Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Leadership Conference Education Fund (The Education Fund) received a $5 million gift, over two years, from Craig Newmark Philanthropies that will help strengthen and expand American democracy. This transformational gift from the organization of craigslist founder Craig Newmark will support The Education Fund’s democracy work, including its All Voting is Local campaign and voting rights and census efforts.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund released its policy brief, “Gainful Employment: A Civil Rights Perspective,” today describing the exploitation of Black and Latino students by for-profit colleges and urging the Department of Education to enforce the Higher Education Act and protect students. Twenty-one civil rights, consumer lending, and education groups signed onto the brief, demanding Secretary DeVos propose a new rule to advance equity and protect students’ civil rights.

DALLAS – The Leadership Conference Education Fund and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights this past weekend introduced the organizations’ Policing Campaign, report, and toolkit for Dallas to advance 21st century and data-driven best practices in policing.

LOS ANGELES – The Leadership Conference Education Fund’s Census Counts Campaign and NALEO Educational Fund hosted a press conference today featuring state and local elected and appointed officials who are working to raise public awareness about the importance of the 2020 Census and its impact on the allocation of resources in communities across the country.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund has announced the hire of Tamika Turner as national communications director for the Census Counts campaign. Census Counts is a collaborative campaign involving more than 15 national organizations and dozens of community partners in more than 30 states working together to make sure that the 2020 Census is fair and accurate.

LOS ANGELES – On September 23 at 11 a.m. PDT, The Leadership Conference Education Fund’s Census Counts Campaign and NALEO Educational Fund will host a press conference with state and local elected and appointed officials to help raise public awareness on how and why the 2020 Census critical to communities as they seek to secure the resources to meet their vital needs. State and local elected officials at the event will lift up their commitment to ensure a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund held a telebriefing today to discuss the staggering number of polling place closures in Arizona, a state with a long history of racial discrimination in its election system. The Education Fund’s recently released report, “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote,” found that 13 states shuttered 1,688 polling places since the 2012 general election cycle.

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference Education Fund held a telebriefing today to discuss the staggering number of polling place closures in states with histories of racial discrimination in just the past six years. The Education Fund’s recently released report, “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote,” found that 13 states shuttered 1,688 polling places since the 2012 general election cycle.

WASHINGTON – Thirteen U.S. states closed a staggering 1,688 polling locations in just six years, according to a new report from The Leadership Conference Education Fund. The report, “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote,” notes that 1,173 of the closures occurred between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections – underscoring the scale of this assault on U.S. democracy. Texas, Georgia, and Arizona top the list of highest closure rates between 2012 to 2018.

PHOENIX — The Leadership Conference Education Fund will hold a press call on Wednesday, September 11, at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT to discuss its newly released report, “Democracy Diverted: Polling Place Closures and the Right to Vote.” A second iteration of original research first released in 2016, the report analyzes 757 of 861 counties and county-level equivalents previously covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which the U.S. Supreme Court gutted in its Shelby County v. Holder decision. The report explains how and why polling place closures have an increasingly detrimental impact on communities in states with histories of voter discrimination.