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:

• Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is a nonprofit organization based in North Carolina that conducts research on topics such as human health, the environment, ecology, and education. Doing business as RTI International, the organization received roughly $4.2 billion in federal grants during the Biden Administration. In 2024, the top five government sub-agencies that provided federal funding to RTI were USAID, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
• American Institute of Dental Public Health (AIDPH) is a group focused on “oral health equity,” which also promotes a “justice-oriented health system.” The group was co-founded in 2015 by David Cappelli, a professor at the University of Nevada School of Dental Medicine. AIDPH was established using grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, totaling $3.75 million. Other organizations that have provided funding include the DALE Foundation, the Dental Diversity and Inclusion Alliance, the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center, and the Oral Health Progress and Equity Network.
• Yellowstone Forever is an environmental advocacy group and the official nonprofit partner organization of Yellowstone National Park. The group’s goal was to spend $700,000 between 2024 and 2025 on sustainability efforts and reducing the park’s carbon footprint, claiming that “the climate change crisis [is] a key issue for Yellowstone’s future.” Donors to Yellowstone Forever include the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, DonorsTrust, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, National Philanthropic Trust, and the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program.
• Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) is a coalition of individuals and organizations that promote left-of-center environmental policies. As of 2024, member groups included American Rivers, the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, the Sierra Club, and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Between 2020 and 2023, the IEC received funding from the Tides Center, the Energy Foundation, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Minneapolis Foundation and the National Christian Charitable Foundation.
• Horizon Foundation of Howard County, also known as the Horizon Foundation, is a health advocacy group that promotes left-of-center healthcare policy within Howard County, Maryland. The group has provided grants to local organizations focused on DEI initiatives, as well as abortion-related services. In 2023, it gave a $100,000 grant to Planned Parenthood of Maryland. The Horizon Foundation is a financial supporter of the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative (MCHI), a coalition of state-level groups promoting left-of-center healthcare policy. One of MCHI’s board members, Glenn Schneider, has worked for the Horizon Foundation since 2011 as its chief program officer.