One Year Later, a Voting Rights Funder Unveils an Index to Track Insurrectionists

A year ago today, most of us were transfixed by the sight of Americans attacking their own government—knocking over barricades and plowing through police lines, clutching hand ties and homemade weapons as they hunted down lawmakers and assaulted the officers trying to protect them. In the hours and days that followed, grisly details emerged: long hours of hand-to-hand combat, police officers sprayed with mace and pummeled with flag poles, feces smeared on the walls of the People’s House.

A year later, we’re still learning more about what happened that day—the events leading up to the capitol insurrection and its ongoing human toll. We’re also discovering, thanks to the voting rights funding and grantmaking organization Public Wise, that many of those who participated in the mob violence on January 6 are in positions of public trust. A number currently hold public office, and others who tried to overturn the results of the last election are running for positions that could allow them to influence the outcome of the next one.

Public Wise is tracking these and other January 6-related developments with its Insurrection Index, which it unveiled yesterday. The Insurrection Index, an online public database, “... is designed to empower voters, political parties, organizations and media to identify insurrectionists in positions of public trust, including holding or seeking public office,” according to the announcement.

“Public Wise created the Insurrection Index to ensure that those who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election cannot be elected to political office and handed the tools to destroy democracy from the inside out,” said Christina Baal-Owens, Public Wise executive director.

Founded to protect voting rights

Public Wise is a relative newcomer to the funding world: Baal-Owens teamed up with Eric Laufer to create the organization in 2019. Its funding comes primarily from Laufer, now Public Wise’s board president, who is the son of philanthropists Henry and Marsha Laufer. According to Public Wise, that funding comes “entirely” from Eric Laufer and is unconnected to his parents’ philanthropic work. The younger Laufer studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Stanford; his bio describes him as “... a multi-disciplinary entrepreneur with ventures in renewable energy technology, real estate and film.” Laufer’s philanthropy to date has focused on promoting democracy and climate issues.

Baal-Owens and Laufer had worked together before, and when they discussed the idea of creating an organization to protect voting rights, they conducted research to determine where they could add value. “We saw that there was a need for research that was not monetized, that was available and free to the groups that are doing the frontline work on voter education and voter outreach,” said Baal-Owens. “So we created a pretty robust research department that not only distributes research but informs the rest of our work. We also created a granting arm, which is a large part of the work that we do.”

Public Wise created the Insurrection Index with partners Accountable.US, Advance Democracy Inc., American Oversight, Campaign for Accountability, Media Matters Action Network and the Tech Transparency Project. The data gathered by the index demonstrates the establishment ties of many of the January 6 participants. Out of 1,404 total records to date, including both individuals and organizations, 213 participants hold public office, 29 are candidates for public office, 59 are former members of the military, and 31 are current or former members of law enforcement. The index will be updated regularly.

Trusted messengers

In 2020 and 2021, Public Wise supported a variety of organizations promoting voter education, voter access and voting rights, including Vote.org, Black Voters Matter, Alliance for Youth Action, and many others. About 60% of the organization’s support is 501(c)(4) funding, and roughly 40% is 501(c)(3).

Public Wise awarded $2.25 million in 2021. In December, the organization announced $200,000 in grants to four organizations “prioritizing voting rights in underrepresented communities across the country ahead of the 2022 election cycle,” according to the announcement. Grantees include North Carolina Black Alliance, the Arizona Center for Empowerment, Black Men Vote and Poder Latinx.

Baal-Owens emphasized that the grantees all have deep roots in their communities. “We conducted focus groups among non-voters at the end of 2020, and a theme that came up repeatedly was that voter outreach only happened in election years,” Baal-Owens said. “That came across as very transactional; it was also a missed opportunity for civic education generally. So we fund groups that don’t just do voter contact in election years, but that are building infrastructure and working on a range of issues that concern their communities. We believe in funding trusted messengers, and to be a trusted messenger means not just talking to people when you need their vote.”

Baal-Owens believes philanthropy can and should examine its own practices, and make sure those practices reflect the organization’s professed values. “There are a couple of things that we’re trying to do as funders and that we’d love to see more of in the funding world,” she said. “For example, we ask potential grantees about their internal culture and the equity they create internally. Is there paid family leave, for example? Is everyone on staff making a living wage?”

Public Wise also avoids putting restrictions on its grants, providing general operations funding instead. “Something that I try to shout from the rooftops: We only give general ops funding,” Baal-Owens said. “We think you should trust your trusted messengers and their leadership to make sure funding is being used strategically. Keeping people employed and keeping the lights on is as important as funding direct campaign work, in many cases. And it is also strategic to pay your rent.”

“People don’t try to just steal one election”

Creating a tool like the Insurrection Index is just one of the new ways that funders have stepped up recently to protect democracy from right-wing assault. Programs like the Casey Foundation’s Freedom Scholars, Arthur Blank’s recent shift to more overtly progressive democracy giving, and the work of the Democracy Frontlines Fund are just a few examples. On the anniversary of January 6, one thing seems clear: The discord and divisions that led to the capitol riot—and threaten our democracy—have only intensified. Increased and sustained philanthropic engagement to protect democracy and address political violence will be crucial in 2022 and beyond.

For Baal-Owens, whose family is from the Philippines, the warning signs are clear. “People don’t try to just steal one election, or overturn one election; it becomes part of the culture,” she said. “I think we’re still at a point where we can stop that, and one, keep people out of office who are trying to steal elections and suppress votes, and two, amplify and validate our belief, as a country, in democracy. That’s why we’re leaning in so hard on keeping insurrectionists out of office, and why we do the advocacy work around the Freedom to Vote Act, and why we’re working on all levels to keep voting accessible. “

Noted election lawyer Mark Elias, whose firm, the Elias Law Group, is fighting voter suppression and gerrymandering efforts around the country, provided legal advice and support for the Insurrection Index.

“We are one, maybe two elections away from a constitutional crisis over election subversion,” Elias told The Guardian. “If we don’t recognize who was behind the attempt to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, then next time, we will be less prepared and it may succeed.”

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