About

About the Foundation for American Innovation

Ours is a politics of builders, hackers, and founders working to advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic. Our work is rooted in an optimistic vision for the future, in which technology is aligned to serve human ends: promoting individual freedom, supporting strong institutions, advancing national security, and unleashing economic prosperity.

We believe that better collaboration between innovators and policymakers is vital for making this future happen sooner. We work to help policymakers play a more productive role in fostering innovation, and help technologists and founders take a more active role in shaping governance.

While technological progress has been an overwhelming net positive for humanity, we also recognize that new technologies sometimes bring novel harms and disruptions, undermining our security, our livelihoods, and our social and community life. Rather than only focusing on the upsides of innovation, we believe dynamism is best advanced by working in good faith to anticipate and mitigate these challenges, while at the same time opposing the reactionary forces of social panic and incumbent protectionism.

In an era of increasing geopolitical strife, uncertainty, and malaise, we also reaffirm the need for American values and institutions—including free speech, economic liberty, and the rule of law—to lay the foundation for the dynamic future we want to create.

The Foundation for American Innovation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, established in Silicon Valley in 2014 as Lincoln Labs. Today, we are a national organization with three primary teams: one for building technology (Labs); one for public policy (Policy); and one for events, media, and fellowships (Network).

• POLICY: The policy team is a boutique think tank of policy experts and technologists focused on issues at the intersection of innovation, governance, and national security. This team’s work focuses on impact research, educational outreach, and seeding novel solutions in the weeds of policy formation. We generally do not take institutional positions, instead relying on the expertise of individual team members (who sometimes disagree).
  
  
• LABS: The labs team brings together product experts, designers, and engineers focused on building technology solutions to entrenched policy problems. This work is centered on creating philanthropy-supported tools and infrastructure to address key societal challenges that don’t have the profit potential to attract traditional venture investment.
  
  
• NETWORK: The network team is focused on fellowships, events, and media, building a translation layer between the two cultures of tech and policy, and shaping the national conversation around innovation. Each year we host events in tech hubs across the country, bringing together technologists, founders, authors, and policymakers to explore a range of timely topics. We also host podcasts, run fellowships, and other work to bridge the worlds of tech and policy.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FAI's work is made possible only through the generosity of its donors. We would like to thank our major supporters, which have included the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation, the Miles Foundation, the Stand Together Trust, the Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Searle Freedom Trust, and many others. If you would like to support our work, please consider donating here.