Breaking: New watchdog initiative exposes dark-money network targeting Alaska

For years, national leftist activist networks have been quietly funding “local” movements across Alaska, steering state and local politics from thousands of miles away.

Now, a new watchdog initiative is promising to shine daylight on the millions of dollars flowing north from Washington, DC, New York City, and elsewhere.

Today, the American Accountability Foundation launched the “Alaska Influence Pipeline,” a first-of-its-kind website designed to expose how progressive dark-money networks – led by Arabella Advisors and its constellation of affiliated “nonprofits” – are working to reshape Alaska’s government, economy, and social fabric.

The comprehensive online database brings together years of public grant records, campaign filings, and nonprofit disclosures, providing an unprecedented look into how outside networks operate inside the 49th State.

“These groups are coming after Alaska because they know it’s a bastion of rugged independence and energy independence, and there’s few things the left hates more,” said Tom Jones, President of the American Accountability Foundation. “These Outside groups think they can tell Alaskans how to manage the natural resources that have sustained families and communities for generations. The Alaska Influence Pipeline shines a light on the money, networks, and agendas reshaping the state’s future from the outside in.”

DC activists are deploying the same playbook in Alaska they’ve used to influence policy across the Lower 48: drown out locals, buy influence, and then rebrand their efforts as “grassroots.”

At the center of it all sits Arabella Advisors, the for-profit consultancy that manages a vast empire of liberal “fiscal sponsor” nonprofits, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund, and Windward Fund.

According to public filings, nonprofits under Arabella’s management have generated a combined $9 billion in revenue since 2006, with centralized control over policy campaigns, advocacy groups, and media narratives.

This network’s reach extends all the way to Alaska. Between 2020 and 2024, Arabella-managed entities funneled more than $9 million to Alaska-based or Alaska-targeted campaigns — much of it used to slow down or block resource development, bankroll progressive ballot measures, and shape state election laws.

The Alaska Influence Pipeline highlights how these networks have funded organizations that claim to speak for Alaskans — but answer to big-dollar donors in DC, New York, and Silicon Valley.

Among the examples outlined in the site’s launch report:

• The Alaska Center — backed by the Sixteen Thirty Fund and other liberal donors — has pressured candidates to pledge 100% renewable energy by 2050, support higher oil and gas taxes, and push voting system changes like automatic registration.
• The Alaska Conservation Foundation, which took $20,000 from the New Venture Fund, has persistently opposed the Ambler Road Project — a project that could unlock thousands of good jobs for Alaskans and reduce America’s mineral dependence on China.
• Progress Alaska, an offshoot of NEO Philanthropy, received nearly $3 million from Arabella-linked funds before teaming up with the Alaska Venture Fund to oppose energy development, mining projects, and infrastructure like the West Susitna Access Road.

These groups often present themselves as homegrown. But as the data reveals, their funding, strategies, and priorities trace directly back to progressive networks operating out of DC.

The AAF investigation connects the dots between funding and local policy fights.

• The Sixteen Thirty Fund contributed nearly $930,000 to the 2024 ballot initiative pushing higher mandated minimum wages and paid sick leave at Alaska’s smallest mom-and-pop businesses.
• The New Venture Fund was the top donor to the 2016 Ballot Measure 1 campaign, which tied automatic voter registration to Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend. The automatic registration has made Alaska’s voter rolls the “dirtiest” in the nation.

From resource development to labor law to election systems, the pattern is the same: outside money, hidden donors, familiar outcomes.

Alaskans have become unwilling test subjects in a national policy experiment. Through lavishly funded “pop-up” nonprofits, Arabella’s affiliates and partners, including the Tides Foundation, Arnold Ventures, and NEO Philanthropy, are using Alaska as a petrie dish for progressive initiatives, from criminal justice reform to election law changes.

These imported agendas are often unrelated to the practical realities of running a resource-based state. The result is a distorted political environment where outside priorities take precedence over local needs.

Even ostensibly “grassroots” campaigns, such as Anchorage’s 907 Initiative and “Alaskans for Posterity,” have roots in Arabella’s network, both launched under the New Venture Fund banner. These groups ran extensive political ads without disclosing their full donor lists — a direct line from D.C. wallets to Alaska airwaves.

The Alaska Influence Pipeline is more than an exposé; it’s a new tool for transparency and accountability that the liberal establishment doesn’t want you to know about. Its mission is straightforward: to ensure Alaskans know who’s funding political advocacy in our state — and to open a debate about whether outsiders should be steering policies that decide Alaska’s economic future.

At a time when energy, mining, and logging industries hang in the balance, understanding who’s behind Alaska’s influence campaigns is no longer optional, such a tool is now essential.

The message to Alaskans is just as clear: our state is for sale, if we don’t start paying attention.

For those of us who still believe in independence, economic freedom, and a transparent democracy, the Alaska Influence Pipeline serves as both a warning and a tool.

It’s time to follow the money and take back ownership of Alaska’s future.

Click here to explore the Alaska Influence Pipeline.