools, the workplace, and health care,” according to The Pluralism Project at Harvard University. The group’s CEO Rev. Mark Fowler has previously conducted training sessions with corporations including Google, Walmart, and Bank of America. Tanenbaum has received funding from the Walt Disney Company, Target, and the GHR Foundation.
• The Bureau for International Reporting (BIR) is a nonprofit journalism group that provides “coverage of overlooked international news stories to American news providers.” It has worked with New York University and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to develop and promote documentaries and other media productions. BIR has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the National Press Foundation, and the Henry Luce Foundation.