Overview
CODEPINK, formally CODEPINK Women for Peace, is a California-based 501(c)(3) antiwar organization founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other activists to oppose the planned U.S. invasion of Iraq. What began as an Iraq War protest movement has developed into a national activist network campaigning against U.S. military policy and American influence abroad. Evans serves as president of its board, while Benjamin is treasurer.
The organization stages demonstrations, sit-ins and disruptions of congressional hearings and offices. It maintains dozens of local campaigns, distributes protest and organizing materials and leads activist delegations to countries including China, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela and Bolivia. Its major campaigns include “China Is Not Our Enemy,” “Justice for Palestine,” “No War on Iran,” “U.S. Out of Africa” and “Divest From the War Machine.”
CODEPINK has made opposition to U.S. confrontation with China a major part of its work. Evans is married to Shanghai-based Marxist technology entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham. In CODEPINK programming and publications, Evans and other contributors have praised Chinese governance, promoted Beijing’s claim to Taiwan and cast doubt on reports of abuses in Xinjiang. The organization has also opposed U.S. sanctions on Cuba, organized delegations to the island and argued that U.S. and NATO policies helped provoke Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tax classification — 501(c)(3)
Location — Marina Del Rey, CA
Founded — 2002
Annual revenue — $1,789,935 (FY 2025)
EIN — 26-2823386
Notable connections — Jodie Evans, co-founder and board president; Medea Benjamin, co-founder and treasurer; Claudia De La Cruz, director; CODEPINK Action Fund
Activities
In its 2024 Form 990 filing, CODEPINK described itself as a “women-initiated grassroots peace & social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan, stop new wars & redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs & other life-affirming activities.” CODEPINK’s website reiterates the organization’s identity but broadens its mission beyond Iraq and Afghanistan: “CODEPINK is a feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism…”
As of August 2026, CODEPINK’s website identifies nine focus issues: “Justice For Palestine,” “No War on Iran,” “A Good Neighbor Policy” (in Latin America), “U.S. Out of Africa,” “China Is Not Our Enemy,” “War Is Not Green,” “A Local Peace Economy,” “Accountability: Exposing War Crimes” and “Divest From the War Machine.” In addition, CODEPINK’s website lists 11 active “Campaigns,” which include the organization’s nine focus issues along with “Cut the Pentagon” and “Bases Off Cyprus.”
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, CODEPINK reported $2,609,208 in total program-service expenses. Of that amount, $1,938,017 supported its principal peace and antiwar activity. The filing also reported $175,344 for its “National peace and anti-war program for the Middle East region” and $123,031 for its “China Is Not Our Enemy” campaign. Elsewhere in the return, CODEPINK disclosed a $1.5 million grant to Environmentalism Through Inspiration & Non Violent Action, or ETINA, described as funding a “foreign policy think tank.” ETINA was listed at CODEPINK’s address, and the grant equaled about 52 percent of CODEPINK’s total expenses.
CODEPINK lists 36 “local campaigns”: one in London, England, one in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and the rest in the United States. CODEPINK also produces “Local Organizing Resources,” such as posters and legal guides, to assist community organizers with local protests.
CODEPINK and its local chapters organize a variety of events, including educational gatherings, film screenings, workshops and protests. The group organizes “delegations” of activists to countries including Iran, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela and China.
The group also organizes protests in Washington, D.C., including disruptions and sit-ins at congressional hearings and offices. CODEPINK’s demonstrations often receive broad coverage on social media and in mainstream outlets. Those demonstrations included a widely reported protest against President Donald Trump inside a Washington restaurant in September 2025, another restaurant protest against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in December 2025 and an antiwar protest outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April 2026.
Related Organizations and Affiliations
Related Organizations
CODEPINK’s 2024 Form 990 lists one related tax-exempt organization: CODEPINK Action Fund, a California-based 501(c)(4) organization that describes its primary activity as “Educate public awareness about the cost of war.”
Affiliations
Jodie Evans, president of CODEPINK’s board of directors, has held positions on the boards of several other nonprofit organizations. The People’s Forum’s 2024 Form 990 listed Evans as secretary and interim treasurer. The People’s Forum is a New York-based 501(c)(3). The People’s Support Foundation, a Chicago-based private foundation, listed Evans as president of its board in its 2024 Form 990. Evans also served as vice president of the board of directors of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, a Massachusetts-based 501(c)(3).
Claudia De la Cruz, who served on the board of directors of CODEPINK as of at least March 2025, also served concurrently on the board of The People’s Forum. De la Cruz also served on the board of directors of BreakThrough News between 2020 and 2023, listed as the secretary in each of these years’ filings. In 2024, De la Cruz ran for president as the candidate of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).
Medea Benjamin, the co-founder and treasurer of CODEPINK, sometimes listed as “Susan Benjamin,” was listed as president of the board of Arc of Justice, a Miami-based private foundation, on the organization’s most recent Form 990, which was filed in 2023. The foundation filed a Form 990-T in 2024. Arc of Justice, which was formerly known as the Benjamin Fund and based in San Francisco, California, listed “Medea Susan Benjamin” as president on its first nonprofit filing in 2003 and as recently as 2018. Between 2016 and 2022, according to Form 990-PF filings, Arc of Justice transferred $1,708,200 to CODEPINK in charitable donations. Each Arc of Justice filing acknowledges that CODEPINK and Arc of Justice share a common board member.
Controversies
Criticism of CODEPINK has focused in part on Jodie Evans’s shifting public statements about China. In 2015, Evans called for China to “stop brutal repression of their women’s human rights defenders.” Six years later, during a CODEPINK livestream, she used markedly different language about China’s treatment of Uyghurs.
In a 2021 livestream with Ben Norton of The Grayzone, titled “China Is Not Our Enemy,” Evans alleged that “the Saudi King” admitted he was paid by the United States to “take Wahhabism to the Uyghurs in China so that the U.S. would have a flank on China.” She described Uyghurs as “the most fierce fighters in Yemen and Syria” who “come home and bomb shopping centers” and said China was “trying to deal with the situation.” “I’m sure it’s not pretty,” she added, “but is it a reason to go to war on a billion and a half people?”
Amnesty International reported that, since 2017, the Chinese government has carried out mass internment, torture and persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang. In January 2021, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo determined that China had committed genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. The following month, the Canadian House of Commons voted 266-0 to recognize China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide.
A 2023 blog entry, posted on CODEPINK’s website, titled “Traveling to Prove China Is Not Our Enemy” — written by Dee Knight, the author of “Befriending China: People-to-People Peacemaking” — emphasizes a central Chinese Communist Party (CCP) talking point that “Taiwan is part of China.” Evans wrote of Knight’s book: “He reveals in so many ways that China Is Not Our Enemy….” Knight’s report also features a map displaying contested territorial claims in the South China Sea as part of China.
In a 2023 livestream, Evans effusively praised Chinese governance and society. She said “the idea that it’s an authoritarian system that controls everything” is a “crazy notion that we’ve been sold,” citing her personal experience as evidence.
CODEPINK and affiliated commentators, most notably co-founder and treasurer Medea Benjamin, have insisted they “have not tried to justify or excuse” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but continually emphasize what they say is “the role the United States has played in fomenting the conflict.” CODEPINK condemned Russia’s invasion and called for Russian troops to leave Ukraine, while also blaming NATO expansion and U.S. policy for helping create the crisis. Benjamin has described Ukraine’s 2014 change of government as a U.S.-backed coup — a characterization also advanced by Vladimir Putin and disputed by independent reporting. CODEPINK organized multiple petitions opposing U.S. military support for Ukraine after the invasion.
Since late 2023, members of the U.S. House and Senate have repeatedly pressed CODEPINK and federal agencies for answers about the organization’s funding, advocacy concerning China and relationship with Neville Roy Singham. Singham is an American businessman who resides in Shanghai and is married to CODEPINK co-founder and board president Jodie Evans. The lawmakers’ requests have raised possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), restrictions governing tax-exempt organizations and, in one instance, the federal prohibition against providing material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.
On November 16, 2023, members of the House Committee on Natural Resources wrote a letter to Jodie Evans raising concerns about potential ties between CODEPINK and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
In 2025, Sens. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) separately asked the Justice Department and, in Grassley’s case, the FBI to examine whether CODEPINK’s activities and reported Singham-linked funding created obligations under FARA. Banks accused CODEPINK of “actively engaging in propaganda efforts to support the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) foreign policy aims.” He alleged that the organization “receives significant funding and likely receives direction from agents of the CCP” and concluded that it had “clearly become an agent of CCP influence in the United States.” Grassley asked whether CODEPINK and The People’s Forum should be required to register under FARA. Cotton additionally asked the Justice Department to investigate whether CODEPINK had provided material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.
In June 2026, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) asked the IRS to examine CODEPINK’s tax-exempt status. Scott alleged that the organization had engaged in excessive lobbying, and he raised questions about its reported financial relationships and possible coordination with foreign interests. His letter also referred to an existing Treasury Department inquiry concerning a CODEPINK trip to Cuba.
Separately, federal prosecutors in Manhattan have reportedly opened a grand jury investigation into possible foreign-agent, tax and financial violations involving Singham and his nonprofit funding network. Reporting indicated that investigators are examining whether Singham, organizations he funded or their leaders committed financial crimes. A Fox News report identified CODEPINK as one recipient of Singham-linked funding and said that Evans is also a target of the investigation. CBS News later reported that Singham is under criminal investigation for possible FARA and tax violations but did not identify Evans or CODEPINK as targets. Neither report identified CODEPINK itself as a subpoena recipient or target.
CODEPINK has responded to lawmakers’ allegations by filing ethics complaints with the Office of Congressional Conduct and the Senate Ethics Committee. On June 27, 2025, CODEPINK issued a press release announcing that the organization had filed ethics complaints against Grassley and Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas). On the question of whether the organization receives funding from outside the United States, the press release stated, “CODEPINK has repeatedly emphasized that it is funded exclusively by individuals and foundations and operates without influence or support from any foreign entity.” A statement from a CODEPINK spokesperson added, “We have repeatedly and publicly clarified that China or any foreign government does not fund CODEPINK, nor do we have any contact with the Chinese Communist Party.”
On March 9, 2026, CODEPINK issued a press release announcing it had filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.). Echoing its previous June 27, 2025, press release, the statement says, “CODEPINK has repeatedly and publicly clarified that China or any other foreign government does not fund CODEPINK, nor do we have any contact with the Chinese Communist Party or take direction from them.”
On June 17, 2026, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the chief executive officer of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calling on the IRS to investigate whether CODEPINK is in violation of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The letter cites CODEPINK’s connection to “shady characters,” describes the organization’s alleged relationship with the CCP as “concerning” and claims that CODEPINK has been engaged in an excessive degree of lobbying activity.
Finances
In its 2024 Form 990 filing, CODEPINK reported $784,272 in net assets, with $1,789,935 in revenue and $2,898,277 in expenses. Almost all of CODEPINK’s revenue came from contributions.
CODEPINK received a total of $1,330,000 from Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund between 2017 and 2023. Reports, including one from The New York Times, have alleged that this philanthropic fund is connected to Jodie Evans’s husband, Neville Roy Singham. The connection between Singham and these gifts from the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund is unverified. According to the philanthropy fund’s Form 990 filings, CODEPINK received $350,000 from the fund in 2017, $150,000 in 2018, $210,000 in 2019, $150,000 in 2020, $170,000 in 2021, $150,000 in 2022 and $150,000 in 2023. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Singham held an account with the fund that was active until August 2023 and closed in 2024. Because donor-advised funds do not disclose individual donors, it is not possible to publicly verify whether the payments made to CODEPINK were directed by Singham.
Between 2016 and 2022, CODEPINK received a total of $1,708,200 from Arc of Justice, according to Arc of Justice’s Form 990-PF filings. CODEPINK received $400,250 from Arc of Justice in 2016, $200,000 in 2017, $250,400 in 2018, $250,700 in 2019, $251,500 in 2020 and $355,350 in 2022.
The Justice and Education Fund (JEF), a New York-based 501(c)(3) organization, reported charitable contributions to CODEPINK totaling $490,886 between 2020 and 2022, according to JEF’s Form 990 filings. CODEPINK received $130,295 from JEF in 2020, $250,856 in 2021 and $109,735 in 2022. Each of JEF’s filings between 2020 and 2022 also reports grants or noncash assistance to The People’s Forum (TPF) and BreakThrough News. Jodie Evans, the president and co-founder of CODEPINK, has also served on the board of TPF with JEF Secretary Manolo De Los Santos, TPF’s executive director. Claudia De la Cruz also served on the boards of BreakThrough BT Media and CODEPINK, according to both organizations’ 2022 filings.
Compensation
In its 2024 Form 990 filing, which covered the period from April 2024 through March 2025, CODEPINK reported $0 in compensation for current “officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and highest compensated employees,” as defined in Part VII of Form 990. CODEPINK also checked the form’s box stating that neither the organization nor any related organization compensated any current officer, director or trustee. CODEPINK reported 16 employees and $823,255 in aggregate salaries, other compensation, employee benefits, and payroll taxes for the fiscal year covered by the return. The organization did not report compensation paid to any specific employees.
Board of Directors
CODEPINK’s 2024 Form 990 filing lists seven individuals on its board of directors:
Jodie Evans, president
Medea Benjamin, treasurer
Claudia De la Cruz, director
Dr. Patricia Y. Jones, director
Vivien Lesnik Weisman, secretary
Marjan Shallal, director
Ann Wright, director
Advisory Board
Christine Ahn, Women Cross DMZ
Huwaida Arraf, Palestinian-American lawyer, activist
Simone Chun, Korea Peace Network
V (formerly Eve Ensler), V-Day and One Billion Rising
Nimmi Gowrinathan, Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative
Zaha Hassan, Middle East fellow at New America
Kavita Ramdas, Global Fund for Women
Fatemeh Keshavarz, Roshan Institute for Persian Studies
Lindsay Koshgarian, National Priorities Project
Salome, MC, musician, multimedia artist, educator and first female rapper of Iran
Leila Zand, CODEPINK director of citizen diplomacy with Iran
Kate Shim, National Association of Korean Americans
Marjan Shallal, Busboys and Poets
Susi Snyder, Don’t Bank on the Bomb
Sussan Tahmasebi, director of FEMENA
Amani al-Ahmad, Saudi women’s rights activist in exile
Ali al-Ahmed, Gulf Institute
Hassan El-Tayyab, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Revenue and expenses
Assets and liabilities
Founded in 2026, the Civil Defense Institute is a nonpartisan investigative research organization. We research people, organizations and networks whose conduct undermines civil society and Americans’ freedom to participate in public life. Our work examines extremist and conspiracy-driven campaigns, foreign influence, organized harassment and the institutions that enable them.