Daaiyah Bilal-Threats is a veteran left-of-center nonprofit board member and director. Bilal-Threats has worked for the National Education Association (NEA) for over two decades and is on the board of directors for a number of other left-of-center organizations, including The American Prospect and the Committee on States. ¹

Career

Daaiyah Bilal-Threats has had a long career in the nonprofit sector, previously working at the World Wildlife Fund, the American Red Cross, and the Health Information Network. In 2000, Bilal-Threats joined the NEA, the largest labor union in the United States, as an analyst working on education and health policy. She currently directs the NEA’s domestic and international alliance building initiatives and works as a special assistant to the executive director of the NEA, Kim A. Anderson. ²

In 2011, NEA-affiliated teacher Diane Schneider attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and presented on behalf of the NEA. ³ On her panel, Schneider stated that “oral sex, masturbation, and orgasms need to be taught in education,” argued that parents should not have the option to withdraw their children from such instruction, and claimed that such forms of sex education are “the only way to combat heterosexism and gender conformity.” ^{4 5}

When this speech came to the public’s attention, Bilal-Threats responded to inquiry from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute by disavowing Schneider’s association with NEA and directing the organization to consult NEA’s sexual education policy. ⁶ The NEA supports sexual education beginning in elementary school and praises the use of curriculum that advances left-of-center ideology on gender. ⁷

Board and Initiative Membership

Bilal-Threats is a board member of several left-of-center organizations. Bilal-Threats is a board member of the NEA Foundation, a left-of-center charitable organization affiliated with the NEA. ⁸

Bilal-Threats also sits on the board of the American Prospect, a left-progressive magazine co-founded by former Clinton administration Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. The magazine consistently pushes radical views and attacks other left-of-center activists for allegedly being too moderate. ^{9 10}

Bilal-Threats is on the board of directors of State Voices, a left-of-center organization that facilitates collaboration among left-of-center organizations on the state level, and on the board for the Committee on States. ¹¹ The Committee on States is a collection of left-of-center activists and funders that works on the state level to advance left-of-center political goals. It is closely associated with the Democracy Alliance, a similar collaborative that works to unite left-of-center donors to pursue left-progressive policy at the national level. Bilal-Threats is also the NEA’s representative to the Democracy Alliance. ¹²

Bilal-Threats is on the board of directors of New Media Ventures, a left-of-center organization that specializes in working with other left-of-center organizations to promote their work on social media. The Democracy Alliance recommends that its donors support the group. ¹³

Bilal-Threats also sits on the board of directors for the Partnership for the Future of Learning, a network of organizations that promote left-of-center policies in education. ¹⁴ The organization has argued that the American education system is defined by racism and inequality. ¹⁵“What We Do.” FutureForLearning.org. Accessed March 29, 2021. https://futureforlearning.org/what-we-do/.

1. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
2. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
3. “UN CSW 55 Speeches.” ISISInternational.org, February 23, 2011. Archived from the original March 14, 2011. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20110314004000/http://www.isisinternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1444:un-csw-55-speeches&catid=177:un-csw-55&Itemid=173.
4. Funk, Lauren. “‘Schools Need to Teach about Orgasms’ Says NEA to UN.” C-Fam.org, March 3, 2011. Archived from the original March 16, 2011.  https://web.archive.org/web/20110316234238/http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1798/pub_detail.asp.
5. Ruse, Austin. “Teachers’ Unions: Testing the Bounds of Nuttiness.” NationalReview.com, March 18, 2011. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/teachers-unions-testing-bounds-nuttiness-austin-ruse/.
6. Ruse, Austin. “Teachers’ Unions: Testing the Bounds of Nuttiness.” NationalReview.com, March 18, 2011. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/teachers-unions-testing-bounds-nuttiness-austin-ruse/.
7. Paterson, James. “Sex Education in Schools Needs an Upgrade.” NEA.org, May 31, 2018. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/sex-education-schools-needs-upgrade.
8. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
9. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
10. Kuttner, Robert. “Will Biden Be Radical Enough?” Prospect.org, March 18, 2021. Accessed March 29, 2021. https://prospect.org/api/content/5b798fe4-873d-11eb-9631-1244d5f7c7c6/.
11. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
12. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
13. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.
14. “Board of Directors.” NEAFoundation.org. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.neafoundation.org/who-we-are/about-us/board-of-directors/.