People for the American Way (PFAW) is a left-of-center advocacy group formed in 1981 by Hollywood television producer Norman Lear to oppose conservative televangelists. ¹ It is the 501(c)(4) lobbying and electoral advocacy arm of the People For the American Way Foundation. ²

People For the American Way (PFAW) claims to advocate against “right-wing” activities, promote left-of-center policies, and support the campaigns of Democratic candidates running for office. ³ PFAW advocates left-of-center policy abortion access, immigration, increased taxes and government spending, and opposing policies from the Trump Administrations.^{4 5 6}

PFAW was initially founded as a project of the Tides Foundation, a left-of-center donor-advised fund provider. As of 2025, it has become a tax-exempta  “social welfare” lobbying nonprofit. ⁷

Background

After the election of President Ronald Reagan, Hollywood TV producer Norman Lear (known for “All in the Family,” “Maude,” and “The Jeffersons,” among other shows), then-U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan (D-TX), University of Notre Dame president and Catholic priest Theodore M. Hesburgh, and Time Inc. chairman Andrew Heiskell founded Citizens for Constitutional Concerns, Inc. in 1981 as a left-of-center advocacy organization.^{8 7 1} The group was renamed People for the American Way (PFAW) in 1985. ⁹

The group was initially created to oppose Christian conservative organizations and popular televangelists such as Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, and Pat Robertson. ¹ PFAW participated in the “borking” campaign to block the Reagan administration‘s nomination of conservative legal scholar and federal appellate judge Robert Bork by portraying Judge Bork as a right-wing extremist; the group commissioned an advertisement narrated by liberal activist actor Gregory Peck to oppose Bork’s nomination.¹⁰

PFAW has a number of affiliated organizations including People For The American Way Foundation, People For The American Way Voters Alliance, and People For The American Way Action Fund. ¹¹

Activities

People For the American Way (PFAW) monitors “right-wing” activities and engages in political lobbying, volunteer mobilization, press releases, op-eds, and other press tools to advocate left-of-center policy and support the campaigns of left-of-center political candidates. ^3 12 6

PFAW also funds and deploys media campaigns to advocate for left-of-center issue priorities and preferred candidates. ⁶

In June 2025, PFAW participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{13 14}

Policy Campaigns

People for the American Way (PAW) was initially founded to oppose conservative policies and political candidates. ¹⁵ In 1988, the group’s issue focus broadened to focus on advocating left-of-center policies such as voter registration, increased abortion, and migration-related issues. ⁶

The “Trump’s Dangerous Team” campaign criticized President Donald Trump’s cabinet members during his First Administration and advocated that U.S Senators oppose his nominations to cabinet positions. ¹⁶

PFAW’s “Fighting the Right’s Tax and Budget Agenda” attacked conservative fiscal policy and President Trump’s proposed first-term budget, while at the same time pushing for welfare handouts, government-funded healthcare, expansion of food stamps, and environmentalist financial handouts. ⁴

PFAW also conducted advertisement campaigns to support the campaigns of Democratic candidates for state and federal office, engaged in efforts to promote giving legal status to illegal aliens, and attacked Republicans over their proposed immigration policies. ¹⁷ PFAW has also pushed for federal funding of and unrestricted access to abortions and supported labor union-aligned employment mandates such as higher minimum wages and mandatory paid leave.  ¹⁸ PFAW has also argued religious institutions should be forced to comply with laws that offend their religious beliefs. ¹⁹

As of 2025, PFAW’s website claims it focuses on six primary issue areas: “stop far-right extremism,” “stop book bans and censorship,” “fight for fair courts,” “defend voting rights,” “protect democracy,” and “elect progressive leaders.” PFAW has also vocally opposed what it called  the “MAGA movement.” ^{2 20 21 22}

Judicial Advocacy

In 1987, PFAW reportedly spent $1.5 million on advertisements to defeat the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork. ²³ Later, PFAW would join with other left-of-center groups such as the Alliance for Justice and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to promote advertisements supporting then-President Barack Obama’s nomination of then-appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.²⁴

In 2017, PFAW ran advertisements against President Trump’s nomination of then-appellate judge Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court. ²⁵

People for The American Way released a letter in January 2019, opposing the confirmation of Neomi Rao to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. PFAW claimed that Rao has “belittled societal discrimination and those harmed by it,” criticizing what it calls her “disturbing writings on sexual violence,” and attacking Rao’s criticism of environmentalists. ²⁶

As of 2025, PAFW was listed by Take Back the Court as an organization that supports “packing” the Supreme Court with additional Democratic-appointed justices to limit the power of Supreme Court justices appointed by Republicans.  ²⁷

Political Campaigning

In 2008, PFAW ran advertisements attacking Republican presidential candidate John McCain and five U.S. Senate candidates for supporting Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s confirmation. ²⁸ IIn 2012, PFAW funded an attack campaign against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. ²⁹ PFAW also opposed the presidential campaign for President Donald Trump during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections. ^{30 22 31}

Additionally, since 1998, PFAW’s affiliated PFAW Voter Alliance has endorsed and contributed nearly $1.7 million to Democratic political candidates. ^32 33

Anti-Trump Activities

In 2016, PFAW ran several campaign advertisements attacking the campaign of then-political candidate Donald Trump. ^30 34

The group opposed President Trump’s victory in 2016 and announced it would run campaigns to oppose his proposed immigration policy and cabinet nominations. ^{35 36 37 38}

PFAW is also a member of several left-of-center activist organizations and membership groups including the Not Above the Law Coalition along with Center for American Progress Action Fund, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Daily Kos, Defend the Vote Action Fund, Greenpeace USA, Indivisible, and the Sierra Club. In 2025, activists with the Not Above the Law Coalition participated in and promoted #TeslaTakedown, an activist movement organizing protests outside the dealerships of electric-car company Tesla over its CEO Elon Musk’s participation in the second Trump administration. ³⁹

Lobbying Activities

Between 2007 to 2024, People for the American Way spent $2.65 million on lobbying, including lobbying Congress on over 800 bills. ⁴⁰

Funding

According to its 2022 tax filings, People for the American Way reported $6,498,941 in revenue, $9,046,897 in expenses, and $6,747,834 in assets. Of its expenses, $1,909,797 was spent on advocacy campaigns, $1,480,965 was spent on communications and research activities, $1,040,868 was spent on program management, and $378,795 was spent on government affairs. Of its revenue, PFAW received $6,428,657 from gifts, grants, and other contributions. ⁴¹

That same year, PFAW also provided grants to four organizations: Blackpush ($10,000), Civic Ensemble Inc. ($6,000), Ithaca Youth Bureau ($7,000), Village at Ithaca ($7,000), and Opportunities Alternatives and Resources of Tompkins County ($7,000). PFAW also gave a grant of $5,250 for disaster relief. ⁴¹

Since 2004, People for the American Way’s associated 501(c)(3) Foundation has received $2.6 million from George Soros‘ Open Society Foundations (formerly the Open Society Institute), according to data from the Foundation Center. ⁴² As of 2014, it was also listed as a member of the Democracy Alliance network. ⁴³

Additionally, PFAW has received money from labor unions and other left-of-center foundations including $900,000 from the Miriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation; $810,000 from the Lear Family Foundation; $575,000 from the Bauman Family Foundation; and $500,000 from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. ⁴²

Additionally, PFAW has received money from labor unions and other left-of-center foundations including $900,000 from the Miriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation; $810,000 from the Lear Family Foundation; $575,000 from the Bauman Family Foundation; and $500,000 from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund ⁴⁴

In 2024, PFAW voluntarily disclosed its top five donors and the amounts they had given. Those donors include Henry van Ameringen ($795,000), Lois Stainman ($650,000), Searle Whitney ($644,015), Priorities USA ($587,500), and Jan Griffiths ($566,717). ⁴⁵ As of 2025, the web page listing PFAW’s top donors had been removed. ⁴⁶

Leadership

The president and chief executive officer of People for the American Way is Svante Myrick. Myrick previously served as the mayor of Ithaca, New York as well as a city councilman in Ithaca prior to that. Myrick became the president of PFAW in February 2022. ^{47 48}

The previous president and chief executive officer of PFAW was Ben Jealous, who was appointed in 2020. Previously, Jealous ran an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Maryland in 2018. He also previously worked as president and CEO of the NAACP. He was also the executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the director of U.S. Human Rights Programs of Amnesty International USA, the president of the Rosenberg Foundation, a partner at Kapor Capital, a visiting professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, a visiting scholar at the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania, and an advisor at Citizen. As of 2025, Jealous is the executive director of the Sierra Club. ⁴⁹

Before Jealous, Michael Keegan was the president and chief executive officer of PFAW from 1994 to 2019. ⁵⁰ Keegan is also a founding national board member of The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). ⁵¹

Board of Directors

In 2017, PFAW’s board of directors included Hollywood figure Norman Lear as its founding chair. ⁵² Lear, who died in 2023, was a television producer who produced a number politically charged television shows including “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “the Jeffersons,” and others. ⁵³

Other notable people who have sat on the PFAW board of directors include actors Alec Baldwin and Seth MacFarlane, actress Jane Lynch, producer Howard Klein, and labor union movement figure Dolores Huerta. ⁵²

As of 2025, PAFW no longer listed its board of directors on its website. ⁵⁴

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