Cato Institute

Advocacy Group

Background

The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank founded in 1977 by billionaire oil fortune heir Charles Koch and libertarian organizer Edward Crane. Cato describes its mission as advancing “individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.” Greenpeace describes Cato as a “Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group.”

Advocacy

Advocacy for Civil Discourse and Viewpoint Diversity in Higher Education

In 2025, Cato began offering pluralism programming called the “Competencies in Civil Discourse Series.” It is led by Cato Institute Research Fellow Erec Smith.

Advocacy Against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs

In December 2024, Cato published a white paper with recommendations to President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), overseen by billionaire Elon Musk. The paper, entitled “How to Downsize and Reform the Federal Government,” includes a recommendation for DOGE to “Eliminate funding for all diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI-related projects in education.” In June 2025, Cato research fellow Erec Smith (see below) told Congress that DEI in higher education was “not a benign reform agenda” and that it “draws from radical Marxist theory.”

Notable People

Erec Smith

Cato Institute Research Fellow

Smith is a prominent critic of DEI programs and author of the 2021 book, A Critique of Anti-Racism in Rhetoric and Composition. Smith described his motivation for creating his Mutual Persuasion blog in a September 2025 post that ended with a message about the assassination of Charlie Kirk: “Kirk spent his career championing civil discourse; we owe it to his memory to do so ourselves.” In 2026, Smith’s blog became a discrete civil discourse organization, Mutual Persuasion.

See also: Viewpoints Project.

Notable Funders

Charles Koch Foundation/Stand Together Trust

~$4.22 million (2020-2022)

Established by billionaire oil fortune heir, Charles Koch, the foundation has been a major funder of right-wing infrastructure for several decades. Koch invests millions into the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups, including climate change denial organizations such as CO2 Coalition. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Koch’s giving.

Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation

$1.85 million (2021-2024)

Co-founded by Beth and Ravenel Curry III, whom Greenpeace listed in a 2014 report entitled “The Kingpins of Carbon and Their War on Democracy.” Ravenel is a trustee of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute and also Manhattan Institute. The Curry Foundation makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing groups, including American Enterprise Institute, Atlas Network, and Manhattan Institute. The foundation also has documented ties to the Koch Network. Refer to UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on the Curry Foundation’s giving.

Sarah Scaife Foundation

$900,000 (2020-2024)

Established by the late billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. According to the Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch, Scaife is “one of the largest foundations focused on supporting right-wing causes.” The foundation is a major donor to conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, as well as climate change denial groups like Global Warming Policy Foundation and the nativist/anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Scaife’s giving.

John Templeton Foundation

~$880,000 (2020-2022)

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.

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation/Bradley Impact Fund

$313,000 (2021-2023)

The Bradley Foundation makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing organizations. The closely related Bradley Impact Fund is a major donor to conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom, as well as climate change denial groups like the Heartland Institute. Current and former Bradley Foundation board members, including Victor Davis Hanson and Art Pope, have documented ties to the Koch Network. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Bradley’s giving.

Adolph Coors Foundation

$225,000 (2020-2024)

Established by Adolph Coors, Jr., the son of the founder of the Coors Brewing Company. A 2015 Forbes report estimated the Coors family’s combined wealth at $4 billion. The Coors Foundation’s chairman, Peter H. Coors, is a trustee of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute. The foundation makes significant grants to the State Policy Network, which the Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch describes as “a web of right-wing ‘think tanks.’” The foundation also makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, as well as Turning Point USA. The Coors family is included on DeSmog’s list of “6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025.” See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Coors’ giving.

John William Pope Foundation

$215,000 (2020-2024)

Chaired by Art Pope, whom Greenpeace describes as “a major funder of groups that deny climate change.” The foundation makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing advocacy groups like the Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, and the Federalist Society. The Pope Foundation is included on the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)’s top ten funders of climate disinformation groups from 2020 to 2022. The foundation also has documented ties to the Koch Network. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Pope’s giving.

The Thomas W. Smith Foundation

$130,000 (2021-2022)

Founded by Thomas W. Smith, a Trustee of the Manhattan Institute with documented ties to the Koch Network. The Smith Foundation makes significant grants to conservative and right-wing groups, including American Enterprise Institute, Atlas Network, and Manhattan Institute. It also supports the climate change denial organization CO2 Coalition. James Piereson, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is listed as a compensated “Trustee/Director” on the Smith Foundation’s 2025 tax filing. See UNCIVIL’s June 2026 Funder Analysis for more details on Smith’s giving.