Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
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Rockefeller Foundation Launches First Class of Big Bets Fellows Focused on Africa
NEW YORK, April 28 -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following news release on April 27, 2026:
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Rockefeller Foundation Launches First Class of Big Bets Fellows Focused on Africa
* Inaugural class of 10 changemakers driving bold, community-led solutions across Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania
* Cohort represents best of African leadership and innovation across multiple sectors including health, agriculture, clean energy and more
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NAIROBI | April 27, 2026 - During its second annual AfricaXchange in Nairobi, Kenya, The Rockefeller Foundation launched the
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NEW YORK, April 28 -- The Rockefeller Foundation posted the following news release on April 27, 2026:
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Rockefeller Foundation Launches First Class of Big Bets Fellows Focused on Africa
* Inaugural class of 10 changemakers driving bold, community-led solutions across Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania
* Cohort represents best of African leadership and innovation across multiple sectors including health, agriculture, clean energy and more
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NAIROBI | April 27, 2026 - During its second annual AfricaXchange in Nairobi, Kenya, The Rockefeller Foundation launched theinaugural class of Africa Big Bets Fellows who are focused on driving transformational change across the continent. Ten leaders from Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania will participate in an intensive five-month fellowship designed to elevate their innovative solutions for advancing energy access, food security, financial inclusion, economic opportunity, healthcare, climate resilience, migration, and more. The inaugural Africa Big Bets Fellows cohort marks the 60th anniversary of The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office, which opened in 1966, with the Foundation supporting charitable initiatives across health, food, energy, climate, economic opportunity, and more for over a century.
"For decades, The Rockefeller Foundation has been honored to work with the dreamers, leaders, thinkers, scientists, innovators, and others who have shaped Africa's future," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "Through the Africa Big Bets Fellowship, we are backing a new generation of leaders who are scaling ideas that expand opportunity, strengthen resilience, and improve lives across Africa."
Across Africa, communities continue to face barriers to opportunity and resilience, from limited access to energy and finance to growing climate and migration pressures. Today, approximately 600 million people across the continent live without access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global population without power. And despite being on the frontlines of the climate crisis, Africa receives only around 12% of global climate finance. This gap is especially stark given the continent's vast natural resources. With the right planning and investment, up to 76% of Africa's energy needs could be met by renewable sources by 2040.
"This year's Big Bets Fellows reflect the strength of African leadership in tackling some of today's most pressing challenges," said William Asiko, Senior Vice President, Africa Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation. "Their work shows how locally driven innovation across areas such as food systems and clean energy can deliver solutions that are scalable, globally relevant, and improve lives across the continent and beyond."
The first 10 Africa Big Bets Fellows, who were selected from a diverse pool of nominees from the Big Bets network and external partners, will participate in a five-month intensive program. With peer learning and access to global networking, the fellowship is designed to help scale their ideas and innovative solutions to advance universal energy abundance, strengthen food security and nutrition, and increase access to healthcare, financial tools, green jobs, real-time data on migration, climate solutions, and more:
* Ghana - Osei Kwadwo Boateng: Ensuring people in rural Ghana can get the care they need by bringing affordable, high-quality primary healthcare directly to their communities through mobile clinics, tele-health, and local health workers.
* Ghana - Richard Matey: Supporting a cleaner Accra by helping the city turn organic waste into useful products while creating fair, green jobs for local communities and informing research relevant to policy discussions.
* Kenya - Rosinah Mbenya: Ensuring more children in Kenya have access to agroecological school meals while supporting local farmers to access stable local markets by linking school food programs to regenerative agriculture.
* Malawi - Nthanda Manduwi: Enabling the next generation of farmers and innovators by combining autonomous farming technologies, AI-powered simulation tools, and hands-on training to increase productivity, strengthen food security, and build climate-resilient production systems.
* Nigeria - Adedeji Olowe: Helping millions of Nigerians access fair credit and better financial services by safely unlocking the bank data that can connect people to the financial tools they need.
* Nigeria - Nina Mbah: Supporting Nigerian communities to choose clean energy by building awareness, sharing trusted stories, and celebrating local champions leading the transition through a reality show series.
* Nigeria - Smart Israel: Helping communities facing displacement and climate stress grow their own fresh food year-round,even where land and water are scarce- by supporting solar-powered farming.
* Nigeria - Stanley Anigbogu: Bringing clean, reliable electricity to off-grid and refugee communities by building solar-powered hubs from recycled materials where people can charge devices and learn about climate solutions.
* South Africa - Sydelle Willow Smith: Building a youth-led network of solar-powered mobile cinemas to bring African stories, trusted public information, and new economic opportunities to underserved communities across the continent.
* Tanzania - Careen Joel: Helping climate-affected communities in Tanzania make safer decisions about migration and local resources by providing clear, real-time information they can use.
This year's Africa Big Bets Fellows were announced at the 2026 edition of AfricaXchange -- an annual convening of funders, practitioners, and changemakers focused on advancing innovative, locally led development across the continent. Hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation's Africa Regional Office, AfricaXchange 2026 centers on deploying the philanthropic capital needed to drive self-determination. At its core was a clear ambition: to ensure that Africa's future is built, financed, and led by Africans, a vision captured in this year's theme, "money, markets, and mindsets."
For over 110 years, The Rockefeller Foundation has worked in Africa to address critical issues of poverty, health, food security, energy access, and economic instability. Established in 1913, the Foundation was the first U.S. philanthropic organization to engage in extensive health work in Africa. The next chapter got underway around the time that The Rockefeller Foundation opened its Africa Regional Office in Nairobi in 1966 and shifted its strategy from largely focusing on single-disease eradication campaigns to multidisciplinary development programs focusing on long-term institutional stability and food security. Even before the creation of the Africa Regional Office, The Rockefeller Foundation supported hundreds of exceptional individuals through fellowship programs like the Warren Weaver Fellowship which ran from 1989 to 2000 and its "RockyDocs" programs which supported more than 130 fellows between 1984 and 2000.
Today, approximately one-third of The Rockefeller Foundation's total funding is dedicated to the continent, with its largest grants centering on expanding access to electricity, supporting nutritious school meals, often sourced from local produce grown through regenerative methods, and strengthening community health systems with data-driven decisions. The Africa Big Bets Fellows represent the next chapter of this legacy, backing leaders whose ideas are already delivering impact, and accelerating solutions. The first Africa cohort follows the successful launches of Big Bets Fellowships over the last two years in Latin America and the Caribbean, United States, and Asia-Pacific.
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About The Rockefeller Foundation
Investing $30 billion over the last 113 years to promote the well-being of humanity, The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on unlikely partnerships and innovative solutions that deliver measurable results for people in the United States and around the world. We leverage scientific breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and new technologies to make big bets across energy, food, health, and finance, including with our public charity, RF Catalytic Capital (RFCC). For more information, sign up for our newsletter at www.rockefellerfoundation.org/subscribe.
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Original text here: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/news/rockefeller-foundation-launches-first-class-of-big-bets-fellows-focused-on-africa/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: Trade Offensive
DETROIT, Michigan, April 28 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on April 27, 2026, by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain:
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Trade Offensive
Spain is the latest nation to court China's markets.
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Despite US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's warning that anyone seeking stronger trade ties with Beijing would be "cutting their own throat," Donald Trump's weaponized tariffs are causing many countries to seek closer relations with China. There has been a barrage of diplomacy in the first few months of 2026, especially from
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DETROIT, Michigan, April 28 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary on April 27, 2026, by Mark Nayler, freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain:
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Trade Offensive
Spain is the latest nation to court China's markets.
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Despite US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's warning that anyone seeking stronger trade ties with Beijing would be "cutting their own throat," Donald Trump's weaponized tariffs are causing many countries to seek closer relations with China. There has been a barrage of diplomacy in the first few months of 2026, especially fromEuropean leaders concerned about the effects of Chinese competitiveness on domestic industries. French president Emmanuel Macron, who visited Xi Jinping last December, said that European trade and industry faced a "life-or-death moment," and that its future depended on more balanced trade relations with the world's largest manufacturing country.
The latest European leader to visit Beijing, between April 11 and 15, was Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez. The Spanish premier's meeting with Xi Jinping was the fourth in as many years--and trade was top of the agenda. In 2025, exports from Madrid to Beijing exceeded imports by Euros40 billion, a deficit described by Sanchez as "unsustainable." His visit was part of a broader strategy to reduce the EU's Euros360 billion trade deficit with China. Although the two leaders apparently agreed on measures to improve Madrid's imbalanced relationship with Beijing, no concrete details have been released.
Aware of Sanchez's hostility to Trump, Xi also used their meeting to make several indirect hits against the US president. Praising the Spanish premier for his "moral rectitude" (even though two former members of his inner circle are currently on trial for corruption), Xi said that tighter trade ties between Europe and China would "benefit their [respective] societies and also contribute to the stability, peace, and prosperity of the world in this delicate international climate." Any country aligning itself with Beijing, he claimed, would find itself "on the right side of history."
Spain already has a strong foundation on which to develop stronger ties with China, its biggest trading partner outside Europe and the world's third-largest consumer of Spanish olive oil, behind the US and EU. Sanchez's last visit to Beijing was in June 2025, as the two nations celebrated the 20th anniversary of their strategic comprehensive partnership. Agreements reached then included the export of Spanish cherries to China for the first time and an expansion of the Chinese market for Spanish pork products, which already accounts for 20% of Spain's pork exports. Renewables is proving to be another lucrative sector for Madrid. The Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has partnered with multinational automobile company Stellantis to construct a Euros4.1 billion ($4.3 billion) lithium iron phosphate battery plant in Zaragoza in Northern Spain, due to open by the end of this year. More investments on this scale will be needed if Madrid is to close its Euros40 billion trade gap with Beijing.
The leaders of Ireland, Canada, Finland, and the UK have also visited Beijing this year, seeking stronger economic relations amidst a world order that China's leader claims is "crumbling." Wary of causing diplomatic rifts while they try to attract Chinese business, none have challenged China on human rights issues. Perhaps they also remember a 2021 speech in which Xi stated that any country attempting to "bully, oppress, or subjugate" China would have its head "bashed bloody against the great wall of steel."
In early January, Micheal Martin became the first Irish premier to visit Beijing in almost 15 years. After a series of what he called "positive engagements" with Xi and his premier Li Qiang, Martin secured the reopening of the Chinese market to Irish beef, after a suspension in September 2024 due to an isolated case of BSE. Ireland's prime minister also pressed for greater cooperation in renewables and research, in order to reduce a trade deficit of Euros376 million.
Next up for Xi was Mark Carney, the first Canadian premier to land in Beijing since 2017. Ignoring a request from Human Rights Watch to focus on humanitarian issues, Carney also homed in on trade. Operating in what he calls a "new world order," he wants Canada to double its non-US exports over the next decade (currently, 70% of Canadian exports go to the US). A draft deal between Carney and Xi would permit 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into Canada and reduce tariffs on Canadian canola, lobsters, and peas. Trump's reaction to the agreement has been characteristically schizophrenic: though describing it as a "good thing," he has also threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if it follows through.
Visiting China towards the end of January, Finland's prime minister Petteri Orpo was told that his country could "swim freely" in China's "vast" markets. His state visit was followed a few days later by that of the UK's prime minister Keir Starmer, the first by a British premier since 2018. It yielded concrete results, despite Trump's warning that it was "very dangerous" for Britain to do business with Beijing: a four-year investment by AstraZeneca in China worth $15 billion, a 50% reduction in Chinese tariffs on Scotch whisky, and visa-free travel for British citizens in China up to 30 days.
Human rights organizations will no doubt be angry that none of these leaders tried to leverage political change in China as part of their trade negotiations. But there is an argument that open trade itself has significantly contributed to the liberalization of Chinese society, beginning with the open-door policy initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. On this analysis, the gradual opening up and privatization of the economy has resulted in greater personal freedom, especially in China's rural areas, where the return of household responsibility (baochan daohu) has released millions from servitude to the state. Private companies now account for around 60% of China's GDP and 90% of new jobs. Even in a state as repressive as Communist China, it seems, open trade can chip away at governmental control.
The EU leadership itself still has a fraught relationship with Beijing, after hiking tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in late 2024 (a move that Spain opposed). But this might change now that several member states are pursuing unilateral trade agreements with China, driven east by increased US protectionism. They have realized that the best way to reduce their trade deficit with Beijing is not to impose punitive sanctions, but go on the hard sell--increase the exports rather than limit the imports.
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Mark Nayler is a freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain. He writes regularly for The Spectator and Times Literary Supplement and is working on a biography of the philosopher Bryan Magee, due to be published by Bloomsbury (London) in 2028.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/trade-offensive/
Central New York Community Foundation: $3.2 Million Gift Helps First Marsellus M.A.D.E. Cohort Lean Into Leadership and Communication Skills
SYRACUSE, New York, April 28 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release on April 27, 2026:
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$3.2 Million Gift Helps First Marsellus M.A.D.E. Cohort Lean into Leadership and Communication Skills
A $3.2 million gift is helping strengthen nonprofit leadership across Central New York through the Community Foundation's Marsellus M.A.D.E. to Lead program. The first cohort of nonprofit managers recently completed the six-month experience, building skills, confidence, and connections to better serve their organizations and community.
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Erin Murphy has worked
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SYRACUSE, New York, April 28 -- The Central New York Community Foundation issued the following news release on April 27, 2026:
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$3.2 Million Gift Helps First Marsellus M.A.D.E. Cohort Lean into Leadership and Communication Skills
A $3.2 million gift is helping strengthen nonprofit leadership across Central New York through the Community Foundation's Marsellus M.A.D.E. to Lead program. The first cohort of nonprofit managers recently completed the six-month experience, building skills, confidence, and connections to better serve their organizations and community.
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Erin Murphy has workedat Girl Scouts of NYPENN Pathways for seven years, supporting adult members with training and learning opportunities and helping them succeed as mentors to young girl scouts. She describes herself as a people pleaser and an empathizer and introvert "I'm not that outgoing, go out and connect person," she said.
Open to opportunities to grow her professional skills, Erin applied to and was accepted into the Community Foundation's first cohort of our Marsellus M.A.D.E. (Mission-driven, Achievement, Dedication, and Elevation) to Lead program, made possible by a $3.2 million bequest from John D. Marsellus. Erin was one of 10 mid-level and senior nonprofit managers in the six-month organizational leadership program. Facilitated by Our Glass Consulting, the group met in person again once a month virtually and engaged in one-on-one consulting for about two hours to unlock leadership potential, improve capacity, expand their peer support network, and provide space to explore and solve daily challenges.
By the end of the program, Erin was empowered to seek advice on how to lead meetings about Girl Scout programs and was testing her newly honed skills, armed both with increased confidence and the language to understand her leadership style. "They have done a great job highlighting differences and how to lean into your strengths and identify what you could grow and how to do that," she said.
The first cohort completed its program in March and will celebrate with a graduation this month. The program jumpstarted with support from late donor, John D. Marsellus, a strong advocate for nonprofit professional development. John, an enthusiastic civic leader who died in June last year, was former president of his family business, Marsellus Casket Company. He was also a longtime volunteer and supporter of countless local and national nonprofits.
John's connection to the Community Foundation dates to 1973, when his father, John F. Marsellus, established a donor-advised fund. John and his father shared an interest in nurturing nonprofit leaders. He worked with the Community Foundation to develop the John F. Marsellus Sabbatical program, the Marsellus Executive Development Program, LeadUP CNY (later renamed The Marsellus Next Generation Leadership Development Program) and the Marsellus Forward initiative. Marsellus M.A.D.E. is the latest iteration of leadership programs inspired and supported by Marsellus.
"He was incredibly thoughtful and forward-thinking," said Danielle Johnson, senior director of grants and programs. "He was very aligned with what staff were seeing and hearing from nonprofit professionals. If the need for one program was dwindling, he was able to see new needs emerging. He was very intentional about where those needs were and where a program might be most impactful."
John's concern for nonprofit capacity went beyond building leadership skills, though. "He was also concerned about the leaders taking care of themselves," Danielle said. "He knew the real struggles of being in nonprofits and how isolating it can be in a leadership position. He understood the need to be around like-minded people so we can ultimately improve the community."
Demetrius McNeil and Arlaina Harris of Our Glass Consulting led the first cohort through guest presentations, discussions and interactive exercises aimed at self-assessment and growth. "We wanted them to see themselves as the great leaders they could be but also understand that they are not going through this alone," Demetrius said. "They found that common connection."
He was thrilled to see Erin take initiative to lead meetings at work and to witness growing relationships between emerging and more seasoned managers. One serious, real-life scenario had the participants work together to brainstorm how to modify a program that lost funding. A less serious exercise with a relevant message involved building paper chains -- with only one hand or without scissors. "It's a grade school exercise," Demetrius said. "It points out how we can accomplish things with limited resources. Hopefully they can take things back to their teams and create innovations for the folks they serve."
James Tweedie has already done that. He's relatively new to Central New York, having served as property management at the nonprofit housing development and management organization Christopher Community, Inc., for about 18 months. He previously spent about 20 years in property management in Delaware County. Marsellus M.A.D.E. to Lead helped him update his leadership skills and jumpstart a professional network in Central New York's nonprofit community.
"I am dumbfounded by the amount of people and the number of resources in Syracuse engaged in making Syracuse better," he said.
Thanks to new relationships with program participants, he's connected Christopher Community with Energy Smart CNY and the CNY Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Alliance so their services can help clients at Christopher Community.
James describes his leadership style as director/thinker, expresser, harmonizer. "We talked about identifying the type of leader you are and how you work best with people based on their style," he said. "That's been really enlightening."
He noted that he's changed as a leader as his career has advanced. "I consider that growth," he said. "As you gain more experience and fight more battles, you become a different leader. I think I'm more direct and innovative in my approach than in the past."
James said it's been helpful to update skills, learn new concepts and meet people. "Some great bonds and relationships were made in the group," he said. "Those connections are going to be very fruitful for people."
The application window for the second cohort of Marsellus MADE to Lead opens June 11 at cnycf.org/made.
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Original text here: https://cnycf.org/3-2-million-gift-helps-first-marsellus-m-a-d-e-cohort-lean-into-leadership-and-communication-skills/
OMRF awarded $3.5 million to study ovarian aging
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 27 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF awarded $3.5 million to study ovarian aging
As women hit their mid-30s, ovaries begin to experience chronic, low-level inflammation. Although it's too faint to be felt, this inflammation foreshadows the end of their peak reproductive period and, years later, the onset of menopause.
Two Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientists have received a $3.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to study what triggers this inflammation. Their findings could ultimately help
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 27 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:
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OMRF awarded $3.5 million to study ovarian aging
As women hit their mid-30s, ovaries begin to experience chronic, low-level inflammation. Although it's too faint to be felt, this inflammation foreshadows the end of their peak reproductive period and, years later, the onset of menopause.
Two Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientists have received a $3.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to study what triggers this inflammation. Their findings could ultimately helpextend female fertility and delay menopause.
The National Institute on Aging, part of the NIH, awarded the five-year grant to Sarah Ocanas, Ph.D., and Michael Stout, Ph.D.
This new research will build on their discovery that specific immune cells begin to accumulate in the ovaries around the same time fertility begins to decline. That accumulation leads to inflammation.
Stout hopes the research will answer a fundamental biological question: "Does inflammation drive ovarian aging, or does ovarian aging trigger inflammation? Once we understand which comes first, we can begin looking for ways to intervene."
Ocanas will look at why aging begins earlier in ovaries than in the rest of the body. She believes it may be related to the monthly menstrual cycle.
"Each time an egg is released, the ovary must heal itself," she said. "Over decades, this repeated cycle of slight damage and repair may may lead to the chronic inflammation and scar tissue that are hallmarks of ovarian aging."
Determining the earliest age-related inflammation, the OMRF researchers believe, could lead to potential therapeutic targets to extend reproductive health and improve overall health as women age.
"You have to understand what's going on biologically - and why - before you can develop treatments," Stout said. "That's what this research is about."
Their grant is No. 1R01AG099844-01. Previous funding from the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity and Equality provided preliminary research that made the NIH grant possible.
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/omrf-awarded-3-5-million-to-study-ovarian-aging/
Ninth Circuit Agrees to Review District Court's Attempt to Extend California Antitrust Law Nationwide
WASHINGTON, April 27 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Ninth Circuit Agrees to Review District Court's Attempt to Extend California Antitrust Law Nationwide
"Anointing California as the nation's antitrust enforcer undermines federalism and offends due process." -Cory L. Andrews, WLF General Counsel & Vice President of Litigation
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Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted Altria Group Inc. leave to appeal a district court's class-certification order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f). The
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WASHINGTON, April 27 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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Ninth Circuit Agrees to Review District Court's Attempt to Extend California Antitrust Law Nationwide
"Anointing California as the nation's antitrust enforcer undermines federalism and offends due process." -Cory L. Andrews, WLF General Counsel & Vice President of Litigation
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Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted Altria Group Inc. leave to appeal a district court's class-certification order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f). Theruling was a victory for Washington Legal Foundation (WLF), which submitted an amicus brief contending that the order violates federalism and due process by improperly applying California's Cartwright Act to out-of-state transactions and harms.
The case stems from Altria's 2018 investment in Juul Labs after independently shuttering its uncompetitive e-cigarette division amid losses and FDA scrutiny. Private plaintiffs allege that the investment and a related non-compete unfairly reduced competition. The district court certified a nationwide direct-purchaser class under federal antitrust law and two multistate indirect-purchaser classes under the Cartwright Act across 27 jurisdictions.
In its amicus brief (https://www.wlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/26-2519-WLF-Amicus-Brief-In-re-Juul-23f-petition.pdf), WLF argued that the certification order flouts California's presumption against extraterritoriality and choice-of-law rules by imposing California's policies on other states. It also threatens due process by applying California law to claims with insufficient ties to the state. The state-by-state variations in antitrust laws pose insuperable obstacles rendering class litigation both unmanageable and unconstitutional.
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Original text here: https://www.wlf.org/2026/04/27/communicating/ninth-circuit-agrees-to-review-district-courts-attempt-to-extend-california-antitrust-law-nationwide/
New Jersey Wells Fargo Bank Employees Formally Oust CWA Union Bosses
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, April 27 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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New Jersey Wells Fargo Bank Employees Formally Oust CWA Union Bosses
Branch is the latest in growing movement by Wells Fargo employees endeavoring to end union affiliation
Seaside Park, NJ - Employees at Wells Fargo's Seaside Park branch have successfully removed Communications Workers of America (CWA) union bosses from their workplace. The effort to remove the union was initiated when bank employee Lisa Sholtis filed a petition with the National Labor Relations
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SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, April 27 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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New Jersey Wells Fargo Bank Employees Formally Oust CWA Union Bosses
Branch is the latest in growing movement by Wells Fargo employees endeavoring to end union affiliation
Seaside Park, NJ - Employees at Wells Fargo's Seaside Park branch have successfully removed Communications Workers of America (CWA) union bosses from their workplace. The effort to remove the union was initiated when bank employee Lisa Sholtis filed a petition with the National Labor RelationsBoard (NLRB) seeking a "decertification" election to remove CWA union officials from the Seaside Park Wells Fargo location. Sholtis filed the petition for her coworkers with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal labor law, a task that includes administering elections to install (or "certify") and remove (or "decertify") unions. Sholtis' petition was signed by enough of her Wells Fargo coworkers to prompt the NLRB to schedule a union decertification vote.
The workers requested that the NLRB schedule a secret-ballot election among all full-time and regular part-time tellers and personal bankers employed by Wells Fargo at the Seaside Park branch. The workers were looking to vote on whether to remove the so-called "Wells Fargo Workers United" union (an affiliate of the CWA union).
However, shortly before the election was scheduled by the NLRB, CWA union bosses declared that they "disclaim interest" in the Seaside Park Wells Fargo employees. CWA union officials, possibly anticipating an embarrassing election loss, abandoned their status as the workers' so-called "representatives."
"After nearly two years with the CWA doing little to nothing for employees at the Seaside Park Branch, we finally have our branch back," stated Sholtis.
New Jersey is one of the 24 states without Right to Work protections that make union affiliation and dues payment fully voluntary, meaning that Sholtis and her coworkers could have been forced to pay union dues or fees to union officials or else be fired once the employer entered into a union agreement with CWA.
The Seaside Park workers are the latest in a growing movement of Wells Fargo employees across the nation seeking to cast off their CWA "representatives." Last month, Foundation-assisted Wells Fargo employees in Spring Hill, Florida, and Casper, Wyoming, filed respective petitions to remove the CWA from their branches. More requests for help continue to come in.
In Spring Hill, Florida, CWA union bosses similarly moved to "disclaim interest" in the bank workers, removing themselves as the employees' monopoly bargaining "representatives," rather than facing a potentially humiliating decertification vote. In Casper, Wyoming, CWA union officials are seeking to disenfranchise employees by preventing them from even holding the vote. In yet another decertification effort, last month Wells Fargo employees in Apex, North Carolina, overwhelmingly voted to remove CWA union officials from their branch.
"We are pleased to be able to support Ms. Sholtis and her coworkers as they exercise their legal right to remove unwanted CWA union bosses," commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. "As the movement by Wells Fargo employees to eject the CWA spreads, the Foundation is ready to assist them in exercising their rights under federal law to hold votes to remove the unwanted union."
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The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
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Original text here: https://www.nrtw.org/news/new-jersey-wells-fargo-cwa-04272026/
WLF Lauds New Independent Contractor Rules Grounded in "Economic Reality"
WASHINGTON, April 27 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Lauds New Independent Contractor Rules Grounded in "Economic Reality"
"The Department's clear guidance is consistent with caselaw, keeps faith with the statute, and reflects economic reality." -Zac Morgan, WLF Senior Litigation Counsel
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Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to adopt proposed regulations clarifying when a worker must be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under federal labor law.
As administrations
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, April 27 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:
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WLF Lauds New Independent Contractor Rules Grounded in "Economic Reality"
"The Department's clear guidance is consistent with caselaw, keeps faith with the statute, and reflects economic reality." -Zac Morgan, WLF Senior Litigation Counsel
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Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to adopt proposed regulations clarifying when a worker must be classified as an employee or an independent contractor under federal labor law.
As administrationshave flipped, so has DOL's guidance. In 2021, the first Trump administration issued clarifying rules on this issue-and the subsequent Biden administration reversed those changes and imposed its own. Under Chevron deference, this was tolerable. Courts had to defer to "reasonable" administrative statutory constructions, even if they weren't the best. But a few months after the Biden rule took effect, the Supreme Court decided Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overruled Chevron. Now agencies must apply the best reading of a statute, consistent with Supreme Court caselaw and venerable canons of construction.
WLF's comment contends that the DOL's new regulations successfully thread that needle, while emphasizing that "economic independence should be the touchstone when assessing whether a worker is an independent contractor." WLF also praised the Department's decision for not just getting the law right, but for doing so clearly-reducing ambiguity and "brighten[ing] the lines."
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Click here to read WLF's comment (https://www.wlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/WLF-Comment-Independent-Contractor-or-Employee-Status-27apr2026.pdf).
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Original text here: https://www.wlf.org/2026/04/27/communicating/wlf-lauds-new-independent-contractor-rules-grounded-in-economic-reality/
