The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, that has been one of the most influential funders of the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

movement. The foundation had nearly $1 billion in assets as of 2023. It has given $1.3 billion in grants since 1985. The foundation funds a variety of conservative public policy groups along with cultural institutions and Milwaukee nonprofit organizations. It reports that approximately 70% of the foundation's giving is directed to national groups while 30% is Wisconsin-based. It awards the Bradley Prize.

History

The foundation was established in 1942, shortly after the death of Lynde Bradley, to further the philosophy of the Bradley brothers. The Bradley brothers had helped found the Allen-Bradley Company, a major electrical controls manufacturer. The foundation's credo is "The good society is a free society." In 1965, after the death of Harry Lynde Bradley, Lynde's brother, the foundation expanded and began to concentrate on

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

. The 1985 acquisition of the Allen-Bradley Company by Rockwell International Corporation 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 Bradley Foundation's former president, Michael S. Joyce, helped to create the Philanthropy Roundtable. In 2011, the ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' wrote that "The Bradley Foundation acts like a venture capital fund for conservative ideas."

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 ...

. ''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 found that the Bradley Foundation was a contributor to Donors Trust, a donor advised fund which is not required to disclose the identity of its donors. 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),

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 (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

and foreign policy. Between 2008 and 2011, Bradley contributed to the David Horowitz Freedom Center ($4.2 million), the Center for Security Policy ($815,000) and the Middle East Forum ($305,000).Annysa Johnson
Islamic rights group's report rips Bradley Foundation funding
''

'' (September 20, 2013). The Bradley Foundation is a major funder of state-level initiatives opposing public sector unions, particularly in Wisconsin. The foundation has made grants to the

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservatism in the United States, conservative state legislature (United States), state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share Model act, ...

(ALEC), The associated Bradley Impact Fund in 2020 gave $6.5 million, its largest donation that year, to Project Veritas.

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 $300,000 each are awarded annually. Winners have included Fouad Ajami (2006),

John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican Party (United States), Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to ...

(2007), Martin Feldstein (2007),

Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American classics, classicist, military historian, and conservative political commentator. He has been a commentator on modern warfare, modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics fo ...

(2008), Leonard Leo (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 e ...

(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. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

(2011), Edwin Meese III (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 Republic ...

(2013),

Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General, U.S. Solicitor General from 2005 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...

(2013),

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American Academic administration, academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician who served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. A Republican Party (United ...

(2013), Yuval Levin (2013), Kimberley Strassel (2014), Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2015), James Ceaser (2015),

Gary Sinise Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, director, producer, musician and humanitarian. 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 ...

(2016), Peter Berkowitz (2017), Charles R. Kesler (2018),

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and Conservatism, 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 w ...

(2019), Amity Shlaes (2021), Glenn Loury (2022), John H. Cochrane (2023), Jay Bhattacharya (2024), Barry Strauss (2025), Christopher Rufo (2025), and James Piereson (2025). The Bradley Prizes for 2020 were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Board of directors

The Bradley Foundation has an 11-member board of directors that includes James T. Barry III, John Beagle,

, Patrick English, Robert P. George, Richard Graber,

, Cleta Mitchell, Art Pope, Reid Ribble, and Eugene Scalia.

References

External links

*
Profile
at ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' * {{coord, 43, 02, 50.7, N, 87, 54, 38.2, W, display=title 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