Nancis Animal Rights Foundation
Nanci’s Animal Rights Foundation is a private foundation established in 2003 by Nanci Alexander, an animal liberation funder and the ex-wife of former Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander. 1 The foundation funds the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida and other more controversial animal liberation and vegan advocacy organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
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Alexander is one of PETA’s top financial supporters; as such, when PETA opened a Washington, D.C. office in 2010, it was named “The Nanci Alexander Center for Animal Rights.” PETA’s founder and president, Ingrid Newkirk, has described Alexander as “an animal rights activist’s activist.” 2
In line with her animal-liberation activism, Nanci Alexander was the founder the all-vegan Sublime restaurant in Fort Lauderdale which closed suddenly in 2018. 3
People
Nanci Alexander was married to Leslie Alexander, a billionaire and former owner of the Houston Rockets, for more than 30 years. Leslie Alexander is a vegetarian and animal rights advocate who formerly served on the board of Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). 4
The Alexanders divorced in 2003, and Nanci Alexander received a $150 million settlement. 5 That same year, Nanci’s Animal Rights Foundation was established,6 and Nanci Alexander opened Sublime, an all-vegan restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, that would close suddenly in 2018. 3
Alexander founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (AARF) in 1989, an activist group based in Fort Lauderdale, which claims to promote “respect and compassion for animals in Florida.” AARF focuses its efforts on campaigns to eliminate many common farming and hunting practices, as well as other commercial uses of animals in entertainment and scientific research. AARF also strongly promotes veganism and distributes pro-vegan literature. 7
Grantmaking
Nanci’s Animal Rights Foundation has been a major donor to two controversial animal rights organizations, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). 8
In the Foundation’s first year, it donated $10 million to PCRM and $5 million to PETA;8 it has continued to donate vigorously to each, with a total of nearly $55 million to PCRM and nearly $47 million to PETA, according to the Foundation’s tax returns. 9 Nanci’s Animal Rights Foundation has donated so much money to PETA that PETA named its Washington, D.C. office “The Nanci Alexander Center for Animal Rights.” 2
The Foundation also funds Alexander’s organization, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, totaling nearly $300,000 since 2014. 10
Financial Statistics
Total Assets
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
Revenue Detail
Expenses Detail
Grant Activity
All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:
- Total Grant Value: $81,510,147
- Number of Grants: 61
- Number of Recipients: 17
Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years: