The Leadership Conference Education Fund

The Leadership Conference Education Fund, founded in 1969, is the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest and largest civil and human rights coalition. Operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Education Fund focuses on building public understanding and support for policies that advance equity, justice, and full democratic participation. Its work spans voting rights, educational equity, criminal justice reform, census equity, economic justice, and efforts to combat discrimination in all its forms.

With a professional staff of more than one hundred, the Education Fund combines research, policy analysis, communications strategy, and grassroots mobilization. It produces reports, data tools, and public education campaigns designed to inform policymakers, journalists, advocates, and the broader public. A significant portion of its work involves protecting access to accurate public data—particularly census and demographic data—which it views as foundational to fair representation, equitable resource allocation, and effective policymaking.

Rather than functioning as a direct lobbying organization, the Education Fund emphasizes education and coalition-building. It works closely with national and state partners to amplify civil rights priorities and to ensure that public policy debates are grounded in data, lived experience, and constitutional protections. At its core, the organization’s mission is to help build the public will necessary to sustain and strengthen civil and human rights protections across the United States.