The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) is an advocacy group that promotes policies it states will protect Americans from “identity-based practices.” FAIR activities include policy advocacy, legal action, grassroots networking, and “educational opportunities.”¹

As of 2025, FAIR operates roughly state 50 chapters in the United States and Canada with additional chapters at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.²

Activities

The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) is an activist group that promotes policies towards protecting Americans from “identity-based practices.” The group uses Martin Luther King Jr. as an example of promoting policies it states will prevent discrimination based on characteristics including ancestry or skin color. ³

FAIR is opposed to “race-based education” and advocates instead for its American Experience Curriculum, which it states helps students explore “diversity amongst ethnic groups,” “highlights multiracial Americans,” and tracks “the evolution of concepts of race and ethnicity.”⁴ [i]⁵

Funding

The Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While FAIR does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Edelman Family Foundation ($1 million in 2021), ⁶ United Charitable ($672,099 in 2023), ⁷ and DonorsTrust ($52,500 in 2022). ⁸

Leadership

Monica Harris is the executive director of Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Harris is a former editor of the Harvard Law Review and a former business and legal affairs executive at Walt Disney Television, NBCUniversal Media, and Viacom Media Networks. Harris is the author of The Illusion of Division.⁹

Board of Directors

Angel Eduardo is the president and chair of the board of FAIR and a senior writer and editor at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Eduardo is a former managing director of messaging and editorial at FAIR.¹⁰

Heather Blakeslee is the treasurer of the board, the founder of Root Quarterly, a Philadelphia-based art journal, and the Pennsylvania state co-coordinator of Braver Angels.¹¹

Lincoln Jones is the secretary of the board of FAIR and the founder and director of the American Contemporary Ballet.¹²

Board of Advisors

Bion Bartning is the founder of FAIR. Bartning is a co-founder of eos Products and formerly worked for American Express.¹³

Lisa Bildy is the executive director of the Free Speech Union of Canada and a lawyer at Libertas Law. Bildy is a former lawyer at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in Calgary.¹⁴

Liang-Fang Chao is a member of the City Council of the City of Cupertino, a co-founder of the Young American Policy Advocates, and a former trustee of the Cupertino Union School District Board of Education.¹⁵

Robert P. George is the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. George is a former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a former member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and former judicial fellow at the U.S. Supreme Court.¹⁶

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist at the Stern School of Business at New York University and a co-founder of Heterodox Academy.¹⁷

Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an assistant research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary. Hamid is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a co-founder of Wisdom of Crowds.¹⁸

Alan Charles Kors is a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. Kors is a former elected member of the University and School Committees on Academic Freedom and Responsibility.¹⁹

Frederic Luskin is the director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects and an affiliate faculty member of the Greater Good Science Center.²⁰

Robert Pondiscio is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Pondiscio is a former policy analyst and education reform expert at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.²¹

Erec Smith is an associate professor of rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania, a co-founder of Free Black Thought, and a writing fellow at Heterodox Academy. Smith is an advisor for both the Institute for Liberal Values and Counterweight.²²

Nadine Strossen is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and sits on the advisory boards of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, and the National Coalition Against Censorship. Strossen is a former national president of the ACLU.²³

Greg Thomas is the CEO of the Jazz Leadership Project, a senior fellow at the Institute for Cultural Evolution, and the founding editor-in-chief of Harlem World magazine.²⁴

John Wood, Jr. is a national ambassador for Braver Angels, an advisor to both The American Project and 1776 Unites, and is a member of the Progress Network. Wood is a former vice-president of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County.²⁵

Other members of the Board of Advisors include Quay Hanna, Stephen Hawkins, Jonathan Kay, Ilana Redstone, Wilfred Reilly, Adam Seagrave, Michael Shellenberger, Sage Steele, Eli Steele, and Andrew Sullivan.²⁶

1. “About Us.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 9, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/about-us/.
2. “Chapters.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 9, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/chapters/.
3. “Understanding the Issues.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 9, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/understanding-the-issues/.
4. “A Guide to Evaluating Research on Ethnic Studies.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/EthnicStudies_C.pdf.
5. “FAIR’s American Experience Curriculum.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 11, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/american-experience-curriculum/.
6. Edelman Family Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2021, Part XV, Line 3.
7. United Charitable, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Schedule I, Part II.
8. DonorsTrust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2022, Schedule I, Part II.
9. “Monica Harris.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/monica-harris/.
10. “Angel Eduardo.” Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.thefire.org/about-us/our-team/angel-eduardo.
11. “Heather Blakeslee.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/heather-blakeslee/.
12. “Lincoln Jones.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/lincoln-jones/.
13. “Bion Bartning.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/bion-bartning/.
14. “Lisa Bildy.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisabildy/.
15. “Liang Fang Chao.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/liang-fang-chao/.
16. “Robert P. George.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/robert-p-george/.
17. “Jonathan Haidt.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/jonathan-haidt/.
18. “Shadi Hamid.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/shadi-hamid/.
19. “Alan Charles Kors.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/alan-charles-kors/.
20. “Fred Luskin.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/fred-luskin/.
21. “Robert Pondiscio.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/robert-pondiscio/.
22. “Erec Smith.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/erec-smith/.
23. “Nadine Strossen.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/nadine-strossen/.
24. “Greg Thomas.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/greg-thomas/.
25. “John Wood, Jr.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/profile/john-wood-jr/.
26. “Board of Advisors.” Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.fairforall.org/people/#board-of-advisors.