Center for Empowered Politics
Oakland, CA · EIN 45-3084134. Reported 85 grants totalling $3,082,012 to 68 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Center for Empowered Politics, by its IRS classification it is an alliance or advocacy organization in civil rights (NTEE R01).
- How spread out its giving is. 68 distinct organizations, with 20% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 30% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 2 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $15,000. Half of what it reported fell between $7,875 and $49,946; the smallest was $5,750 and the largest $599,969. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rising Voices Action Fund | Lansing, MI | $626,819 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| Our Future Is Black | Oakland, CA | $315,687 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Asian Pacific Islander Political Al Liance | Philadelphia, PA | $170,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ncaat in Action | Raleigh, NC | $165,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Asian American Advocacy Fund Inc | Norcross, GA | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| One Apia Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $140,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Michigan Action | Detroit, MI | $115,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Young Womens Freedom Center | San Francisco, CA | $93,625 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Social Good Fund Inc | Richmond, CA | $77,750 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Chinese for Affirmative Action | San Francisco, CA | $70,284 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Asian American Midwest Progressives | Chicago, IL | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Chinese Progressive Political Action Inc | Boston, MA | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| One Apia Nevada | Las Vegas, NV | $65,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chicago Normi | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Drum-Desis Rising Up and Moving Inc | Jackson Heights, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nakasec Action Fund | Centreville, VA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Asian Pacific Environmental Network | Oakland, CA | $49,946 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mississippi Votes Action Fund Corporation | Jackson, MS | $42,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| One Arizona | Phoenix, AZ | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Silicon Valley Rising Action | San Jose, CA | $37,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Florida Rising Together Inc | Miami, FL | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bay Rising Committee | Oakland, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Data for Black Lives Inc | Miami, FL | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Oakland Rising Committee | Oakland, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Center for Empowered Politics | Oakland, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jakara Movement | Fresno, CA | $23,466 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| St James Infirmary | Las Vegas, NV | $23,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Bvm Capacity Building Institute Inc | Atlanta, GA | $22,875 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pilipino Workers Center of Southern | Los Angeles, CA | $21,498 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Drum Beats | Jackson Heights, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| East Bay Action | Oakland, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Asian Youth Center | San Gabriel, CA | $19,530 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Florida Now Education Fund Incorporated | Delray Beach, FL | $15,750 | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| Arizona Winsl | Phoenix, AZ | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dwight Hall at Yale | New Haven, CT | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Maine Peoples Alliance | Portland, ME | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pico California Action Fund | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Red Wine & Blue | Cleveland, OH | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hope Enterprise Corporation | Jackson, MS | $13,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Free School | Albany, NY | $11,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Tides Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $10,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Apano Communities United Fund | Portland, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Care in Action Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Khmer Girls in Action | Long Beach, CA | $9,032 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| One Voice United Inc | Lake Odessa, MI | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Arizona Coalition for Change | Phoenix, AZ | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Blkhlth Inc | College Park, GA | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Bridges 4 Life | Jersey City, NJ | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Catalyst Miami Inc | Mikami, FL | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chicago Torture Justice Center | Chicago, IL | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Essie Justice Group | Oakland, CA | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Florida Immigrant Coalition Inc | Miami, FL | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Miami Workers Center Inc | Miami, FL | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ryse Inc | Richmond, CA | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues | York, PA | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| True Divine Baptist Church | Montgomery, AL | $7,875 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Change Today Change Tomorrow Inc | Louisville, KY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Education Reform Now Inc | New York, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Faith in Action Alabama | Birmingham, AL | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Imagine Black | Beaverton, OR | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| New Georgia Project Incorporated | Atlanta, GA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Our Revolution | Chattanooga, TN | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Salvation and Social Justice | Trenton, NJ | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Takeaction Minnesota Education Fund | St Paul, MN | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Workers Center for Racial Justice Nfp | Chicago, IL | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Black and Pink Inc | Boston, MA | $7,125 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Black Youth Project 100 Nfp | Springfield, IL | $6,375 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| New Life Worship Center | Hartford, CT | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
10 of 68 (15%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Rising Voices Action Fund
POLITICAL PURPOSE REGRANT - One Apia Nevada
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT AND GENERAL OPERATING FUNDS - Our Future Is Black
Assist. for regional electoral camp - Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT/RESEARCH - Michigan Action
RISING VOICES CONTRIBUTION - Ncaat in Action
PRIMARY AND POLITICAL PURPOSE REGRANT
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 55 of 68 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 33 | $591,006 | $7,875 |
| 2021 | 6 | $183,750 | $29,500 |
| 2022 | 23 | $924,750 | $35,000 |
| 2024 | 23 | $1,382,506 | $20,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
28% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $15,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Center for Empowered Politics's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 7 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 16 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 1212 Broadway 700, Oakland, CA, 94612.
EIN 45-3084134 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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