Who we are

The Oxfam America Action Fund uses legislative lobbying and political advocacy to tackle inequality which is the root cause of poverty and injustice. We seek to change institutions that keep people in poverty in the US and around the world by challenging the national and international laws and holding the powerful accountable.

Oxfam and the Oxfam America Action Fund: What’s the difference?

Oxfam is a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice. Together with our supporters, we reject the extreme concentration of wealth and power that drives inequality, and we challenge billionaires, corporations, governments, and international financial institutions to do better. We fight for everyone to pay their fair share of taxes and for companies to provide a living wage. We advocate for climate action to protect the rights and livelihoods of people most affected by the climate crisis. The Oxfam America Action Fund is unique in that it targets the problems of poverty and injustice by focusing on challenging unjust laws and policies in the US and around the globe.

Learn more about Oxfam.

As a separate organization, the Action Fund works together with Oxfam, but has fewer limitations on spending. This gives us the ability to pursue vital and effective advocacy work—crucial to the success of Oxfam programs in the US and around the world. Because our efforts are focused primarily on legislative action, donations to the Action Fund are not tax deductible.

  1. Gina C. Cummings

    President, Oxfam America Action Fund

    Gina is the Vice President of Advocacy, Alliances & Policy for Oxfam America where she oversees research, policy, advocacy, campaigning, and building Oxfam's network of US allies, partners, and supporters to influence the US government and US corporations.

    Gina joined Oxfam America in 2006 as an Organizing and Alliances Manager where she developed the Sisters on the Planet ambassadors program, as well as alliances with chefs and other key allies. She then served as Director of campaigns setting the strategic direction for Oxfam’s advocacy campaigns and developing the team structures to support them.

    Prior to joining Oxfam, Gina was Chief Operating Officer of Physicians for Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. She managed day-to-day operations and supervised senior teams that oversaw policy, media, and fundraising work; forensic investigations; research; campaigns; and human resources.

    Gina’s work included looking at the impact of torture in Guantanamo prison; juvenile justice in the US; asylum and human rights in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechnya, Sierra Leone and Rwanda; and forensic investigations to determine crimes against humanity and genocide in Guatemala, Honduras, Rwanda, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She also served as the organization’s Director of Campaigns, organizing medical and nursing school programs, and establishing partnerships and projects with Partners In Health, the American Public Health Association, and other health-related organizations.

    Photo of Gina C. Cummings

Our board of directors

  1. Kitt Sawitsky

    Director, Goulston & Storrs

    Kitt is a member of the Oxfam America board of directors and chairman of the board of the Oxfam America Action Fund. A lawyer and former managing director of Goulston & Storrs, he practices general corporate and business law. The bulk of his practice involves mergers, acquisitions, shareholder and partnership agreements, debt and equity financing, and other general corporate matters. He coordinates Goulston & Storrs’ pro bono representation of Oxfam America, counseling the organization on its international relief and development efforts. He was a co founder of Boston Employment Service (“Strive”) and currently serves on the board of directors of Strategies for Children and on the board of overseers of the New England Aquarium. Kitt did his undergraduate studies at Princeton University and received his law degree from Boston College Law School.

    Photo of Kitt Sawitsky
  2. Bennett Freeman

    Senior vice president for sustainability, research, and policy, at Calvert Investments

    Freeman is the treasurer of the board of the Oxfam America Action Fund and a former member of the Oxfam America board of directors. As senior vice president for sustainability, research, and policy at Calvert Investments, he leads the environmental, social, and governance analysis; shareholder advocacy; and public policy work of the largest US family of sustainable and responsible mutual funds. During the Clinton administration, Freeman served as a presidential appointee to three different positions in the US State Department, including deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor. He is chairman of the advisory board of Global Witness, a trustee of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, board secretary of the Global Network Initiative, and a member of the board of the Natural Resources Governance Institute.

    Photo of Bennett Freeman
  3. Elizabeth Becker

    Author and journalist

    Becker is the author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism, which was selected by Amazon.com as one of the best books of the year in 2009. As a journalist, Becker covered national and international affairs from the US, Asia, Europe, and Latin America for more than 30 years, and was the international economics correspondent at the New York Times covering trade, development, and globalization. Before joining the Times, Becker was the senior foreign editor at National Public Radio. She began her career at The Washington Post as a war reporter in Cambodia, eventually writing When the War Was Over, the classic history of modern Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. She is also the author of America’s Vietnam War (1992), and Bophana (2009). Becker serves on the advisory board of the Harpswell Foundation and is a graduate of the University of Washington.

    Photo of Elizabeth Becker
  4. Chuck Collins

    Director, Program on Inequality, Institute for Policy Studies Co-editor, Inequality.org Author, Born on Third Base

    Chuck Collins is the Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org. He is the author of the popular book, "Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good(Chelsea Green)." His most recent book, "Is Inequality in America Irreversible?" is published by the Oxford, UK-based Polity Press. His forthcoming book, "The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Spend Millions to Hide Trillions", is about the wealth defense industry and will be published in late 2020 by Polity Press.

    He is an expert on U.S. inequality and the racial wealth divide and author of several books, including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It. He is co-author with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth, (Beacon Press, 2003), a case for taxing inherited fortunes. He is co-author with Mary Wright of The Moral Measure of the Economy, a book about Christian ethics and economic life.

    He is co-author of several reports including “The Road To Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class,” “Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us” and “Gilded Giving: Top Heavy Philanthropy in an Age of Extreme Inequality.” He is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, high-income households, and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation. This network merged in 2015 with the Patriotic Millionaires. In 1995, he co-founded United for a Fair Economy (UFE) to raise the profile of the inequality issue and support popular education and organizing efforts to address inequality. He was Executive Director of UFE from 1995-2001 and Program Director until 2005.

    Collins has a B.A. in history and economics from Hampshire College and a Masters in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

    Photo of Chuck Collins
  5. Raymond C. Offenheiser

    Former President, Oxfam America

    Ray Offenheiser joined Oxfam America as its president in 1996. Under his leadership, Oxfam America has grown more than sevenfold, and repositioned itself in the US as an influential voice on international development and foreign policy. Prior to joining Oxfam, Ray represented the Ford Foundation in Bangladesh and the Andean and Southern Cone regions of South America. He has also directed programs for the Inter-American Foundation in both Brazil and Colombia and worked for Save the Children Federation in Mexico. At the 2012 G8 Meeting, he was appointed by the Obama administration to represent civil society interests on the Leadership Council of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa. Ray serves and has served on numerous boards and advisory bodies for a diverse array of both national and international institutions including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institute, the World Agricultural Forum, the Gates Foundation, Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Cornell University, Interaction and the Kellogg Center at the University of Notre Dame. He was a co-founder and board member of the ONE Campaign, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and the Food Policy Action Network and served as honorary President of Wetlands International.

    Photo of Raymond C. Offenheiser

A copy of the latest financial report, registration filed by Oxfam America Action Fund, and a description of our programs and activities may be obtained by contacting us at: Oxfam America Action Fund, Oxfam America 77 North Washington Street Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114, 800-77-OXFAM. Oxfam America was formed in Massachusetts. If you are a resident of one of the following states, you may obtain financial information directly from the state agency.

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State Nonprofit Disclosures

Certain states require written disclosures for nonprofit organizations soliciting contributions. Individual state disclosures are below.

Florida: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE, WITHIN THE STATE, 1-800-435-7352 (800-HELP-FLA), OR VISITING www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. Florida Registration #CH21899

Georgia: A full and fair description of our programs and our financial statement summary is available upon request at our office and phone number indicated above.

Maryland::For the cost of copies and postage, from the Office of the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401.

Mississippi: The official registration and financial information of Oxfam America Action Fund, Inc. may be obtained from the Mississippi Secretary of State's office by calling 1-888-236-6167. Registration by the Secretary of State does not imply endorsement.

New Jersey:: INFORMATION FILED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CONCERNING THIS CHARITABLE SOLICITATION AND THE PERCENTAGE OF CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED BY THE CHARITY DURING THE LAST REPORTING PERIOD THAT WERE DEDICATED TO THE CHARITABLE PURPOSE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY BY CALLING (973) 504-6215 AND IS AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AT www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/charfrm.htm. REGISTRATION WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT.

New York: Upon request, from the Attorney General Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.

North Carolina: Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 1-919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the state.

Pennsylvania: The official registration and financial information of Oxfam America Action Fund, Inc. may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999.

Virginia: From the State Office of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23218.

Washington: From the Secretary of State at 1-800-332-4483 or http://www.sos.wa.gov/charities/

West Virginia: West Virginia residents may obtain a summary of the registration and financial documents from the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305.

Wisconsin: A financial statement of the charitable organization disclosing assets, liabilities, fund balances, revenue and expenses for the preceding fiscal year will be provided to any person upon request.

REGISTRATION WITH A STATE AGENCY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THAT STATE.

More information about state disclosure verbiage and charitable state registrations.