Groundwork Collaborative
U.S. progressive left
Background
Groundwork Collaborative was founded in 2018 by Michael Linden and others, with Lindsay Owens — a former senior economic policy adviser to Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former legislative director for progressive House members Keith Ellison and Pramila Jayapal — serving as executive director. It operates as a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, the 501(c)(3) arm of the Arabella Advisors network, a major conduit for large liberal donors whose individual contributors are not required to be publicly disclosed. The Washington Post has described the organization as a 'left-leaning think tank' and the New York Times as a 'progressive economic policy group.' It has a companion 501(c)(4) advocacy arm, Groundwork Action, which can engage in more explicitly political activities. The organization gained significant media attention during and after the COVID-era inflation spike, when its researchers pushed the argument that corporate profit-taking — not just supply shocks — was a primary driver of rising prices, a framing adopted by some Democratic politicians. Since the start of Trump's second term in January 2025, Groundwork Collaborative has published a steady stream of reports attributing higher consumer costs, energy bills, and job losses to administration policies, and it released a joint report characterizing the administration as engaged in pay-to-play corruption. Its perspective is explicitly progressive and aligned with the economic priorities of the Democratic Party's left flank.
Sources
- Groundwork Collaborative – Wikipedia
- Groundwork Collaborative – InfluenceWatch
- Groundwork Action – InfluenceWatch
- The Price of Corruption – Groundwork Collaborative
- Trump is Raising Energy and Utility Bills – Groundwork Collaborative
- New Venture Fund – InfluenceWatch
- Donors to the Arabella Advisors Network – Capital Research Center
Profile compiled 2026-08-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.