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American think tank
New America
👁 Image
Formation1999; 27 years ago (1999)
Founders
TypeThink tank
52-2096845
Headquarters740 15th Street NW, Ste 900
Location
Chair
Sally R. Osberg[1]
CEO
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Revenue$37,233,867[2] (2024)
Expenses$41,339,553[2] (2024)
Websitenewamerica.org 👁 Edit this at Wikidata
Formerly called
New America Foundation

New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is an American liberal think tank founded in 1999.[3][4][5] It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security, technology, health, gender, energy, education, and the economy. The organization is based in Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California.[6] Anne-Marie Slaughter is the think tank's chief executive officer.[7]

History

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New America's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

New America was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind, and Walter Russell Mead as the New America Foundation[8] Bill Moyers, Norman Lear, and members of the Rockefeller family were early financial backers.[9] The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[10] In 2001, Halstead and Lind published The Radical Center, a book that argued the United States was ripe for a realignment around centrist political policies. The New York Times has claimed that the book is "in effect the foundation's mission statement."[11] Over New America's first two years, its budget tripled from approximately $1 million to $3 million.[9]

Ted Halstead served as New America's founding president and CEO starting in 1999.[9] Steve Coll, a former managing editor at the Washington Post, took over for Halstead in 2007.[12] Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton professor and former State Department official, succeeded Coll as CEO in 2013.[13]

In the 2000s, New America's Len Nichols and Jacob Hacker advocated for healthcare reform built around a public option, a health insurance mandate, and an increase in taxes to provide subsidies for Americans who could not afford insurance.[14][15][16]

In September 2011, Maya MacGuineas, who had previously worked for the Brookings Institution as well as on Wall Street, formed Fix the Debt, a campaign for tax reform and deficit reduction that included businesspeople and politicians such as Erskine Bowles, Alan Simpson, and Mark Warner. MacGuineas ran the campaign out of New America's offices.[17]

The foundation's Economic Growth Program, directed by New America co-founders Sherle Schwenninger and Michael Lind, aimed to take a policy look at America and the world's economic problems. In 2011, the program commissioned a paper "The Way Forward: Moving From the Post-Bubble, Post-Bust Economy to Renewed Growth and Competitiveness".[18]

On June 27, 2017, Barry C. Lynn, the director of the anti-monopoly Open Markets program at New America, issued a statement, criticizing Google, one of the organization's main sponsors. On August 30, 2017, it became known that Lynn was fired, and the Open Markets program was closed.[19][20] According to The New York Times, New America did it to please Google.[21][22] In response to the decision to fire Lynn and his team, 25 former and current employees of the think tank signed a letter expressing concern about the extent to which sponsors are influencing New America's work.[23] Google reportedly made New America take this action because the researchers, including prominent young competition law scholar Lina Khan,[24] had lauded the EU's antitrust ruling against Google.[25] New America's president Anne-Marie Slaughter denied the allegations of improper influence by Google.[21]

In 2021, Paul Butler, formerly COO of the consulting firm Sparks & Honey, joined New America as its president and chief transformation officer.[26]

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Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America

Political stances

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New America has been characterized as "liberal" by the Pacific Standard online magazine,[27] "left-leaning" by The Washington Post,[28] and "left-of-center" by the Capital Research Center organization.[29]

Technology

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New America operates the Open Technology Institute, which develops technologies and supports public policy meant to protect internet freedom and promote competition within the telecommunications field.[30][31][32]

In the 2010s, the OTI developed Commotion Wireless an open source "device-as-infrastructure" communication platform designed to integrate users' wireless-capable devices to create community-sized peer-to-peer communications networks.[33][31] Ultimately, the project did not prove sustainable. The relevant code development profiles for the project have not been updated since 2016,[34] and the project's website has been offline since approximately September 2024.[35] One relatively successful offshoot of the Commotion project is Red Hook Wi-Fi, a mesh network that serves residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn, in New York City.[31] In 2012, when Hurricane Sandy shut down many internet and communication systems throughout the city, Red Hook remained connected through its mesh network.[36][37][31]

In 2012, New America joined Free Press and Public Knowledge in a lawsuit against AT&T claiming that the company's blocking of Facetime constituted a violation of the FCC's net neutrality rules.[32] New America argued against the Trump administration FCC's 2017 repeal of net neutrality regulations and developed model legislation that state lawmakers could use to protect net neutrality within their states.[38] In 2025, after the Biden administration FCC's reinstatement of net neutrality regulations was blocked by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, New America asked the court to reconsider its ruling.[39][40]

In 2019, New America founded the Public Interest Technology University Network, which creates educational programs meant to help students develop and advocate for technologies that benefit the public.[41][42] As of 2020, the network had 22 members including Harvard, Howard, Stanford, and MIT.[41][42]

Education

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New America has conducted research identifying states well-suited for Race to the Top grants[43] and assessed the quality of various early education programs.[44][45]

In 2018, New America launched the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA), a collaboration with the National Governors Association to provide high school students with work-based learning opportunities.[46][47]

In 2026, New America published a report on financial aid leveraging, a practice in which colleges offer aid to relatively affluent, high-achieving students while leaving lower-income students to take on loans they may not be able to pay back.[48] The organization has also argued for the elimination of federal student loans in favor of allocating federal money to states on the condition that the states increase higher education funding and hold colleges accountable for performance and costs.[49]

Political reform

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In 2021, New America published a study on ranked choice voting. The study found that it tends to be more popular with younger and Democratic voters than older and Republican ones.[50] It also found that a large majority of voters believe they have a strong understanding of how the ranked choice system works.[51]

In 2024, only eight percent of congressional races in the U.S. were decided by less than five percentage points. New America has argued for fusion voting in order to produce a greater number of competitive races.[52] The organization has also proposed proportional representation as a method for better representing minority views within individual congressional districts.[53]

National security

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New America maintains a database of post-9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The information in this database has demonstrated that the vast majority of attacks on U.S. soil have been committed by American citizens or permanent residents, as opposed to foreigners.[54][55] New America's research in this area was widely cited in news coverage critical of the Trump administration's 2017 travel ban.[55][56][57][58] In 2017, New America fellows met with White House officials to discuss a counterterrorism strategy that took into account both domestic and foreign threats to the nation's security.[59]

New America also maintains a database that measures the frequency and effect of U.S. drone strikes, including the military and civilian casualties produced by those strikes.[60][61]

Assets and funding

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New America is registered as a non-profit under section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.[62] Its financial information is publicly available through annual IRS Form 990 filings and independent audits.[63] For the financial year ending in 2023, the organization reported revenue of approximately $46.8 million and expenses of $40.8 million. Its total assets for the same period were recorded at $88.0 million, and a net asset position of $56,424,720.[63][64][2]

The organization maintains a funding disclosure policy and publishes a list of institutional donors on its website.[65] Top institutional donors in recent years have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, Google,[66] Alphabet, the MacArthur Foundation,[67] and the Rockefeller Foundation.[68][69][70]

Board of directors

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New America's board leadership has changed several times since the organization's founding. In November 2017, Lenny Mendonca was appointed chair of the board.[71] He was succeeded in September 2019 by Helene D. Gayle, who served as chair until 2023.[72] Following her tenure, Gayle has continued to serve as a member of the board.[73] In January 2024, the organization announced the addition of Don Katz and Patrick Radden Keefe as new board members.[74]

As of 2025, the chair of the board is Sally R. Osberg, with Monica C. Lozano and Todd Park serving as vice chairs.[75]

References

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  1. ^ "Our People". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Form 990" (PDF). New America Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  3. ^ "Press Room". New America. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  4. ^ Nissenbaum, Dion (June 28, 2015). "Author Warns U.S. Military to Focus on China". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  5. ^ "Steve Coll, New America President, Stepping Down, Writing 'Ghost Wars' Sequel". The Huffington Post. June 25, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  6. ^ "Contact New America". New America. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "Anne-Marie Slaughter". New America. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Eilperin, Juliet (September 12, 2020). "Ted Halstead, social entrepreneur who created D.C. policy institutes, dies at 52". Washington Post. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Morin, Richard; Deane, Claudia (December 10, 2001). "Big Thinker. Ted Halstead's New America Foundation Has It All: Money, Brains and Buzz". Style Section. The Washington Post. p. 1.
  10. ^ "INew America Launches Innovation Accelerator for Community Colleges". Government Technology. September 10, 2024. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  11. ^ Tanenhaus, Sam (April 14, 2010). "The Radical Center: The History of an Idea". New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  12. ^ Weil, Martin; Silverman, Elissa (July 23, 2007). "Author, Ex-Post Editor To Head D.C. Think Tank". Washington Post. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  13. ^ Cohen, Patricia (April 2, 2013). "New America Foundation Naming Anne-Marie Slaughter as President". ArtsBeat. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  14. ^ Kendall, Joshua (October 16, 2005). "Why Is Healthcare Tied To The Workplace?". Boston Globe. Len Nichols, a health policy analyst at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit think tank in Washington that stresses bipartisan solutions, has carved out a position right down the middle. He has concluded that employer-sponsored coverage actually makes sense for a small fraction of workers-mostly those at big companies-and doesn't see why we shouldn't keep it in place for them. For low-wage workers and workers in small firms, he advocates subsidies so that they can buy into group plans-such as state-employee plans. Likewise, though he supports individual mandates, he also thinks raising at least a hundred billion dollars in taxes may be necessary to provide insurance to all Americans.
  15. ^ Feder Ostrov, Barbara (February 11, 2005). "Proposed Law: All Must Buy Health Insurance; Basic Plan Would Be Mandatory". San Jose Mercury-News. The Nation-Richman legislation is modeled on concepts developed by the New America Foundation, a centrist think tank that espouses mandatory health insurance for all Americans.
  16. ^ Noah, Timothy (November 17, 2009). "Mr. Level Playing Field". Slate. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
  17. ^ Lowrey, Annie (December 23, 2012). "A Campaign on U.S. Debt Gains Steam". New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  18. ^ Nocera, Joe (October 10, 2011). "This Time, It Really Is Different". New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  19. ^ Dayen, David (September 1, 2017). "New Think Tank Emails Show 'How Google Wields Its Power' in Washington". The Intercept. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  20. ^ Biddle, Sam; Dayen, David (August 30, 2017). "Google-Funded Think Tank Fired Google Critics After They Dared Criticize Google". The Intercept. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  21. ^ a b Vogel, Kenneth (August 30, 2017). "Google Critic Ousted From Think Tank Funded by the Tech Giant". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  22. ^ Slaughter, Anne-Marie (August 30, 2017). "New America's Response to The New York Times". New America. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  23. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P. (September 1, 2017). "New America, a Google-Funded Think Tank, Faces Backlash for Firing a Google Critic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  24. ^ Meyer, Robinson (June 12, 2018). "How to Fight Amazon (Before You Turn 29)". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
  25. ^ Rushe, Dominic (August 30, 2017). "Google-funded thinktank fired scholar over criticism of tech firm". The Guardian. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  26. ^ Prest, M.J. (February 12, 2021). "Wes Moore to Leave Robin Hood; New America Hires Chief Transformation Officer". Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved March 4, 2026. Paul Butler, chief operating officer at the consulting firm Sparks & Honey, has joined New America as its president and chief transformation officer. He will work alongside Anne-Marie Slaughter, who is remaining as its CEO.
  27. ^ Gunn, Dwyer (January 31, 2019). "Betsy DeVos Is Right, the U.S. Should Rethink Higher Ed—Just Not the Way She Wants To". Pacific Standard. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  28. ^ Nakamura, David (January 10, 2019). "'The story keeps changing': Trump falsely asserts he never promised Mexico would directly pay for the border wall". The Washington Post.
  29. ^ "New America (New America Foundation)". influencewatch.org. Capital Research Center. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  30. ^ Gustin, Sam (June 17, 2013). "Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation". Time. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  31. ^ a b c d Gall, Carlotta; Glanz, James (April 20, 2014). "U.S. Promotes Network to Foil Digital Spying". New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  32. ^ a b Chen, Brian X. (September 18, 2012). "Groups Prepare to Fight AT&T Over FaceTime Restrictions". New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  33. ^ Burkeman, Oliver (April 15, 2012). "Inside Washington's high risk mission to beat web censors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  34. ^ Open Technology Institute - Github - commotion-router, retrieved November 23, 2025
  35. ^ Wayback Machine - calendar of commotionwireless.net, retrieved November 23, 2025 {{citation}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  36. ^ "United States of America Global Information Society Watch". www.giswatch.org. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  37. ^ "Rising to the Challenge: Red Hook Initiative". NYCEDC.
  38. ^ McGill, Margaret Harding (November 21, 2017). "FCC's next step on net neutrality: Blocking the states". Politico. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  39. ^ Shephardson, David (January 2, 2025). "US appeals court blocks Biden administration effort to restore net-neutrality rules". Reuters. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  40. ^ Shephardson, David (February 18, 2025). "Groups ask US court to reconsider ruling blocking net neutrality rules". Reuters. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  41. ^ a b Singer, Natasha (March 11, 2019). "Top Universities Join to Push 'Public Interest Technology'". New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  42. ^ a b Williams, Jake (February 4, 2020). "Georgia State U. joins civic tech network". EdScoop. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  43. ^ Brown Garrow, Hattie (October 20, 2011). "Va. skips pre-K funds contest, citing worries about mandates, regulation". The Virginian-Pilot. The Washington-based New America Foundation, a nonprofit public policy institute, earlier this year deemed Virginia a contender for an early learning Race to the Top grant.
  44. ^ Brown, Jessica (November 5, 2013). "Preschool changes on way". Cincinnati Enquirer. According to the New America Foundation, a recent study found that although almost every state has a "quality rating system" for early childhood programs, they aren't necessarily good predictors of academic outcomes. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're not worth doing, said Laura Bornfreund, senior policy analyst for the New America Foundation's Early Education Initiative.
  45. ^ McNeil, Michele (June 1, 2011). "Some States Wary of New Race to Top Cash". Education Week. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  46. ^ "Alabama to participate in NGA academy on youth apprenticeships". Alabama Political Reporter. July 13, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  47. ^ Stanley, Michael (December 5, 2023). "Southern Indiana Education Center chosen for youth apprenticeship pilot". Dubois County Herald. PAYA is a national consortium of organizations supporting states and cities in their efforts to expand access to high-quality apprenticeship opportunities for high school-aged youth.
  48. ^ Meyerhofer, Kelly (February 20, 2026). "Marquette denies report that says it steers low-income families to risky loans". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  49. ^ Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle (February 18, 2016). "Is it time to abolish federal student loans? This group says yes". Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  50. ^ Sherman, Amy (April 26, 2022). "Democracy experts support Alaska's move to ranked choice voting. Here's why". Politifact. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  51. ^ Lee, Brianna (April 12, 2023). "Ranked Choice Voting Promises To Change Elections. Here's What To Know". LAist. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  52. ^ Carpenter, Tim (March 7, 2025). "Kansans intrigued by potential of bringing voters together with multi-party candidate nominations". Kansas Reflector. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  53. ^ Berman, Russell (July 6, 2023). "A Radical Idea for Fixing Polarization". The Atlantic. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  54. ^ Valverde, Miriam (January 29, 2017). "No terrorist attacks post 9/11 by people from countries in Trump's travel ban?". Politifact. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  55. ^ a b Ackerman, Spencer (March 2, 2017). "Research indicates Trump travel ban was based on misleading data". The Guardian. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  56. ^ Berman, Mark (March 6, 2017). "Trump's new travel ban still wouldn't have kept out anyone behind deadly U.S. terror attacks". Washington Post. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  57. ^ Qiu, Linda (February 23, 2017). "Fact-Checking Claims About Trump's Travel Ban". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  58. ^ Goodman, Jack (January 30, 2017). "US travel ban: Why these seven countries?". BBC. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  59. ^ Reitman, Janet (November 3, 2018). "U.S. Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism. Now They Don't Know How to Stop It". New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  60. ^ Braun, Meg (November 2, 2012). "Counting civilian casualties in CIA's drone war". Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  61. ^ Yousaf, Farooq (June 7, 2014). "The curious case of drone strikes in FATA". The Express Tribune. Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  62. ^ "New America | Washington, DC | Cause IQ". www.causeiq.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  63. ^ a b Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon (May 9, 2013). "New America Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved December 10, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  64. ^ "New America Foundation - DBA: New America" (PDF). Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  65. ^ "Our Funding". New America. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  66. ^ Rushe, Dominic (August 30, 2017). "Google-funded thinktank fired scholar over criticism of tech firm". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  67. ^ Thier, Jane. "CEO who recovered from a workplace scandal offers career advice for young workers". Fortune. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  68. ^ "Our Funding". New America. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  69. ^ "New America Foundation - MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  70. ^ Carnegie Corporation of New York. "New America Foundation | Carnegie Corporation of New York". Carnegie Corporation of New York. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  71. ^ "Lenny Mendonca to Chair New America Board of Directors". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
  72. ^ "Dr. Helene Gayle Appointed Chair of New America's Board of Directors; Katherine Gehl, Reid Hoffman, Ashton Kutcher Join New America's Board of Directors". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
  73. ^ "Helene D. Gayle". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
  74. ^ "Don Katz and Patrick Radden Keefe Join New America's Board of Directors". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
  75. ^ "Our People". New America. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

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