National DEI Defense Fund

Purchase and mail free
DEI-focused books to students who attend schools in states and districts that have enacted book bans.

Offer financial support to high-quality DEI-focused educational programs and initiatives that have been disadvantaged by politicized, ill-informed budget cuts.

Provide legal support to educators who are fired or sued for teaching the truth about America’s racial past and present.

Raise national consciousness about threats to democracy and support the formation of DEI defense coalitions across the country.

Support afterschool programs that teach students DEI-focused content that has been banned in public educational institutions.

Deliver free, high-quality professional development experiences to educators in states and districts that have prohibited spending public funds on
DEI-focused workshops.

Fund research that explores what is (and isn’t) being taught in schools, as well as studies on the impact of anti-DEI policies on students, educators, families, and democracy.

Deploy trusted experts who can testify in anti-DEI legislative hearings and provide evidence-informed guidance to K-12 and higher education leaders, school board members, and elected officials.

Since June 2021, Education Week has updated its interactive map of states where Critical Race Theory and teaching about race and other DEI topics have been banned.

Our center published a brief co-authored by Drs. John Pascarella and Erica Silva that offers practically-useful guidance on ways to respond to book bans and censorship in schools.

USC Professor Shaun Harper, our center’s founder and executive director, published a Forbes article explaining why politicized attacks on DEI are occurring and how they are bad for America.