Connection research · Research date 2026-09-15
Western States Center receives funding from New Venture and Foundation to Promote Open Society, overlapping other mapped national nodes
Recorded status: Verified direct grant relationships; Common Ground contact with WSC does not establish that these funders supported Common Ground or Idaho activity.
This is a dated research record. Its qualifications and open questions are part of the account. Association alone does not establish wrongdoing or control.
Western States Center, which Common Ground—United We Stand says Dixon and Conrad met during their 2024 national coalition-building effort, has a broad institutional funding base. IRS-derived 2019–2024 grant records identify approximately $385,000 from Foundation to Promote Open Society across four grants and approximately $352,000 from New Venture Fund across two grants, alongside larger totals from Meyer Memorial Trust, Fidelity Charitable, Catena Foundation, Ford Foundation, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, Democracy Fund and others. Western States Center’s FY2024 grant list separately shows $100,000 from New Venture Fund and $200,000 from Democracy Fund. These direct funder relationships overlap with national organizations appearing elsewhere in the Idaho network. However, Common Ground’s documented meeting with Western States Center is only an organizational contact; it does NOT establish that Western States Center funded Common Ground, that WSC’s funders financed the meeting, or that any WSC grant was earmarked for Idaho.