A wrongful termination lawsuit has been launched by a former racial equity consultant against one of the largest dark money leftist groups in the United States, according to court documents recently obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Francesca Weaks filed a wrongful termination suit against New Venture Fund (NVF) on January 31. Weaks—a racial equity consultant for NVF “pop-up” group the Local Solutions Support Center—claims NVF ignored racial harassment she and her diversity, equity, and inclusion colleagues were subjected to.
The lawsuit alleges, “It soon became obvious there was a custom of leaders speaking over Black individuals when they were speaking about race, diversity, and equity.” It also mentions an incident in June 2021 when a white executive interrupted Weaks during a discussion on “inequities and Critical Race Theory.”
Weaks argues in the lawsuit that NVF wrongfully terminated her contract in June 2022 after she voiced concerns about the organization’s “unethical and racist practice.”
New Venture Fund, a major dark money group that bankrolls hundreds of left-wing entities, was hit with lawsuits alleging racism and discrimination in the workplace—raising questions about the group's stated commitment to racial "equity.”
Via @AndrewKerrNChttps://t.co/CviJ5hPCHf
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) February 9, 2023
The suit also alleges that NVF colleagues duped potential donors by falsely claiming the organization partnered with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Weaks once worked for the NAACP and said she was shocked to learn that a white NVF consultant was trying to deceive donors by claiming the organization had formed a partnership with her ex-employer.
Weaks seeks damages of $250,000.
NVF is the largest outfit under the umbrella of the for-profit consultancy Arabella Advisors. Arabella raised $1.6 billion in 2021 alone from mostly anonymous donors. This was down from its $1.7 billion haul in 2020.
According to Influence Watch, Arabella is “a philanthropic consulting company that guides the strategy, advocacy, impact investing, and management for high-dollar left-leaning nonprofits and individuals.”
Arabella oversees five nonprofits that act as incubators for a multitude of other leftist nonprofits—of which NVF is the largest.
NVF raised $964 million in 2021 alone and used those funds to fund hundreds of other left-wing entities and operate hundreds of other “pop-up” groups like the Local Solutions Support Center that Weaks worked for. NVF’s anonymous donors ranged from $20 million to $120 million.
These funds originate primarily with wealthy leftist foundations and individuals, however, the nonprofits maintain control of the funds. The nonprofits then “hire” Arabella to consult. Many of Arabella’s top officials sit or have sat on these nonprofits’ boards of directors.
These guys spent $1.3 BILLION in 2020. With a B.
They fund things like Demand Justice, Media Matters, and even the ACLU.
And according to multiple lawsuits, they pay black women less than their white counterparts and condone “racial harassment.” https://t.co/HYMyKmMJeU
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 10, 2023
Founded in 2005 by former Clinton staffer Eric Kessler, Kessler was an environmental conservation graduate of Colorado University (Boulder) and a one-time staffer of the League of Conservation Voters. Today, he is still on Arabella’s Board of Directors, despite DEI supplanting environmentalism as the issue du jour on the left.
Arabella’s method of dark money spending on politics has drawn criticism even from mainstream left-leaning outlets, including The New York Times in April 2021.
In November 2019, Politico criticized NVF’s sister, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the 501(c)(4) advocacy wing of Arabella’s nonprofit network, as a “massive ‘dark money’ group [that] boosted Democrats” in the 2018 midterm elections with $140 million.
The Washington Post criticized Arabella’s Sixteen Thirty Fund as a “big campaign donor” in a November 24, 2019 opinion by the editorial board and called on Congress to change nonprofit disclosure laws.
“Hoist with his own petard” is an odd phrase. It comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, describing a bombmaker getting blown up with his creation.
That perfectly describes what is happening to the Left-wing New Venture Fund, one of the largest dark money groups in the country. I… pic.twitter.com/mkdGU9kPwi— theconservativeworld.com (@TheConsworld) February 9, 2023
Arabella’s nonprofits often funnel anonymous donations among themselves. For instance, NVF gave an anonymous $26.7 million donation to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, thereby shuffling tax-free donations for political ends.
Additional samples of NVF’s “philanthropic causes include $2.8 million to Demand Justice Initiative, the (c)(3) arm of the court-packing group Demand Justice, $1.4 million to CASA De Maryland, an illegal immigration advocacy nonprofit, and $7.1 million to America Votes, a get-out-the-vote group that calls itself the “coordination hub of the progressive community.”
Weaks is not alone in leveling accusations of hypocrisy on race at NVF. A second black woman, Sarah Walker, also filed a lawsuit against NVF late last year, saying she was subjected to repeated racial discrimination and fired when she called attention to the structural racial pay inequities. She claims she was hired as a “race coach” for white executives who were obsessed with the issue.
NVF’s hiring of DEI professionals and its executives obsessing with racial dynamics in America fits a pattern not only with leftist advocacy groups but with nonprofits and corporations across the country.
Both women note that NVF employed and contracted the individuals whom they worked with at their “pop-up” groups. The lawsuits added that NVF also oversees human resource policy at those groups.
“The progressive public image of New Venture Fund did not translate to a progressive work environment,” Walker states in her lawsuit.
