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:

• LIFT is a left-of-center organization that provides coaching, training, and other assistance to low-income parents and families, and engages in policy advocacy. In 2023, LIFT was awarded a $7 million grant from Yield Giving, the grantmaking organization founded by MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos. LIFT has also received funding from the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation.
• LA Mas is a left-of-center Los Angeles-based nonprofit focused on affordable housing for lower-income individuals and families. It received $250,000 through the city’s LA4LA initiative, announced by mayor Karen Bass (D) in 2024. LA Mas has also received funding from the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the Liberty Hill Foundation, the California Community Foundation, the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, and the Durfee Foundation.
• Sutherland Institute is a Utah-based right-of-center organization that files legal briefs, publishes policy reports, and maintains lobbyists to testify before legislative committees. As of 2026, the president and CEO of the institute is Utah State Sen. Todd Weiler (R-Woods Cross), who was hired to the position in July of that year while chairing the state’s Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee. The Sutherland Institute has received funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, the State Policy Network, and DonorsTrust.
• Upper Gila Watershed Alliance (UGWA) is a left-of-center environmentalist group that works to protect the Gila River in New Mexico. The UGWA is a member of the Gila Conservation Coalition, which also includes the Center for Biological Diversity and the Gila Resources Information Project. The UGWA has received funding from the Tides Foundation, the National Forest Foundation, the Wilderness Society, and the Conservation Lands Foundation.
• New Mexico Wild is an environmentalist group that supports federal land protections and restrictions in the state. It supported a 2023 order by the Biden Administration to ban new oil and gas drilling near the state’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park. New Mexico Wild is a member of the Peaceful Gila Skies coalition, which opposes expanded F-16 training flights by the U.S. Air Force over the Gila River region. New Mexico Wild has received funding from the Walton Family Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Tortuga Foundation, the Wyss Foundation, and Patagonia.