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The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable
foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
based in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, that primarily supports
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
causes. The foundation provides between $35 million and $45 million annually to a variety of causes, including cultural institutions, community-based nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee, and conservative groups. It has been active in education reform including
school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...
, and efforts to change election rules. Approximately 70% of the foundation's giving is directed to national groups while 30% is Wisconsin-based. The foundation had about $850 million in assets as of 2021.


History

The foundation was established in 1942, shortly after the death of
Lynde Bradley Lynde Bradley (August 19, 1878 – February 8, 1942), the brother of Harry Lynde Bradley, was the co-founder of the Allen-Bradley Company and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Bradley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Milwauk ...
, to further the philosophy of the Bradley brothers. The foundation's credo is "The good society is a free society." In 1965, after the death of
Harry Lynde Bradley Harry Lynde Bradley (January 5, 1885 – July 23, 1965), the brother of Lynde Bradley, was the co-founder of the Allen-Bradley Company and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. He "became deeply involved in conservative causes", John J. Miller ...
, Lynde's brother, the foundation expanded and began to concentrate on
public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
. The 1985 acquisition of the Allen-Bradley Company by
Rockwell International Corporation Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...
resulted in a portion of the proceeds going to expand the foundation, swelling its assets from $14 million to over $290 million. In 1986, the foundation gave away $23 million, more than it had in the previous four decades. John J. Miller (2003), "The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation", in
How Two Foundations Reshaped America
',
Philanthropy Roundtable The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises conservative philanthropists. History The Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the now-defunct Institute For Educational Affairs. It was founded as a conservative al ...
The Bradley Foundation's former president, Michael S. Joyce, helped to create the
Philanthropy Roundtable The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises conservative philanthropists. History The Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the now-defunct Institute For Educational Affairs. It was founded as a conservative al ...
, a group of American philanthropists that, as of 2018, has 660 members (consisting of both individuals and organizations). In August 2021 ''New Yorker'' magazine,
Jane Mayer Jane Meredith Mayer (born 1955) is an American investigative journalist who has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1995. She has written for the publication about money in politics; government prosecution of whistleblowers; the Uni ...
wrote that the Bradley Foundation "has become an extraordinary force in persuading mainstream Republicans to support radical challenges to election rules—a tactic once relegated to the far right" and "funds a network of groups that have been stoking fear about election fraud, in some cases for years. Public records show that, since 2012, the foundation has spent some eighteen million dollars supporting eleven conservative groups involved in election issues." On the foundation's board of directors is attorney
Cleta Mitchell Cleta B. Deatherage Mitchell (born September 16, 1950) is an American lawyer, politician and conservative activist.Elizabeth WilliamsonRiding Shotgun on Campaign Trail ''The Wall Street Journal'', October 30, 2010 Elected in 1976, Mitchell served ...
, who joined
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
on his phone call on January 2, 2021, when he pressured Georgia election officials to find more than 11,000 votes to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.


Funding areas

The foundation describes itself as supporting
limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Theo ...
. ''The New York Times'' described the Bradley Foundation as "a leading source of ideas and financing for American conservatives." A 2013 report from the
Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to reveal abuses of power, corruption and dereliction of duty by powerful public and private institutions in order to c ...
found that the Bradley Foundation was one of the largest contributors to
Donors Trust Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...
, a right-wing think tank has been described as the "
dark money In the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections where the source of the money is not disclosed to voters. In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns wi ...
ATM" for conservative billionaires and a, enabling them to make sizable donations to conservative causes without attracting public scrutiny. In a 2018 interview, the foundation's CEO, Richard Graber, described its four major areas of funding as "constitutional order", education (in particular
school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...
),
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
and foreign policy. Activities in these areas had funded millions of dollars for three anti-Muslim groups: the
David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
(which received $4.2 million),
Frank Gaffney Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including ...
's
Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization's founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about former U.S. President B ...
(which received $815,000) and
Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and the ...
'
Middle East Forum The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the ''Middle East Quarterly''. A ...
(which received $305,000). These grants were between 2008 and 2011.Annysa Johnson
Islamic rights group's report rips Bradley Foundation funding
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (September 20, 2013).
The foundation's funding was criticized by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
, which described the grant recipients as an "
Islamophobic Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
network." Organizations awarded grants by the foundation have included
FreedomWorks FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representat ...
,Bradley Foundation website
Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by Charles Koch and formerly his brother David. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one ...
,
The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...
, the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, and ...
, the
Black Alliance for Educational Options Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) was a nonprofit group supporting school voucher and charter school programs in the United States. It was one of the largest pro-voucher groups. The group's mission was to "actively support parental choi ...
and the
SEED Foundation The SEED Foundation (also often referred to as the SEED Schools) is a 501(c)(3) organization, established in 1997 to provide boarding school college-preparatory educational opportunities to underserved students.


Bradley Prize

The Bradley Prize is a grant to "formally recognize individuals of extraordinary talent and dedication who have made contributions of excellence in areas consistent with The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation's mission." As many as four prizes of $250,000 each are awarded annually. Winners have included
Fouad Ajami Fouad A. Ajami ( ar, فؤاد عجمي; September 18, 1945 – June 22, 2014) was a MacArthur Fellowship winning, Lebanese-born American university professor and writer on Middle Eastern issues. He was a senior fellow at Stanford University's Ho ...
(2006),
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...
(2007),
Martin Feldstein Martin Stuart Feldstein ( ; November 25, 1939 – June 11, 2019) was an American economist. He was the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER ...
(2007),
Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American commentator, classicist, and military historian. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for ''The New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ...
(2008),
Leonard Leo Leonard A. Leo (born 1965) is an American lawyer and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and is currently, along with Steven G. Calabresi, the co-chairman of the organization's board of direc ...
(2009),
William Kristol William Kristol (; born December 23, 1952) is an American neoconservative writer. A frequent commentator on several networks including CNN, he was the founder and editor-at-large of the political magazine ''The Weekly Standard''. Kristol is now ...
(2009), Paul A. Gigot (2010),
Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...
(2011),
Edwin Meese III Edwin Meese III (born December 2, 1931) is an American attorney, law professor, author and member of the Republican Party who served in official capacities within the Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial administration (1967–1974), the Reagan pres ...
(2012),
Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republica ...
(2013),
Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. He established his own law firm, Clement & Murphy, in 2022 after le ...
(2013),
Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...
(2013),
Yuval Levin Yuval Levin (born April 6, 1977) is a conservative American political analyst, academic, and journalist. He is the founding editor of ''National Affairs'' (2009–present), the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the Americ ...
(2013),
Kimberly Strassel Kimberley Ann Strassel (born July 24, 1972) is an American conservative columnist and author who is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, ''Wall Street Journal'' editorial board. She writes a weekly column, "Potomac Watch", which ap ...
(2014),
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; ; Somali: ''Ayaan Xirsi Cali'':'' Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī;'' born Ayaan Hirsi Magan, ar, أيان حرسي علي / ALA-LC: ''Ayān Ḥirsī 'Alī'' 13 November 1969) is a Somali-born Dutch-American activist and former politicia ...
(2015), James Ceaser (2015),
Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a st ...
(2016),
Peter Berkowitz Peter Berkowitz (born 1959) is an American political scientist, former law professor, and United States Department of State employee, most recently serving as the Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State. He currently s ...
(2017), Charles R. Kesler (2018),
Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s with the public ...
(2019),
Amity Shlaes Amity Ruth Shlaes (; born September 10, 1960) is a Conservatism in the United States, conservative American author, writer, and columnist. She writes about politics and economics from a classical liberal, classically liberal perspective. Shlaes has ...
(2021), and
Glenn Loury Glenn Cartman Loury (born September 3, 1948) is an American economist, academic, and author. He is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University, where he has taught since 2005. At the age of ...
(2022). Note: The Bradley Prizes for 2020 were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.


See also

*
Argosy Foundation The Argosy Foundation, founded in 1997, is currently based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was formerly known as the Abele Family Charitable Trust. History The foundation was established in 1995 with a $9 million endowment from John Abele. In 2002, i ...
* Bader Philanthropies *
Charter School Growth Fund The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a Broomfield, Colorado-based nonprofit philanthropic venture capital fund that identifies the country's best public charter schools, funds their expansion, and helps to increase their impact. CSGF is driv ...
* Dark Money (book) *
Donors Trust Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...
*
Zilber Family Foundation The Zilber Family Foundation is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin based foundation that was founded in 2009. History "Formed in 1961, the Joseph and Vera Zilber Family Foundation, Inc. is a private, independent grantmaking institution dedicated to enhancing ...


References


External links

*
Profile
at ''
Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'' * {{Authority control Foundations based in the United States Organizations based in Milwaukee New Right (United States) Conservative organizations in the United States New Right organizations (United States) Organizations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Wisconsin Climate change denial Uihlein Family