American Promise is an advocacy organization focused on passing and securing the ratification of an amendment to the United States Constitution that would allow greater campaign speech regulation than the Supreme Court has allowed under the First Amendment. ¹

Background

American Promise’s main purpose is to secure passage and ratification of an amendment to the United States Constitution that would allow the U.S. Congress and the states to place and enforce limits on spending and contributions in campaigns, elections, or ballot measures. ²

Activities

American Promise maintains an American Promise Candidate Pledge to encourage candidates and elected officials at all levels of government to pledge on the record that they will use their power and influence to advance the proposed amendment. ³ American Promise also promotes a pledge for the public that calls upon political leaders to pass the proposed amendment.” ⁴ American Promise claims that most Americans support imposing restrictions on political donations. ⁵

American Promise hosts various events every year ⁶ such as gatherings that feature activities that work towards passing campaign speech regulation amendments like the Virginia Democracy Day ⁷ and the National Citizen Leadership Conference. The National Leadership Conference is a two-day event where hundreds of different figures, including Republican and Democratic members of Congress from various states, gather to discuss to discusses various issues that are generally centered around the proposal. This event also features various speaking activities and leadership training with American Promise’s Civic Courage program. This yearly event was first established and convened in October of 2016. ⁸

American Promise also hosts the Young American Council, an application-based cohort of young Americans who seek to advocate for restricting money in politics. Members of the Young American Council pledge to work with American Promise to pass the For Our Freedom Amendment. Those accepted join the council for two years; receive funds to attend American Promise events; get trained in issue advocacy, op-ed writing, and public speaking; and network with other activists. Requirements for acceptance include being a student or recent graduate in high school or college in Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. ⁹

Affiliations

American Promise is a member of Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for electoral administration policy changes, such as automatic and same-day voter registration, as well as other left-of-center concerns like racial justice and abortion access. Other members of Declaration for American Democracy include the National Center for Transgender Equality, a left-of-center group advocating for policies and a culture favorable to gender non-conforming people; AFSCME, the largest union for government workers other than teachers in the United States; National Immigrant Justice Center, an advocacy organization that promotes left-of-center immigration policies; American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers’ union in the United States; the National LGBTQ Task Force, a left-of-center LGBT advocacy group; CodePink, a left-wing advocacy group known for its often-radical rhetoric; Color of Change, an online organization  that advocates for left-of-center policies; New Progressive Alliance, a political advocacy organization inspired by the Socialist Party USA; Daily Kos, a news website focused on left-of-center and Democratic Pary politics; SEIU, one of America’s largest, most controversial , and most politically involved labor unions; Sierra Club, one of the oldest and largest environmental organizations in America; Demos, a left-wing public policy advocacy group; End Citizens United, a Democratic Party-aligned political action committee; Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides abortion both in America and abroad; and MoveOn, a left-of-center digital organizing group. ¹⁰

People

Anastasia Khoo is the president of American Promise. Previously Khoo was chief of staff, senior advisor to the chief executive officer, chief communications officer, senior vice president, and senior advisor or Conservation International, a left-of-center environmentalist organization that promotes private investment in conservationist projects. Khoo also previously spend over 11 years as the chief marketing officer of the Human Rights Campaign,  the nation’s largest LGBT-interest organization and a prominent force in left-of-center politics. Khoo became the president of American Promise in May 2024. ^{11 12}

Jeff Clements is the CEO and a board member of American Promise and American Promise Education Fund. He is also the founder of Whaleback Partners LLC, an organization that provides investments to businesses in the local agriculture economy. He has practiced law for three decades in public service as the assistant attorney general and chief of public law enforcement bureau in the Attorney General’s Office in Massachusetts. He also practiced law in private practice as a partner in a major Boston law firm. ¹³

Since 2010, he has been a major advocate for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. FEC and allow the states and U.S. Congress to set more comprehensive limits on campaign spending in U.S elections than are allowed under the First Amendment. ¹⁴ He graduated from Cornell Law School, with the degree of juris doctor, magna cum laude and from Colby College with a bachelor’s degree in government. ¹⁵

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2023 American Promise reported $4,128,137, a notable increase from its $1,191,379 in reported revenue in 2022, as well as $1,599,776 in expenses and $3,497,514 in assets. Of its revenue, American Promise received $4,103,193 from contributions, gifts, and grants. Of its expenses, American Promise spent $989,774 promoting the For Our Freedom Amendment which would give states the power to regulate how much individuals, businesses, unions, Super PACs, and other organizations can spend on political advocacy. ¹⁶

1. Carson, Daniel. “American Promise Wants to Stamp Big Money out of Politics.” Fremont News Messenger. Last modified January 17, 2018. https://www.thenews-messenger.com/story/news/local/2018/01/17/american-promise-wants-stamp-big-money-out-politics/1036869001/.
2. “For Our Freedom Amendment.” American Promise. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://americanpromise.net/for-our-freedom-amendment/.
3. “About the Candidate Pledge Program.” American Promise. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://americanpromise.net/about-the-candidate-pledge-program/?swcfpc=1.
4. “Sign the Pledge.” American Promise. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://americanpromise.net/.
5. “Our Plan.” American Promise. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://americanpromise.net/our-plan/.
6. “Events Calendar.” American Promise. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://americanpromise.net/events/list/?hide_subsequent_recurrences=1.
7. “Virginia Democracy Day 2023.” American Promise. Last modified December 13, 2022. https://americanpromise.net/event/virginia-democracy-day-2023/.
8. “The 2018 National Citizen Leadership Conference Together We Win.” American Promise. Accessed January 22, 2023. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/americanpromise/pages/687/attachments/original/1495047596/The_2018_National_Citizen_Leadership_Conference.pdf?1495047596.
9. “Young Americans Council.” American Promise. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://americanpromise.net/young-americans-council/.
10. “Declaration for American Democracy.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
11. “Our Staff.” American Promise. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://americanpromise.net/about/our-staff/.
12. “Anastasia Khoo (She/Her).” LinkedIn. Accessed April 4, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiakhoo/.
13. “Our Team.” American Promise. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://americanpromise.net/about/our-team/.
14. Isquith, Elias. “The “rubber stamp” SCOTUS: How Corporations’ Ugly Myth Became Law.” Salon. Last modified September 30, 2014. https://www.salon.com/2014/09/30/the_rubber_stamp_scotus_how_corporations_ugly_myth_became_law/.
15. “Jeffrey Clements.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-clements?original_referer=.
16. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). American Promise. 2023.