What California Policy Center does

California Policy Center (CPC), also known as CPC and legally incorporated in California, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and advocacy organization headquartered in Tustin, California, with a regional office in Bakersfield and approximately 11-50 employees. It was founded around 2013 (the firmographics also reference 2010) by Edward Ring, who co-founded the organization and served as its first president. The organization is supported entirely by individual donations from Californians and operates a portfolio of six branded programs: California Local Elected Officials (CLEO), Parent Union, My Pay My Say, Center for Public Accountability, California Justice Center, and Californians for Energy and Water Abundance (the "Abundance Project"). Its mission is to reduce public-sector barriers to freedom and economic growth, with concentration on public-sector unions, pension and fiscal sustainability, and parental rights and education choice.

CPC delivers value through research reports and policy studies, an interactive Local Fiscal Health Dashboard covering California's cities, counties, and school districts, coalition-building networks for parents and local officials, workplace-freedom opt-out assistance for public employees, and legal advocacy through the California Justice Center. Education is a flagship theme (parental rights, school choice, education reform), with adjacent coverage in energy and water policy, infrastructure, fiscal sustainability, pensions, housing, and the "California Exodus" thesis. The reported programmatic outcome most cited by CPC is that more than 400,000 California public employees have opted out of automatic union dues deductions with CPC's help, and CLEO is described as "California's fastest growing membership organization" for local elected officials.

The business model is straightforward nonprofit donation economics: CPC has no commercial revenue stream, sells no products or services, and is funded by tax-deductible individual charitable contributions (suggested donation tiers on its website range from $15 to $1,000, with a monthly-recurring option). There is no equity ownership, parent company, or institutional investor; governance is by an independent Board of Directors chaired by Bob Loewen, with day-to-day leadership under CEO Will Swaim and President Jackson Reese. Distribution is primarily through the CPC website, email newsletter, organic social channels (including a Prop 65 photo contest on social), and a recurring media property — the "Radio Free California" podcast co-hosted by Will Swaim on National Review.

Name

California Policy Center

Legal name

California Policy Center

Website

https://californiapolicycenter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

California Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization based in Tustin, California. It serves parents, local elected officials, public employees, and donors through policy research, fiscal transparency tools, and legal advocacy on education, unions, and energy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Policy Research and Advocacy

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Political Organizations (813940)

akta.pro primary industry

Think Tanks, Policy Research & Public Policy Institutes (BPAGAFAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN), Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF), Public Affairs, Government Relations & Lobbying (BPAFADAB)

Keywords

• Public policy research
• Policy advocacy services
• Fiscal transparency data
• Education reform advocacy
• Workplace freedom advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Tustin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: California Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported entirely by individual donations from Californians. The organization receives no commercial revenue. Federal identification number: 27-2870463. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

California Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and advocacy organization that produces policy research, investigative reports, and runs programs focused on California public policy. Its core work covers education reform, workplace freedom (union dues opt-out), government fiscal transparency, and legal advocacy against government overreach. The organization operates a portfolio of programs (CLEO, My Pay My Say, Center for Public Accountability, Parent Union, California Justice Center, Californians for Energy and Water Abundance) and supports a network of local elected officials, parents, and activists.

Product overview

California Policy Center is a policy research nonprofit organization operating as a collection of interconnected programs rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include California Local Elected Officials (CLEO) as a membership network, My Pay My Say for workplace freedom advocacy, Center for Public Accountability with its Local Fiscal Health Dashboard for fiscal transparency, Parent Union for education reform, California Justice Center for litigation support, and Californians for Energy and Water Abundance (Abundance Project) for energy policy analysis. The organization publishes research reports and maintains newsroom content covering policy issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• California Local Elected Officials (CLEO): California's fastest growing membership organization that educates, supports and convenes local elected officials throughout the state's thousands of cities, counties and school districts.
• Parent Union
• My Pay My Say
• Center for Public Accountability
• California Justice Center
• Californians for Energy and Water Abundance

Products and services

• California Local Elected Officials (CLEO) Membership organization that educates, supports, and convenes local elected officials across California's cities, counties, and school districts.
• My Pay My Say Workplace freedom initiative helping California public employees opt out of union dues and financing arrangements with union bosses.
• Center for Public Accountability Program promoting fiscal transparency and sustainability by providing financial data and analysis of California's cities, counties, and school districts.
• Parent Union Hub for education reform advocates and parent groups to train, network, and build coalitions to advance education excellence in California.
• California Justice Center Legal advocacy initiative supporting pro bono litigation to protect Californians from government overreach.
• Californians for Energy and Water Abundance Program providing in-depth analysis of California's water and energy policies that drive scarcity and rationing, and offering alternative solutions to attain energy and water abundance.
• Local Fiscal Health Dashboard Interactive financial data dashboard offering analysis of California cities, counties, and school districts fiscal health.
• The California Book of Exoduses Research publication documenting Californians leaving the state due to policy conditions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 400,000 California public employees have opted out of automatic union dues with CPC's help
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Reason Foundation: Los Angeles-based libertarian think tank producing state-level policy research on education, housing, infrastructure, and pensions. Highly comparable to CPC in mission, methodology, and California focus, with overlapping senior fellows.
• Pacific Research Institute: San Francisco-based free-market public policy think tank focused on California and West Coast state-level reform across education, health, and the economy. The closest direct competitor to CPC within California on free-market state policy research and advocacy.
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Michigan-based state-level free-market think tank focused on transparency, education reform, and labor policy. Closely comparable to CPC in operating model — single-state focus, multiple advocacy programs, and a public-sector-union reform thesis.
• Claremont Institute: Claremont, California-based conservative public policy institution that publishes research on constitutional governance and state policy. Directly comparable to CPC as a California-headquartered conservative state-level policy shop.
• Goldwater Institute: Arizona-based conservative state-level policy organization focused on education choice, government accountability, and litigation. Comparable to CPC's California Justice Center and Parent Union models for state-level reform via litigation and coalition building.
• Manhattan Institute: New York-based think tank producing state and local policy research on education, pensions, housing, and urban governance. Comparable to CPC in the union-and-pension reform space and in working with state and local elected officials.
• Independent Institute: Oakland, California-based nonprofit public policy research organization focused on limited government, free markets, and education reform. Comparable to CPC in California geographic focus and center-right policy advocacy.

Broad incumbents

• Heritage Foundation: National conservative think tank producing research across federal and state policy. Comparable to CPC in ideological alignment and methodology, though operates at much larger scale and across all 50 states rather than California alone.
• Hoover Institution: Stanford-based public policy research center covering economics, education, and governance at national and state level. Comparable as a California-based policy research institution but with vastly larger resources, broader scope, and university affiliation.

Others

• California Policy Research Institute (clarenceanalytics/CPR): Smaller California-focused policy research efforts adjacent to CPC. Listed as an adjacent actor in California state policy research with thematic overlap; specific peer identity is uncertain and may require omission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/calpolicycenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/CalPolicyCenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/california-policy-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles33 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about California Policy Center