Sandy Newman
Co-founder and Principal

Sandy Newman’s work to increase voting began as a teen volunteer working to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act. He has been a pioneer in leading the election community to conduct scientific tests to determine what really works. 

 In addition to many years advising foundations and major donors on how to maximize the impact of their giving on democracy and elections, he has founded three successful, innovative organizations.

The first of the three, Project VOTE! , became the nation’s leading minority voter registration group, registering over half a million voters in a single year, winning a dozen lawsuits, and transforming the voter registration field to far greater cost-effectiveness, scale, and accountability.

He later developed and directed the democracy and voter participation program for the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund.

During his “intermissions” from voting work, Sandy founded and directed two additional successful national advocacy organizations: Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and Voices for Progress.

Through Sandy Newman and Associates, Sandy helps foundations and wealthy individuals maximize their impact on democracy and election outcomes. He now provides this same expertise to the Focus for Democracy network free of charge.

Sandy graduated from Wesleyan University and the University of Virginia Law School. He lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife, Chris.