BridgeUSA

Civility Nonprofit

Background

BridgeUSA was founded in 2017 and launched nationally in 2018. As of January 2025, BridgeUSA’s stated mission was to create student-led “bridge-building” networks to promote “viewpoint diversity, responsible discourse, and a solution-oriented political culture.” The organization currently has more than 125 chapters, primarily on college campuses, but also in high schools.

Notable People

Manu Meel

Founder and CEO of BridgeUSA

Meel founded BridgeUSA in response to seeing some of his fellow UC Berkeley students protest a 2017 talk by far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. Meel has been featured in numerous articles and videos put out by conservative groups—including the right-wing advocacy group, American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). In 2018, the same year he launched BridgeUSA nationally, Meel served as a research intern at the right-wing think tank American Enterprise Institute. In an April 2024 op-ed framed around campus activism, he argued that the public narrative about colleges is defined by “a loud minority of voices on campus” who are “temperamentally extreme” and “united in their rigid, zealous commitment to an ideology,” along with their “unwillingness to entertain any challenge to their opinion.” By contrast, he described members of BridgeUSA as “temperamentally moderate” and able to “disagree productively.”

See also: Braver Angels.

Notable Funders

Arthur Vining Davis Foundations

~$1 million (2021- 2024)

AVDF has made significant grants to Hillel International (an explicitly anti-BDS organization) and Tablet magazine (a self-described “Jewish, Zionist publication” whose editor-in-chief has called on Jewish communal groups to replace leaders who do not explicitly support Israel). Refer to UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on AVDF’s giving.

Paul E. Singer Foundation/The Singer Family Charitable Foundation

$250,000 (2024)

Established by Paul E. Singer, a billionaire hedge fund founder with documented ties to the Koch Network. Singer served as Board Chair of the staunchly conservative Manhattan Institute from 2008 to 2025 and currently serves as Chair Emeritus. In a May 2023 speech at the Institute, Singer denounced “the rancid stew of…wokeness that seeks to tear down all that we hold dear.” In a May 2024 speech, he called pro-Palestine campus protesters “mobsters” motivated by “anti-Jewish hate.” He contrasted the protesters with people who fight for “the virtues of merit and civil debate.” Singer’s foundations have awarded millions to Zionist groups such as Birthright Israel, Boundless Israel (an organization that describes itself as “unapologetically Zionist” and promotes anti-BDS material on its website), and American Israel Education Foundation (an affiliate of AIPAC). For reference, see the Singer Family Charitable Foundation’s tax filings for 2024, 2023, and 2022, along with the Paul E. Singer Foundation’s tax filings for 2024, 2023, and 2022.

See also: Manhattan Institute; Princeton University.

The William H. Donner Foundation

$105,000 (2024)

The Donner Foundation has made significant grants to conservative and right-wing groups including The Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, and Cato Institute. For reference, see the Donner Foundation’s tax filings for 2024, 2023, and 2022.

See also: Princeton University.

John Templeton Foundation

$50,000 (2023)

Established by billionaire investor John Templeton. The foundation was led from 2015 to 2025 by his granddaughter, Heather Templeton Dill. It is now headed by the former CEO of Christianity Today, which describes itself as a “globally minded evangelical magazine.” Templeton makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing advocacy organizations such as State Policy Network and Mercatus Center, and Atlas Network (all three of which are described by Greenpeace as “Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Groups”). The foundation also has documented ties to the Koch Network. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Templeton’s giving.

Lincoln Club Institute/Lincoln Institute of California

$25,000 (2020)

The Lincoln Club Institute’s 2025 tax filing describes its “Campus Liberty Project” as “the heart of our operation” and states that it works by “transforming and guiding conservative student leaders,” including through student mentorship, hosting conservative speakers, and providing legal assistance to conservative student activists. The Institute has made contributions to conservative and right-wing groups such as Turning Point USA and Walk Away Foundation (a pro-Trump advocacy group founded by a conservative influencer). The Lincoln Club Institute’s website—operating as the “Lincoln Institute of California” under the same EIN—states that it is committed to “cultivating promising college students who will influence the culture change for California’s future.” For reference, see the Lincoln Institute tax filings for 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.