Maryland Family Institute (MFI)

Maryland Family Action is the 501(c)(4) lobbying and electoral advocacy organization associated with the Maryland Family Institute.  ² The Delaware Family Policy Council, the Family Foundation of Virginia, and the Pennsylvania Family Institute are sister organizations of MFI. ³

Activities

The Maryland Family Institute aims to advance the principles of faith, traditional family, and freedom in the culture and state laws of Maryland.  ¹ MFI promotes policies that protect life from conception to natural death, claiming that every human being is created by God and has eternal worth and dignity, and opposes policies that would allow for abortion and physician-assisted suicide. ⁴

On September 9, 2025, the Maryland Family Institute submitted a Title IX complaint against Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. The complaint claims that AACPS’s guideline for supporting the gender identity of its students undermines the safety, privacy, and equal treatment of female students. MFI’s complaint objected to provisions for students using facilities that correspond with their gender identity, allowing male students identifying as female to use female restrooms and locker rooms, share overnight accommodations with girls on school trips, and participate in female gym classes and sports. ⁵

Maryland Family Action

Maryland Family Action is the 501(c)(4) nonprofit sister organization of the Maryland Family Institute.  ² Maryland Family Action is a partnering organization of the Platform Integrity Project (PIP), a coalition of conservative groups launched in 2024. The aim of PIP was to work with the Republican National Committee and 2024 presidential campaign of Donald Trump to ensure the preservation of the GOP’s conservative platform positions relating to longstanding pro-life, pro-family, and pro-Israel planks. ⁶

Funding

The Maryland Family Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While MFI does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the National Christian Charitable Foundation ($203,000 in 2023),  ⁷ the Family Policy Alliance Foundation ($151,104 in 2022),  ⁸ and the Swenson Family Foundation ($4,000 in 2024).  ⁹

People

Board of Directors

Jeffrey Trimbath is the president of MFI. Trimbath is a former senior advisor and director of the Legacy Society at the Conservative Partnership Institute and a former senior advisor to the president at the Heritage Foundation. During the George W. Bush administration, Trimbath was a policy leader in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ¹⁰

Francis X. Kelly III is the chair of the board of MFI and the CEO of Kelly Benefits, a group insurance, benefits, and payroll solutions company. Kelly is a former chair of the Maryland Fellowship of Christian Athletes and formerly sat on the boards of the Living Classrooms Foundation, the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the World Vision Leadership Council. ¹¹

Bob Nelson is the secretary and treasurer of MFI and a trustee emeritus of the Living Word International Christian Church. Nelson formerly worked as a technology program manager at NASA. ¹²

Michael Geer is the founding president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Geer sits on the board of CitizenLink and is a member of the executive committee of the REACH Alliance. ¹³

Jeremy Tate is the founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test, an alternative to the SAT and ACT college-aptitude tests, and sits on the advisory board of Eternal Christendom. ¹⁴

Joseph Prud’homme is the Burton Family Chair in religion, politics, and culture, an associate professor of political science, and a member of the affiliated faculty in religious studies at Washington College. Prud’homme is the founding director of Washington College’s Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture. ¹⁵

Advisory Board

Members of the advisory board include Maryland state Delegate Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County); former George W. Bush administration State Department official Ellen Sauerbrey; former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson; Delano Squires, a contributor to Blaze Media; Joel Galan, pastor of Transformation Church; and Martha Schaerr. ¹⁶

Academic Advisory Board

Members of the academic advisory board include Shaun Rieley, director of educational programs at Hillsdale College; Robert Moffit, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation; David Ayers, retired professor of sociology at Grove City College; Catherine Pakaluk, associate professor at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America; and Jennifer Brown, a community college instructor.  ¹⁶

Donor Organizations

Family Policy Alliance Foundation (nonprofit)

National Christian Charitable Foundation (nonprofit)

Swenson Family Foundation (nonprofit)

Related Organizations

Maryland Family Action (nonprofit)

Delaware Family Policy Council (nonprofit)

Family Foundation of Virginia (nonprofit)

Pennsylvania Family Institute (nonprofit)