FairSquare

What FairSquare does

FairSquare Projects is a London-based non-profit human rights research and advocacy organisation founded in 2019. It employs approximately five people — a director (Nicholas McGeehan), an operations director (Susie Woodward), a research and advocacy manager (Alex Carlen), and a board of non-executive directors — and operates across Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. The organisation does not sell products or services; it is funded entirely by grants from foundations and trusts, principally the Open Society Foundations, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Humanity United, and the Minor Foundation for Major Challenges, supplemented by individual donations processed through Donorbox and one government grant from the Swiss Development Corporation. FairSquare maintains strict internal policies on funding and publicly discloses all major funders on the European Transparency Register.

FairSquare's work is organised around three specialist areas: (1) the exploitation of migrant workers under temporary labour migration schemes in Europe and the Middle East, including research on deaths and injuries linked to extreme heat in Gulf states; (2) political repression by Middle Eastern states including the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, with a focus on transnational repression targeting dissidents in the UK; and (3) accountability in sport, particularly FIFA governance, the human rights legacy of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, opposition to state ownership of football clubs, and the intersection of sport with fossil fuel sponsorships (notably Saudi Aramco). The organisation's outputs are original investigative reports ('Blood, sweat and oil', 'Substitute', 'Well of Fear', 'Five Corridors Project', 'Vital Signs Partnership'), parliamentary advocacy (including mobilising over 100 UK parliamentarians on individual prisoner cases), public campaigns (Reboot FIFA), and joint publications with partners such as Human Rights Watch, the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre, and ALQST for Human Rights.

Its go-to-market is community-led advocacy combined with direct-to-public distribution: earned media through investigative reports, organic social on Bluesky and LinkedIn, an email newsletter via MailChimp/Action Network, paid advertising on Meta and Reddit, and direct engagement with policymakers, parliamentarians, and journalists. There is no commercial product, no technology platform, and no AI/ML capability underlying the work; the underlying 'technology' is investigative fieldwork, stakeholder interviews, and human rights research methodology. The 'customers' are beneficiaries — migrant workers, political prisoners, and football supporters — rather than purchasers.

Name

FairSquare

Legal name

Fairsquare Projects

Website

https://fairsq.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FairSquare Projects is a London-based non-profit founded in 2019 that conducts original human rights research and advocacy on migrant worker exploitation, political repression in the Middle East, and sport governance accountability, funded by foundation grants and individual donations and serving migrant workers, political prisoners, and football supporters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and grants: FairSquare is funded by individual donations and institutional grants from foundations and trusts. Major funders include Open Society Foundations, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, Humanity United, and the Minor Foundation for Major Challenges. One government grant was received from the Swiss Development Corporation for research on deaths of migrant workers in the Gulf states. The organisation also accepts consultancies from other organisations. No revenue is generated from commercial products or services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FairSquare is a non-profit research and advocacy organisation that produces original investigative reports and conducts targeted campaigns to promote systemic change on human rights issues. Its work covers three specialist areas: exploitation of migrant workers (notably under temporary labour migration schemes in Europe and the Gulf), political repression by Middle Eastern states including transnational repression in the UK, and accountability in sport (particularly FIFA, mega-event labour abuses, and state ownership of football clubs). It combines rigorous fieldwork and interviews with advocacy directed at policymakers, parliamentarians, journalists, and the public.

Product overview

FairSquare is a non-profit human rights research and advocacy organization based in London, UK, established in 2019. The organization does not offer a traditional product or software service. It produces original research, publishes reports, and conducts advocacy campaigns on human rights issues in three specialist areas: exploitation of migrant workers, political repression, and accountability in sport. Its work includes campaigns such as the 'Reboot FIFA' campaign for reform of football governance, participation in coalitions like the Seasonal Worker Interest Group, and collaboration with partners on reports such as the Five Corridors Project and Vital Signs Partnership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Filed an ethics complaint against FIFA President Gianni Infantino with FIFA's Ethics Committee (December 2025), later backed by the Norwegian Football Federation and 50 Members of the European Parliament.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2023FairSquare co-published 'Well of Fear: extraction and autocracy in the UAE' with EDAC and ALQST for Human Rights. EDAC provides expertise on detained Emirati activists and UAE repression, complementing FairSquare's research on the intersection of fossil fuel extraction and human rights abuses.
• ALQST for Human RightscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 September 2023FairSquare co-published 'Well of Fear: extraction and autocracy in the UAE' with ALQST for Human Rights and the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre. ALQST contributes expertise on Saudi Arabian and Emirati human rights issues.
• Human Rights WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFairSquare collaborates with Human Rights Watch on joint reports and advocacy, including co-publishing 'Well of Fear' with the Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre and ALQST for Human Rights, issuing joint letters on UAE and Saudi Arabia (e.g., on Cambridge University's proposed UAE partnership, on Manchester mayoral candidates), and coordinating shared advocacy positions on sport and human rights issues.
• Action NetworkcoreOthersAction Network is FairSquare's campaigning and email platform, used to manage its mailing list and host petitions and other campaign actions. It is operated from the United States.
• DonorboxcoreOthersDonorbox is FairSquare's payment processor for accepting individual donations. Donations are accepted via donorbox.org/fairsquare.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ALQST for Human Rights: Specialist NGO focused on human rights in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Direct peer on political repression and fossil-fuel-linked abuses; co-published 'Well of Fear' with FairSquare and EDAC.
• Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD): Specialist NGO on Bahrain human rights and UK foreign policy. Alex Carlen previously worked at BIRD; it operates in the same Gulf-repression and UK-parliamentary advocacy niche as FairSquare.
• Emirates Detainees Advocacy Centre (EDAC): Specialist advocacy group for detained Emirati activists. Closely comparable niche focus on UAE repression; co-publisher with FairSquare and ALQST on 'Well of Fear'.
• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: NGO tracking corporate human rights performance. Highly comparable on FairSquare's business-and-human-rights work covering Aramco, FIFA sponsors, and state-owned clubs.
• Centre for Sport and Human Rights: Multi-stakeholder initiative focused specifically on human rights in sport. Direct peer on FairSquare's accountability-in-sport pillar and FIFA reform advocacy.
• Equidem: Research and advocacy organisation documenting migrant worker abuses, including in the Gulf. Direct comparable on labour migration research and Qatar/Saudi mega-event worker-rights campaigns.
• Migrant Rights: Specialist migrant-worker rights organisation focused on Gulf states. Closely comparable to FairSquare's migrant-worker pillar (kafala, recruitment abuses, worker deaths).
• Human Rights Watch: Large international human rights research and advocacy organisation. Directly comparable as FairSquare is an explicit collaborating partner, co-publishing reports and joint letters with HRW on UAE, Saudi Arabia, and sport-and-rights issues.

Broad incumbents

• Transparency International: Global anti-corruption NGO. Overlaps with FairSquare on governance of FIFA, defence-sector corruption, and sport integrity; multiple FairSquare board and staff members previously worked at TI.
• Amnesty International: Global human rights NGO conducting research and advocacy across a wide portfolio. Alex Carlen previously worked at Amnesty, and Amnesty's work on Gulf states, migrant workers, and FIFA overlap directly with FairSquare's focus areas.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fairsq

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about FairSquare