Lauren Windsor reports exclusively on a nonprofit organization called the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), which convenes Republican state treasurers and Christian finance executives to strategize against "woke" corporations. According to documents obtained by Windsor, SFOF's former CEO Derek Kreifels is now lobbying treasurers to invest public funds in faith-aligned financial products offered by his firm, Prospr Aligned. This alleged conflict of interest has already resulted in business from the Kentucky auditor's office, and Kreifels has also targeted Alaska, where he has connections with state officials. Windsor's reporting suggests that SFOF's "War on Woke" is a front for financial gain by its members.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-27,
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Story summary
Lauren Windsor, an investigative reporter, uncovered a potential corruption scheme involving Christian finance firms in Alaska. During her year-long investigation, Windsor attended public meetings and obtained records showing that Crum, the former revenue commissioner of Alaska, directed public resources to his friend's non-profit and for-profit ventures. Specifically, she found that Crum was promoting Prospr, a company with an Alaskan-themed investment fund, which is expected to benefit from a major state agency decision soon. This scheme is part of a broader effort by the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) to control public investment funds and advance Christian nationalist interests in red states across the country. The SFOF brings together Republican state officials, right-wing activists, and Christian finance executives to strategize on how to defeat liberals and manipulate public resources for their own gain.
Written for “Right's War on Woke Exposed” on 2026-08-31,
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It’s the culmination of over a year’s worth of reporting, and breaks open a world of staggering corruption on the right you’ve likely never heard of.
asserted
you → ’ → right
The epic flood of corruption swamping Washington isn’t just overwhelming American politics – it’s also obscuring the grift occurring in red states across the country, as officials work to put public investment funds under the control of their friends at Christian finance firms.
asserted
officials → swamp → firms
A major conduit for that corruption is the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF), a small but powerful nonprofit that convenes Republican state treasurers and auditors, right-wing activists, and Christian finance executives to strategize over how to defeat liberals and weaponize state treasuries against allegedly woke corporations, while steering state treasury money to their ideological allies.
uncertain
that → convene → allies
Much of their “War on Woke” consists of boosting the fossil fuel industry and crushing efforts to mitigate climate change, under the notion that corporate safeguards are bad business.
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safeguards → consist → notion
That theory is convenient for conservatives’ fossil fuel funders – as well as for SFOF’s longtime top executive, who’s moving to cash in.
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who → move → executive
He resigned from this role in the fall of 2024, but he remains an SFOF board member, and his wife serves as one of its top executives.
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wife → resign → executives
Now, Kreifels is lobbying SFOF treasurers to put public retirees’ savings and other funds they oversee into faith-aligned financial products and services offered by his firm, Prospr Aligned, and its affiliates in the Christian finance industry.
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they → lobby → industry
Kreifels’s firm has already won business from the Kentucky auditor’s office, which is led by a member of the State Financial Officers Foundation’s leadership team, as I can report for the first time.
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I → win → time
Another state Kreifels has targeted heavily is Alaska, where he has friends in former Revenue Commissioner and ex-SFOF Vice Chair Adam Crum and Alaska Permanent Fund Chair Jason Brune.
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he → target → Crum
In an interview with me in Anchorage last fall, Brune defended Crum and his collaboration with Kreifels as efforts to promote resource extraction in the Arctic – arguing that he and Crum, as members of the governor’s cabinet, “are pimping for the state.”
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he → defend → state
Over the last year, I attended public board meetings in Alaska; staked out an SFOF conference in DC; and obtained records, photos, audio, and video documenting Crum’s efforts to direct public resources to his friend’s nonprofit and for-profit ventures during his tenure as revenue commissioner.
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I → attend → commissioner
Crum’s efforts are on the verge of paying off for Kreifels: A major state agency will soon decide whether to put money into Prospr’s Alaskan-themed investment fund.
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agency → pay → fund
The State Financial Officers Foundation has also helped support Kreifels’s private business ventures.
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Foundation → help → ventures
According to state travel disclosures, SFOF paid for at least one treasurer’s travel to the New York Stock Exchange launch party for Prospr’s Alaska investment fund.
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SFOF → accord → fund
SFOF also arranged for a special speaker: longtime ally Paul Atkins, who as chairman of the Trump Securities and Exchange Commission regulates the Prospr fund.
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who → arrange → fund