Windward Fund

The Windward Fund is the environmental and climate-focused arm of the Arabella Advisors network, serving as a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor for dozens of green advocacy organizations and campaigns. Established as part of Arabella's expanding constellation of managed nonprofits, the Windward Fund channels hundreds of millions of dollars from anonymous donors to organizations fighting fossil fuel development, promoting renewable energy, opposing pipeline construction, and advocating for aggressive climate policy. The fund operates identically to the other Arabella entities — as a fiscal sponsor housing projects that have no independent legal existence — but specializes in environmental and public health causes. This structure allows major philanthropic donors, including those in the clean energy industry, to fund aggressive anti-fossil fuel campaigns without their names appearing on any public filings. The Windward Fund has housed projects targeting specific pipeline proposals (Keystone XL, Dakota Access, Line 3), opposing offshore drilling expansion, supporting the Green New Deal framework, and advocating for electric vehicle adoption. Some of its housed projects have targeted specific fossil fuel companies with divestment campaigns, shareholder resolutions, and public pressure campaigns — raising questions about whether competing clean energy companies may be using the fund's anonymity to fund attacks on fossil fuel competitors. Tax filings show the Windward Fund received grants from major environmental foundations including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Heinz Endowments, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, as well as from donor-advised funds that obscure the identity of individual contributors. The fund's spending accelerated significantly after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, as progressive groups sought to ensure aggressive implementation of the law's clean energy provisions. Conservative critics have targeted the Windward Fund as evidence that the environmental movement's grassroots appearance masks a sophisticated, centrally coordinated dark money operation — while environmentalists counter that fossil fuel industry dark money has historically dwarfed progressive environmental spending.