WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today announced that it has selected the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) as a recipient of the Heritage Innovation Prize.  

The American Accountability Foundation will receive a $100,000 award in support of their investigative researchers, in-depth reports, and educational efforts to alert Congress, a conservative administration, and the American people to the presence of anti-American bad actors burrowed into the administrative state and ensure appropriate action is taken. 

In recent years, AAF amassed noteworthy victories in their efforts to promote transparency and accountability for the American people. Last year, after more than a year of educating lawmakers and the American people about President Biden’s FCC nominee, Gigi Sohn, AAF successfully contributed to Sohn’s nomination withdrawal. The organization has also created a project called Bidennoms.com, a go-to resource for policy workers and their staff as they consider Biden’s nominations. 

Heritage President Dr. Kevin Roberts released a statement upon announcement of the award:  

“The weaponization of the federal government under President Joe Biden is only possible because of the deep state of entrenched Leftist bureaucrats in the White House and its agencies. I am proud to support the outstanding work of AAF in their fight to hold our government accountable and drain it of bad actors determined to undermine our constitutional republic and weaponize government against the American people, our economy, and our institutions.” 

Tom Jones, the American Accountability Foundation, also released a statement:  

“The American Accountability Foundation is thrilled to receive the Innovation Prize from Heritage. It is a great honor. AAF works to hold Biden, his allies on the left, and deep state bureaucrats accountable by exposing information about them others are unable or unwilling to uncover. Whether it's the border crisis, the scourge of ESG, or corrupt government officials, AAF's team of elite investigators pulls back the curtain and gives the American people the full truth. We look forward to exposing the leftist bureaucrats who are at the center of the border invasion so the next administration can close the border.” 

The Heritage Innovation Prize recognizes and provides substantive financial awards totaling up to $1 million annually to results-oriented nonprofits for projects involving research, litigation, education, outreach, or communications, particularly those focused on empowering parents in education, holding Big Tech accountable, countering the threat of the Chinese Communist Party, securing America’s borders and reducing crime, ensuring free and fair elections, reducing the growth of spending and inflation, and promoting life and family formation. 

This is the fourth round of Heritage Innovation Prizes to be awarded. In 2023, winners of the Prize included Communio, the National Association of Scholars, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Speech First, and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. These awards are sponsored by The Heritage Foundation’s robust endowment for innovative conservative projects. 

For more information on the most recent Innovation Prize awards, read here, or for information on the inaugural awards, read here. For more information about the prize itself, read here. 

As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, The Heritage Foundation has been leading the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. The Heritage Foundation reaches more than 10 million members, advocates, and concerned Americans every day with information on critical issues facing America.