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A dark money nonprofit chaired by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors has received a majority of its recent cash from a secretive fund used by Silicon Valley tech giants, filings show.
Cullors’ nonprofit, Dignity and Power Now, pulled in $4.2 million in undisclosed contributions in 2020, its most recent tax forms show. But while the group does not identify its financial backers, Fox News Digital has discovered that $2.5 million of that amount was funneled through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and into the BLM activist’s social justice nonprofit.
“There is nothing ‘dark’ or non-transparent about money Fox was so easily able to identify the source and documentation for,” said Mark-Anthony Clayton-Johnson, Dignity and Power Now’s executive director.
HOLLYWOOD, CA JUNE 7, 2020: Patrisse Cullors is one of the three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. She participated in the peaceful march in Hollywood, CA today Sunday June 7, 2020. Thousands of people participated in todays peaceful protest against police sparked by the death of George Floyd.
(Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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A “dark money” group is an entity that does not disclose its funding sources, and Cullors’ nonprofit does not make its donors public. Fox News Digital’s discovery of the $2.5 million in contributions was a result of browsing dozens of 990 tax forms of charitable foundations. The Silicon Valley money made up nearly 60 percent of its 2020 fundraising haul.
“When we choose to accept philanthropic dollars, it is grounded in the commitment and reality that we move resources directly towards improving the lives of Black and Brown communities whom we serve and are accountable to,” he continued. “Our impact and work speaks for itself and we are proud to continue doing it.”
“If what you publish contains falsehoods and distortions, we will respond accordingly,” Clayton-Jonnson said.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a massive donor-advised fund linked to several big-name tech titans. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have all parked money in the organization.
According to its tax forms, it received $2.1 billion in contributions in 2020, making it one of the largest funds in the United States.
However, it is impossible to determine what individual(s) funded Cullors’ group from the foundation. It does not name who steers cash into it, and it also does not report which of its donors directs their cash from the fund to outside groups.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors under fire for using donations to purchase $6 million dollar mansion ___ LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 02: Patrisse Cullors attends the Teen Vogue Summit 2019 at Goya Studios on November 02, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Rachel Murray/Getty Images for Teen Vogue)
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The Silicon Valley Community Foundation maintained a relatively low profile until its leaders became embroiled in controversy over its “toxic” work environment, including bullying and sexual harassment.
Emmett Carson, the former president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, was ousted from his position and received $300,000 in severance pay after the fallout, The Mercury News reported.
Groups linked to Cullors have received hefty funding from identifiable tech executives and their spouses.
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, Cari Tuna, supplied Dignity and Power Now with $5.5 million between 2017 and 2020.
Moskovitz departed Facebook in 2008 but maintains a 2 percent interest in the social media company, now called Meta, which Forbes says accounts for a good chunk of his $12.1 billion net worth.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 03: Patrisse Cullors, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter speaks at the NILC Courageous Luminaires Awards Honoring 21 Savage on October 03, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for NILC)
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Between 2017 and 2020, the pair also pushed $2.3 million to another nonprofit founded by Cullors called Reform L.A. Jails. Reform L.A. Jails paid Cullors’ consulting firm, Janaya and Patrisse Consulting, more than $20,000 a month as she served as its chair.
Moskovitz and Tuna have been ardent financial backers of left-wing social justice groups. Tuna has bankrolled Black Lives Matters activist Shaun King’s Real Justice PAC, which has also paid Cullors’ consulting firm $78,000 for management and strategy services, Federal Election Commission records show.
Moskovtiz’s donations received attention after Facebook moved to censor critical stories on Cullors’ $3.2 million real-estate buying binge, which included the BLM leader scooping up four homes. Cullors also allegedly eyed property in the Bahamas at a ritzy resort where Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods own homes.
Additionally, Patricia Ann Quillin, the wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, contributed $250,000 to Reform LA Jails in 2020.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors under fire for using donations to purchase $6 million dollar mansion
(Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Viacom)
Cullors recently made headlines after a report exposed a $6 million Los Angeles mansion purchased by the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation, which she co-founded. Cullors left her leadership post with BLM in May 2021 amid scrutiny over her past real estate purchases.
The event led to the BLM activist calling charity transparency laws “triggering,” particularly the requirement that groups file Form 990s, or tax forms, to the IRS.
“It is such a trip now to hear the term ‘990,’” Cullors said in April. “I’m, like, ugh. It’s, like, triggering.”
“I actually did not know what 990s were before all of this happened,” Cullors continued.
It’s unclear why Cullors pinned the blame for the expose on Form 990s, as the BLM Global Network Foundation has yet to release a complete tax form.
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Thousand Currents fiscally sponsored the group for years, meaning it was not required to file 990s showing its detailed cash flow to the IRS. In the summer of 2020, the nonprofit broke away from Thousand Currents and into its own legal entity, making it now required to file tax forms.
However, the Washington Examiner reported that the group had used an “accounting gimmick” to delay the release of its complete 2020 tax forms by switching from a “calendar” to a “fiscal” year. The form is due this month.
