The Progressive Movement Endures
This month’s elections offered something rare for progressives in this moment: genuine optimism.
From Virginia to New Jersey, voters demonstrated a deep appetite for solutions to the high cost of living, reproductive rights, and health care access. Their support for progressive candidates also underscores a growing disenchantment with the leadership in Washington. That momentum and discontentment carried through to races up and down the ballot, from state legislatures to local offices, where candidates who spoke to people’s everyday struggles found overwhelming support.
For Sixteen Thirty Fund, this moment is both validation and motivation. It reaffirms what we have always believed: that progress is built over years, not cycles, and that sustained advocacy, not just electoral wins, drives enduring change.
That conviction guided our work last year. In 2024, Sixteen Thirty Fund invested in the causes and issues that define our vision for a fairer, more just America. We saw policy victories that affirmed the strength of our movement — and losses that reminded us why we fight.
As we prepare to file our yearly tax forms, we reflect on a year marked by both disappointment and determination. Some outcomes were devastating. Others will protect Americans’ rights and freedoms for decades to come. Together, they serve as another reminder of a lesson we’ve learned throughout this country’s history: progress is not linear.
Like other 501(c)(4) organizations, we recognize that both advocating for strong policies and having progressive leaders in office is an essential piece of advancing the vision we believe in. The outcome of the presidential election reinforced the absolute necessity of staying in this fight.
Despite this hard-fought loss, progress was made. Sixteen Thirty Fund helped facilitate some of the biggest successes of the cycle, including restoring abortion rights in states across the country by investing in local organizations on the ground. The Arizona for Abortion Access coalition delivered a landmark victory, guaranteeing the right to choose for millions. Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights enshrined reproductive freedom in the state constitution. These victories stand as proof, despite profound setbacks, that, the work of protecting rights and expanding freedom can — and does — succeed.
While our electoral activities make the headlines, the majority of our work happened in the background, supporting issue advocacy organizations that turn progressive values into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Through our fiscal sponsorship model, we provide advocates and frontline organizations with the tools, resources, and operational support to act quickly and effectively. It’s a model built for this moment — one that allows flexibility, speed, and coordination in an increasingly dynamic and high-stakes environment.
It allows us to support groups like Protect Our Care Action that ensure that access to affordable, high-quality, and equitable health care remains right for everyone. Their tireless advocacy reminds policymakers that health care is not an abstract issue — it’s a matter of life and death for millions. Sixteen Thirty Fund provides operational support so the project leaders can focus on maximizing impact.
Meanwhile, another fiscally sponsored project, Paid Leave for All Action, continues to drive a national movement for paid family and medical leave. Their organizing and storytelling bring paid leave to the forefront of the conversation, reminding Americans that no one should have to choose between a paycheck or caring for a loved one.
And through Galvanize Action, organizers and advocates are increasing civic engagement among moderate women in rural, small-town, and suburban areas. This work is changing the way progress is built from the ground up — meeting people where they are and appealing to shared values.
Whether our focus is on pushing good policy or electoral advocacy, Sixteen Thirty Fund strictly complies with all federal, state and local rules governing 501(c)(4) organizations.
The organizations Sixteen Thirty Fund supports serve as a reminder of the future we can and will create. And as we turn the page from 2024, that’s our focus — strengthening and sustaining the groups and coalitions advancing our values. We will continue to focus on building the infrastructure that endures year after year and election after election. Because meaningful change is not only possible, it’s already happening.
