EFoundation
The EFoundation (formerly the E Foundation for Oklahoma) is a right-wing nonprofit based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Founded in 2015, the EFoundation is a former associate member of the State Policy Network (SPN).[1]
According to the Foundation's website its focus lies on six topic areas: education, energy, efficiency, entrepreneurship, enduring freedom and exporting. "Proverbs 29 says without a vision the people will perish. This initiative will unite Oklahomans behind a shared vision and a common goal to tackle serious issues and seize exciting opportunities so that all Oklahomans can excel. Therefore, we endeavor to create a clear vision and actionable plan to make certain our great state can compete and succeed in an ever-evolving world. We are dedicated to building pathways toward excellence."[2]
State Policy Network
EFoundation was an associate member of the State Policy Network.SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the United Kingdom. As of June 2024, SPN's membership totals 167. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million.[3] Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.[4]
In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[5]
A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[6]
Core Financials
As of January 3, 2017 IRS form 990's for the E Foundation are not publicly available. According to the Foundation's profile on Guidestar.org, total revenue in 2015 was $237,000 and assets totaled $231,398.[7]
Personnel
As of January 3, 2017:[2]
Board of Directors
- Dana Weber
- Tom Clark
- Jerry Hunter
- Kevin Perry
- Brad Krieger
Advisory Council
- Todd Lamb, Chairman
- David Rainbolt
- Gov. Frank Keating
- T. Boone Pickens
- Gary Pierson
Executive Committee
- John Richels
- Tucker Link
- Bob Sullivan
- Major General Lee Baxter
- Mark Allen
- Scott Thomas
Staff
- Michael C. Carnuccio
- Adam Luck
- Zach Sumner
Contact
Employer Identification Number (EIN): 47-4570634
E Foundation for Oklahoma
2 E. California Ave, 2nd floor
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104
Phone: (405).646.3465
Email: Zach@efoundationok.org
Twitter: @EFoundationOK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/efoundationok/
References
- ↑ State Policy Network, Directory, organizational website, accessed January 3, 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 E Foundation, Get to Know Us, organizational website, accessed January 3, 2017.
- ↑ David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
- ↑ Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
- ↑ Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
- ↑ Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Guidestar, E Foundation for Oklahoma, organizational website, accessed January 3, 2017.
