Resist Inc

Resist has always been a different type of foundation.

Our story begins in 1967 when the "Call to Resist Illegitimate Authority" was issued to support draft resistance in opposition to the war in Vietnam. Signed by over 20,000 people, the Call mobilized activists and academics across the country and became a central document in the 1968 conspiracy trial of the "Boston Five" comprised of Reverend William Sloan Coffin, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Michael Ferber, Marcus Raskin, and Mitchell Goodman, who all soon became five of Resist’s founders. Other signers and founding members included Grace Paley, Noam Chomsky, Robert Lowell, Barbara Guest, and Allen Ginsberg. 

During the course of the Vietnam War, as grassroots activism exploded across the country, Resist evolved too and supported radical visionary activists from coast to coast. Over time, Resist provided support to hundreds of groups, starting with resistance to the Vietnam War and quickly expanding to the civil rights movement and beyond. By the 1970s, Resist had broadened its scope dramatically by tying together the unequal distribution of power and money at home with a system of US domination abroad.

Throughout this history, Resist has provided critical early funding to some of the most influential progressive organizations in the US – many of which have gone on to make history themselves.

1960s

Black Panther Party • Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors • Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam • Fort Dix Coffeehouse • SNCC Anti-Draft Program • Students for a Democratic Society • Third World Newsreel

1970s

9 to 5: National Organization for Working Women • American Indian Movement • Clamshell Alliance • Gay Liberation Front • Nicaragua Solidarity Committee • Southern Organizing Committee • United Farm Workers • Vietnam Veterans Against the War

1980s

ACT-UP • Black Workers for Justice • Center for Constitutional Rights • Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador • Grassroots International • MADRE • Rethinking Schools • Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom • Women's Pentagon Action

1990s

Black Radical Congress • Jobs with Justice • NARAL Pro-Choice • National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights • Rural Organizing Project • School of the Americas Watch • SouthWest Organizing Project • School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL) • Sweatshop Watch

2000s

3rd EyE Youth Empowerment • Center for Artistic Revolution • Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools • GI Voice • Nodutdol • Critical Resistance • Fuerza Laboral - Power of Workers • Human Dignity Coalition • Prometheus Radio Project

Recent Grantees

Civilian Soldier Alliance • Food Chain Workers Alliance • Fort Collins CAN! • Fort Hood Support Network • Reflect and Strengthen • Student/Farmworker Alliance • Warehouse Workers for Justice 

In total, Resist has since granted more than $6 million to over 5,000 dedicated groups across the United States.