Program areas at Alliance Defending Freedom
Legal advocacy: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith. ADF champions God-given freedoms that allow for human flourishing while affirming the dignity of every person. ADF exists to facilitate an alliance of like-minded influencers from every sphere of the public square affecting law and culture, and to mobilize this alliance to protect the core values of religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, freedom of speech, parental rights, and marriage and the family. Continued on Schedule O:ADF offers exceptional legal advocacy and expertise through its 90 staff attorneys based in Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, Washington D.C., New York City, and around the world. Together with a network of 4,400 attorneys, ADF has a nearly 80% success rate in our cases. ADF has played an important role in 72 United States Supreme Court victories and has directly achieved 14 Supreme Court victories since 2011. ADF creates strategies for establishing critical legal precedents to preserve religious liberty in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as international courts and governing bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations. ADF serves our network of allies by providing training, coordination, funding, legal expertise, and litigation services in support of our network attorneys, as well as church and parachurch organization leaders, legislators and legislative staff members, business leaders, clients, student leaders, and other key allies.
Public education: ADF provides information to the public about the importance of proper laws concerning freedom of religion, freedom of speech, the sanctity of every human life, parental rights, and the values of marriage and family in the United States and throughout the world. This is done through various means, including op-eds at prominent publications, comprehensive webinars, press releases, and our Freedom Matters video series on YouTube and Facebook, which has garnered over 64 million views since launching in the spring of 2020. Continued on Schedule O: ADF engages in this public education to inform and raise awareness of the following: Domestic and international challenges to religious freedom, freedom of speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and marriage and family; and how and where civil liberties have been jeopardized or thwarted and the efforts of ADF and its allies to reclaim those freedoms. ADF public education efforts also serve to recruit potential allies and to highlight the advocacy work of the alliance in order to position ADF to serve as the first line of defense for individuals and organizations whose religious freedom is at risk. ADF also requests that the recipients of these educational communications remember our activities in prayer.
Allied support and training: As an alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith, ADF is committed to equipping allies to defend and promote religious liberty to the best of their abilities, and to transform law and culture so true freedom can flourish. To this end, ADF offers world-class training for Christian attorneys and professionals, law students, and college students interested in pursuing a career in law, public policy, government, journalism, and other culture-shaping fields. Continued on Schedule O:Through the ADF Summit on Religious Liberty, Legal Academy programs, and other training events, practicing attorneys, legal advocates, business leaders, clergy, policy leaders, and media leaders are invited to participate in world-class training, strategy, and networking sessions. More than 2,100 U.S. and international attorneys have completed an ADF Legal Academy training, and attorneys have reported volunteering pro bono legal advocacy services to local and international communities valued at over $228 million. This amount far exceeds the cost of these programs. Most state bar associations accept accreditation for portions of the legal advocacy training with continuing legal education credit. Through the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, ADF trains top Christian law students from around the world in legal theory and practice, equips them with the professional skills and networks to thrive in the legal profession, and inspires them to reimagine their careers as a way of serving God. Blackstone prepares these students for careers marked with integrity, excellence, and leadership. The program consists of courses taught by prominent lecturers, internships with influential organizations, and professional career services. To date, over 2,800 students are alumni of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, representing 232 law schools worldwide. ADF offers similar international programs for university students and young professionals who seek to live out their faith in the fields of law, government, public policy, and journalism, as well as a U.S.-based Journalism Academy for young professionals or college students pursuing careers in media and communications. To date, more than 1,000 participants have graduated from these programs. And many of those international participants who were interested in law have gone on to attend the Blackstone Legal Fellowship after entering law school.
Grants and Funding: ADF provides grant funding for legal cases and direct advocacy programs that keep the door open for the Gospel by advocating for: the right of all people to freely live out their faith; the sanctity of human life from conception until natural death; the freedom of speech for all; the sanctity of marriage and the truth that God has created us male and female; and the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, care, and education for their children. Funding is focused on allies working on matters aligned with strategic legal objectives defined by ADF's U.S. and International advocacy teams. The grant funds cover expenses for litigation including securing expert witnesses, research costs, promoting public advocacy, and acquiring strong amicus brief support for cases to ensure the best possibility of success.