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America First Policy Institute

Secular conservative

https://americafirstpolicy.com · founded 2021

Conservative policy institute founded 2021 by former Trump administration officials. James Sherk directs AFPI's Center for American Freedom. Per Education Week's 2021 investigation, Sherk consulted with 'at least two states on their proposed bills, including one where the measure became law' — but EdWeek names neither the states nor the bill. Sherk's publicly documented activity is concentrated on civil-service / labor policy and CRT-curriculum enforcement (e.g., a 2022 letter to the Baxter, Iowa superintendent demanding removal of a 'Social Justice in Literature' course), not library book removal legislation. As of a 2026-04-23 research pass, no primary source attributes AFPI to a specific book-ban law in our DB, which is why this group has 0 law_organizations rows. Reopen if a longer EdWeek excerpt or an AFPI publication names a specific book-ban bill.

Notes

Primary source: Education Week, 'Who's Really Driving Critical Race Theory Legislation? An Investigation' (July 2021). https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/whos-really-driving-critical-race-theory-legislation-an-investigation/2021/07 AFPI has a broader portfolio than CRT/book-ban work specifically — this row only documents its role in that area.

Known Funding Sources

Funding data sourced from publicly available IRS 990 filings, news reports, and self-reported disclosures. Amounts are as reported in the cited source.

FunderAmountYearSource

Total revenue (IRS Form 990)

$27,319,0852023IRS 990

Revenue grew to $27.3M. Assets $9.9M. By far the largest organization in the challenger groups tracked.

Total revenue (IRS Form 990)

$23,618,2462022IRS 990

Revenue grew 66% to $23.6M.

Total revenue (IRS Form 990)

$14,195,5222021IRS 990

EIN 854202763. Fort Worth, TX. 501(c)(3). First full fiscal year — $14.2M revenue.

No bans currently attributed by direct FK — flags below show books this group has targeted.

0 books flagged. These are books this group has publicly targeted. A flag is not a ban — books on this list may or may not have been formally challenged or removed from any specific library.

No flagged books in our database yet for this group.

We’re working on importing flag data from public sources. If you know of a relevant list, let us know.