What Barbara Lee Family Foundation does

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) was a private nonprofit foundation founded in 1998 by philanthropic activist Barbara Lee and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. For 25 years, the foundation operated as the only organization dedicated to specifically studying women running for executive office on both sides of the aisle in American politics. BLFF's core activities centered on nonpartisan political research — including proprietary polling on voter perceptions of women candidates and post-election interviews with candidates and campaign staff — published as free, downloadable PDFs. The foundation also advanced women's representation in contemporary art through endowed programs, museum board service, and art donations (notably the Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, representing approximately one-third of the museum's permanent collection).

BLFF's product portfolio comprised two main lines: the Essential Guide for Women (a comprehensive synthesis of 25 years of research, with a 25th Anniversary Edition released in 2024) and a research library of more than ten thematic publications covering likeability requirements, incumbent strategy, sexism on the campaign trail, crisis leadership, electability, lieutenant governor dynamics, same-gender races, and the #MeToo movement. Research was produced in partnership with Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Consulting, and the foundation maintained endowed training and internship programs at Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Simmons College. All outputs were distributed free of charge, with no commercial pricing, subscription tiers, or licensing model. The foundation's GTM motion was community-led thought leadership: distributing research directly to women candidates, elected officials, practitioners, and press across party lines.

BLFF was funded through the personal philanthropy of its founder and carried no external investors, parent entity, or subsidiary structure. The foundation announced it had sunset and was closed as of December 2024, ending 25 years of operation without a publicly disclosed successor vehicle.

Name

Barbara Lee Family Foundation

Legal name

Barbara Lee Family Foundation

Website

https://barbaraleefoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation was a private nonprofit (1998–2024) that produced 25 years of nonpartisan research and polling on women running for executive office in American politics, distributing free publications to candidates, elected officials, practitioners, and media across both parties before closing in December 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Funding: The foundation was funded through the philanthropy of Barbara Lee, a philanthropic activist. The foundation operated as a nonprofit and closed as of December 2024.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation produced and freely distributed nonpartisan research publications examining the obstacles and opportunities women face when running for and serving in executive office in the United States. Its core offerings were a synthesized Essential Guide for women candidates and a research library of topical polling-driven studies covering electability, likeability, sexism on the campaign trail, crisis leadership, incumbent strategy, and post-loss recovery.

Product overview

The Barbara Lee Family Foundation offers a portfolio of nonpartisan research products focused on women in American politics. The core offerings consist of two main components: (1) the Essential Guide for Women, a comprehensive guide synthesizing 25 years of research into actionable advice across three sections (Preparation, Substance, and Presentation), and (2) a Research Library containing individual research publications examining specific topics such as lieutenant governor dynamics, incumbent strategies, sexism on the campaign trail, crisis leadership, electability requirements, likeability standards, and electoral recovery after loss. All materials are free and available for download as PDFs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Keys to Elected Office: The Essential Guide for Women A dynamic, comprehensive guide synthesizing 25 years of research providing must-know advice for women elected officials and candidates running for office. The guide covers three sections: Preparation (laying groundwork for a run), Substance (establishing qualifications and owning issues), and Presentation (messaging, style, and resilience).
• BLFF Research Library of Nonpartisan Publications A collection of nonpartisan research publications examining obstacles and opportunities women face in American politics, covering lieutenant governor roles, incumbent strategies, sexism, crisis leadership, electability, likeability, and electoral loss recovery. Publications include Second in Command (2023), Shared Hurdles (2022), Staying Power (2021), Putting Sexism in its Place (2021), Rising to the Occasion (2020), Ready, Willing, & Electable (2019), Relaunch (2018), #MeToo: An Issue that Transcends Party (2018), Modern Family (2017), and Politics is Personal (2016).
• Second in Command: The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Women Lieutenant Governors Research examining how voters perceive women running for or serving as lieutenant governor, addressing the awareness obstacle and the opportunity to define the role. Key finding: 63% of voters feel warmly about a governor with a prominent, active woman lieutenant governor.
• Shared Hurdles: How Political Races Change When Two Women Compete Research revealing how candidates' race, political party, and gender interact to influence voter opinion when more than one woman is on the ballot.
• Staying Power: Strategies for Women Incumbents Research showing that voters want a woman running for reelection to showcase her specific achievements in office, since they will not assume she is doing a good job.
• Putting Sexism in its Place on the Campaign Trail Research exploring the forms sexism takes in politics, from double standards to undue criticisms of appearance, voice, or clothing, and guidance on whether and how to address it.
• Rising to the Occasion: How Women Leaders Prove They Can Handle a Crisis Research establishing that proving crisis leadership capability has consistently been important for women candidates and will continue to be so in the years to come.
• Ready, Willing, & Electable: Women Running for Executive Office Comprehensive examination of what it takes for a woman to prove to voters she is ready to serve in executive office, tested across hypothetical Asian American, Black, Latina, lesbian, and white women candidates of both major parties. Key finding: all hypothetical women candidates tested win or tie head-to-head against a straight white man of the opposite party.
• Relaunch: Resilience and Rebuilding for Women Candidates After an Electoral Loss Research showing that voters think women who have lost their elections are still qualified and likeable, and that losing an election can be a launching point for the next campaign.
• #MeToo: An Issue that Transcends Party Research showing that voters respond positively when women candidates on both sides of the aisle talk about sexual harassment in their candidate profiles, with insights about messages supporting and questioning the #MeToo movement.
• Modern Family: How Women Candidates Can Talk About Politics, Parenting, and Their Personal Lives Research examining how women candidates can address questions about family and personal responsibilities while serving constituents and running for office.
• Politics is Personal: Keys to Likeability and Electability for Women Research examining likeability requirements for women candidates, with findings that 84% of men and 90% of women say likeability is important for officeholders they support, and that voters assess a woman officeholder's confidence in less than 30 seconds.

Quantifiable outcome

• 63% of voters feel warmly about a governor with a prominent, active woman lieutenant governor
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Lake Research PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018BLFF partnered with Lake Research Partners to conduct research on #MeToo and how voters respond to women candidates discussing sexual harassment in their campaigns.
• Bellwether ConsultingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018BLFF partnered with Bellwether Consulting for the #MeToo research initiative examining how women candidates should address sexual harassment on the campaign trail.
• Harvard Kennedy School of GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough the Foundation, Barbara Lee endowed a nonpartisan training program for women at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
• Simmons College BostoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Foundation endowed an internship program at the Massachusetts State House for students at Simmons College in Boston.
• Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) BostonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerBarbara Lee was a long-time board member at ICA Boston and presented the museum with approximately one-third of the 220 works in the permanent collection—all work by women artists. The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women is a cornerstone of the museum's collection.
• Museum of Fine Arts, BostonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBarbara Lee donated works to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts as part of her advocacy for elevating women artists.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Close Up Foundation: Close Up Foundation is a civic education nonprofit that engages young people in government and politics, with a strong Washington-area focus. It is thematically adjacent to BLFF's women-in-leadership training orientation, though not directly comparable in research depth.

Direct peers

• RepresentWomen: RepresentWomen is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization focused on advancing women's representation in U.S. politics through structural reform. Its research-and-advocacy mix closely mirrors BLFF's nonprofit research model.
• EMILY's List: EMILY's List is the largest U.S. political organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting pro-choice Democratic women candidates. Like BLFF, its mission centers on advancing women's representation in elected office, though its primary lever is candidate funding rather than research publication.
• Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP): CAWP at Rutgers is the leading university-based research center on women's political participation in the U.S. It produces data, research, and analysis on women candidates and elected officials — the closest direct peer to BLFF's research-and-polling function, with similar academic and practitioner audiences.
• Higher Heights for America: Higher Heights builds the political power and leadership pipeline for Black women. Like BLFF, it focuses on representation and electability research, with overlap in examining how race and gender jointly affect voter perception of women candidates.
• Running Start: Running Start is a nonpartisan nonprofit that trains young women to run for political office and pursue leadership. Its training programs for women candidates parallel BLFF's mission of equipping women with the tools to win executive office.
• She Should Run: She Should Run is a nonprofit encouraging women from all backgrounds to run for office, providing resources and community for prospective candidates. It is comparable to BLFF in mission (advancing women's political representation) but focuses on candidate recruitment and pipeline rather than published research.
• Victory Institute: Victory Institute trains and supports LGBTQ women and men to run for office and succeed in government. Comparable as a candidate-focused nonprofit but distinct in focusing on a different demographic and with international scope.

Broad incumbents

• National Women's Law Center: NWLC is a major nonprofit legal and policy organization advancing gender justice across many issue areas. Broader in scope than BLFF but comparable as a research-and-advocacy nonprofit focused on women's equality in U.S. public life.

Others

• Lake Research Partners: Lake Research Partners is a public opinion research firm that partnered with BLFF on the #MeToo polling work. It is comparable as a provider of political polling and message research used by progressive organizations and candidates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/blff_org
• Facebookfacebook.com/barbaraleefoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/5245309

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Barbara Lee Family Foundation