Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Credit: The Bradley Foundation

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation is a grant-making foundation that has been called the US's 'largest and most influential right-wing organization'.

History

According to the Media Transparency website:

With over $700 million in assets1 (down to $489 million in 2002), the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the country's largest and most influential right-wing foundation. As of the end of 1998, it was giving away more than $30 million a year [The Bradley Foundation 1998 Annual Report].

Its financial resources, its clear political agenda, and its extensive national network of contacts and collaborators in political, academic and media circles has allowed it to exert an important influence on key issues of public policy. While its targets range from affirmative action to social security, it has seen its greatest successes in the areas of welfare "reform" and attempts to privatize public education through the promotion of school vouchers.[1]

Bradley supports the organizations and individuals that promote the deregulation of business, the rollback of virtually all social welfare programs, and the privitization of government services. As a result, the list of Bradley grant recipients reads like a Who's Who of the U.S.Right. Bradley money supports such major right-wing groups as the Heritage Foundation, source of policy papers on budget cuts, supply-side economics and the Star Wars military plan for the Reagan administration; the Madison Center for Educational Affairs, which provides funding for right-wing research and a network of conservative student newspapers; and the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, literary home for such racist authors as Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) and Dinesh D'Souza (The End of Racism), former conservative officeholders Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and William Bennett, and arch-conservative jurists Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia.

Other Bradley grantees include the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation; the Hoover Institute on War, Revolution, and Peace; and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. There are the major conservative publications, such as The Public Interest, The National Interest,and The American Spectator. And there are organizations set up to play specific roles in promoting the right-wing agenda, such as the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm that promotes privatization and deregulation, and the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, a vehicle for building support for privatization in low-income communities.[2]

According to Rightweb, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation aided the rise to national prominence of former presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Funding decisions

• Committee for Academic Freedom and Rights According to a 1996 report in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Leo Strauss archives

The John M. Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy helped obtain funding from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation for the microfilming of the Leo Strauss archives at the University of Chicago's Regenstein Library.

Counterjihad network funding

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation provided $100,000 for anti-terrorism expert Steve Emerson’s documentary film Jihad in America, has also funded a study by Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank spun off by directors of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The foundation has also provided grants to the Foreign Policy Research Institute of Philadelphia, then headed by Daniel Pipes and an associate, Khaled Duran, who also was Emerson’s collaborator producing Jihad in America.

In 2012 its top 25 beneficiaries included the David Horowitz Freedom Center, to which it gave US $265,000.

The foundation reportedly broke off funding to the Center for Security Policy in 2013.

In 2013, according to IRS filings, the foundation granted the David Horowitz Freedom Center US $8,213,000 for general support.

Between the years 2000-2009, the foundation gave a total of $240,000 in donations to the Middle East Forum.

Other counterjihad groups they funded in 2013 included:

• American Islamic Congress - $25,000
• Center for Security Policy - $50,000
• Donors Trust - $787,727
• Foundation for Defense of Democracies - $75,000
• Hudson Institute - $800,000 (13 donations)
• Middle East Forum - $35,000
• Middle East Media Research Institute - $20,000
• Philanthropy Roundtable - $250,000
• The Fund for American Studies - $40,000

National Grants

Grant recipients of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in $ USD
Organisation	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	Total 2009-2015
Acton Institute	-	105,000	50,000	85,000	100,000	125,000	-	465,000
American Enterprise Institute	-	407,500	512,500	570,000	430,000	-	400,000	2,320,000
American Foreign Policy Council	-	160,000	135,000	80,000	80,000	80,000	100,000	635,000
American Islamic Congress	-	40,000	35,000	25,000	25,000	25,000	20,000	170,000
American Majority	-	-	-	-	-	400,000	-	400,000
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa	-	-	30,000	30,000	30,000	-	-	90,000
Barry Goldwater Institute for Public Policy Research	-	-	-	-	-	450,000	-	450,000
Cato Institute	-	25,000	125,000	65,000	-	150,000	425,000	790,000
Center for America	-	-	250,000	-	-	-	-	250,000
Center for Immigration Studies	-	25,000	20,000	15,000	15,000	15,000	10,000	100,000
Center for Individual Rights	-	90,000	80,000	70,000	-	155,000	-	395,000
Center for Public Justice	-	-	-	-	-	-	25,000	25,000
Center for Security Policy	-	75,000	70,000	60,000	50,000	-	-	255,000
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change	-	-	15,000	10,000	-	-	-	25,000
Commentary	-	40,000	35,000	-	-	-	-	75,000
Competitive Enterprise Institute	-	-	90,000	210,000	250,000	150,000	-	700,000
Council on Foreign Relations	-	-	35,000	10,000	15,000	40,000	25,000	125,000
David Horowitz Freedom Center	-	295,000	280,000	265,000	225,000	350,000	315,000	1,730,000
Donors Trust	-	25,000	625,000	1,006,565	787,727	100,000	30,000	2,574,292
Encounter for Culture and Education	-	-	-	-	-	1,275,000	-	1,275,000
Federalist Society	-	230,000	595,000	395,000	-	-	-	1,220,000
Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies	-	-	-	-	425,000	325,000	-	750,000
Freedom Foundation	-	-	-	-	-	100,000	500,000	600,000
Foreign Policy Research Institute	-	75,000	75,000	75,000	185,000	-	-	410,000
Foundation for Defense of Democracies	-	75,000	127,150	130,000	75,000	100,000	100,000	607,150
Foundation for Excellence in Education	-	50,000	290,000	40,000	30,000	25,000	-	TOT
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education	-	80,000	80,000	90,000	75,000	100,000	-	335,000
Freedom House	-	100,000	150,000	75,000	-	-	-	325,000
Fund for American Studies	-	-	-	40,000	-	-	-	40,000
Heritage Foundation	-	225,000	220,000	230,000	100,000	130,000	130,000	1,035,000
Hudson Institute	-	900,000	855,000	780,000	800,000	805,000	640,000	4,780,000
Institute for Educational Advancement	-	-	-	-	1,057,000	2,650,000	-	3,707,000
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis	-	212,500	187,500	195,000	185,000	145,000	145,000	1,070,000
Institute for Humane Studies	-	5,000	5,000	30,000	25,000	30,000	30,000	125,000
Institute for Justice	-	-	-	-	-	175,000	-	175,000
Institute for the Study of Strategy and Politics	-	-	-	-	-	-	50,000	50,000
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research	-	-	-	-	-	575,000	775,000	1,350,000
Media Research Center	-	275,000	260,000	260,000	-	-	-	795,000
Middle East Forum	75,000	50,000	50,000	25,000	35,000	40,000	35,000	310,000
Middle East Media Research Institute	-	35,000	35,000	-	20,000	25,000	35,000	150,000
National Center for Policy Analysis	-	150,000	180,000	115,000	-	-	-	445,000
Philanthropy Roundtable	-	260,000	260,000	260,000	250,000	250,000	250,000	1,530,000
Quilliam Foundation	-	-	-	75,000	-	-	-	75,000
RAND Corporation	-	-	-	-	25,000	25,000	-	50,000
Reason Foundation	-	-	-	-	-	25,000	50,000	75,000

European grants

The following list shows donations made by the Bradley Foundation to European individuals, organisations and programmes taken from its 990-F filings.

2000

Committee for Cultural Collaboration - $95,000 – to support scholarships

European Foundation Centre - $10,000

Institut fur die Wissenchaften vom Menschen - $50,000

Keston Institute - $75,000 – to support general operations

Social Affairs Unit - $20,000 – To support a study of friendship as a social institution

Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation - $20,000

Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue - $19,000 To support the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies’ Bradley Lecture

2001

The Mont Pelerin Society, London – $25,000 to support fellowships for the 2002 General Meeting

2002

Committee for Cultural Collaboration – $30,000 to support the meeting fund and the scholarship program for Bulgarian Orthodox students

Council for Inter-Relgious Dialogue - $20,000 to support the meeting fund and the Bulgarian Othodox scholarship fund

Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace - $25,000 to support a conference on Czestochowa, Poland on “Social Thought and Action of the Church in Central and Eastern Europe

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies - $25,000 to support the Bradley Lecture and general program activities

2003

Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue - $30,000 to support the meeting fund

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies - $20,000 to support The Bradley Conference 2003 and general operations

Prieure de l'Union des Eglises ASBL - $15,000 to support Bulletin Europaica

Stonyhurst College – $20,000 to support general operations

2004

Committee for Cultural Collaboration (Rome, Italy) - $35,000 to support educational and other program activities related to the promotion of ecumenical dialogue with Russian orthodoxy.

Council for Inter-Relgious Dialogue (Rome, Italy) - $30,000 to support student scholarships and publications

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies - (Rome, Italy) - $20,000 to support The Bradley Conference 2004 and general operations

2005

Committee for Cultural Collaboration (Rome, Italy) - $50,000 to support general program activities related to promoting contact between Eastern and Western Christians

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome, Italy) – $20,000 to support the Bradley Lecture and the Institute’s academic programming

2006

Committee for Cultural Collaboration (Rome, Italy) - $90,000 to support educational and other program activities related to the promotion of ecumenical dialogue with Eastern orthodoxy. $1,000 to support general operations.

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome, Italy) - $25,000 to support the Bradley Lecture and the Institute’s academic programming

2007

Committee for Cultural Collaboration (Rome, Italy) $70,000 to support general program activities related to promoting contact between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome, Italy) - $25,000 to support the Bradley Lecture and academic programs.

Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas (Rome, Italy) - $25,000 to support general operations

2008

Committee for Cultural Collaboration (Rome, Italy) - $55,000 to support general program activities related to promoting contact between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europee (St. Gallen, Switzerland) - $140,000 to support a forum on the family.

Benedictus Foundation (Munich, Germany) - $35,000 to support the Institute for Business Anthropology at the University of Munich.

Saint Adalbert Center of Instruction (Budapest, Hungary) - $35,000 to support meetings and conferences.

International Theological Institute for Studies in Marriage and the Family (Gaming, Austria) - $75,000 to support the MTS degree program and a symposium

Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas (Rome, Italy) $25,000 to support general operations

Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (Rome, Italy) $150,000 to support various activities in interfaith dialogue. $25,000 to support the Bradley Lecture and academic programs.

People

• Richard W. Graber | President and Chief Executive Officer

Program

• Daniel P. Schmidt | Vice President for Program
• Carl Helstrom | Vice President
• Dianne J. Sehler | Senior Program Director
• Alicia L. Manning | Program Director
• Janet F. Riordan | Program Director
• Jill M. Budny | Program Director
• William J. Bergeron | Librarian
• Dionne M. King | Senior Program Assistant
• Tris E. Withington | Program Assistant

External Relations

• Jessica F. Dean | Vice President for External Relations
• Benjamin M. Hannemann | Marketing and Communications Manager
• Kala J. Hill | Manager of External Relations Operations

Finance and Investment

• Cynthia K. Friauf | Vice President for Finance
• R. Michael Lempke | Vice President for Investments
• Mandy L. Hess | Controller
• Laura M. Davis | Senior Accountant
• Renee L. Krebs | Grants Administrator
• Tierney P. Kamine | Accounting Assistant

Administration

• Terri L. Famer | Vice President for Administration
• Carol A. Brick | Executive Assistant
• Diane M. Lask | Receptionist/Clerical Assistant
• Susan R. Millard | Office Assistant
• Dennis H. Grueneberg | Operations

Notable former members include

• William Bennett

As Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Education, Bennett made headlines attacking bilingual education and multicultural curricula. As Reagan's Drug Czar, he presided over one of the most repressive- and racially selective - crackdowns on drug use in the country's history, a development that led to a six-fold increase in the state and federal prison population. A leading figure in the neo-conservative movement, he is a co-founder and co-director of the Republican advocacy group Empower America [The Feeding Trough].

• George Stigler

Nobel Laureate in economics from the University of Chicago; a leading member of Milton Friedman's "Chicago School" of economics, working "primarily in the area of industrial organization and public regulation" [From a May, 1989 interview with Stigler in The Region.] Economists from the Chicago School played the leading role in transforming the economy of Chile after the CIA-led overthrow of President Allende, a Marxist. As a result of their intervention, Chile's ruling class profited handsomely, while workers and the poor saw their standard of living plummet amid brutal political repression.

• Frank Shakespeare

Former head of the U.S. Information Agency; former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican; former director of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. (Radio Free Europe, established in 1949, and Radio Liberty,1951, were created to broadcast news and current affairs programs to the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. They were funded principally by the U.S. Congress, through the Central Intelligence Agency [From the official Radio Free Europe web site.]

• W. H. Brady, Jr.

Owner of a Milwaukee printed tape products company. "He had also spent considerable time as the junior member of a circle of conservative Milwaukee industrialists, Harry Bradley among them, who sponsored lectures, funded anti-communist programs, and provided early critical support for [William F.Buckley's] National Review. In 1956 Brady had established his own foundation to support, however modestly, public policy initiatives" [The Bradley Legacy].

• Sheldon B. Lubar

Milwaukee venture capitalist; founder & chairman, Lubar & Co., Inc.; president, Business Advisory Council; former president, Marine Capital Corporation; chairman and CEO of Mortgage Associates (1966-1973); president and chairman of the executive committee of Midland National Bank(1975-1977); chairman and CEO of Christiana Companies Inc. Also, former Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration; director of the Federal National Mortgage Association; and commissioner of the White House Conference on Small Business. In 1991, he was appointed a regent of the University of Wisconsin System. In 1987 Lubar became a director of the UWM Foundation and served as its president from 1988 to 1990 [University of Wisconsin web site].[3]

Resources

• Rightweb Bradley Foundation