Fourth Freedom Forum Inc.

Fourth Freedom Forum Inc. is a private operating foundation — a distinction that fundamentally reframes how prospective partners should engage. Unlike traditional grantmaking foundations that distribute funds externally, the Forum directs its ~$22M endowment to sustain in-house research operations. Annual program expenditures of $847K-$1.2M fund a small expert staff rather than an external grant portfolio. Grants paid to external organizations were recorded as $0 in IRS filings for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Founded in 1982 by Howard S. Brembeck and inspired by Roosevelt's "freedom from fear," the Forum built its reputation by pioneering targeted "smart sanctions" that have since become standard practice at the UN, U.S., EU, and African Union. This legacy of moving niche policy research into mainstream international practice defines who the Forum works with: researchers and institutions that can shift thinking at intergovernmental scale, not organizations delivering community programs.

For external partners, intellectual alignment and demonstrable expertise are the true gatekeepers. The Forum's signature collaboration — a 30-year research partnership with Notre Dame's Kroc Institute, launched in 1992 — exemplifies its preference for deep, sustained, peer-level relationships over transactional grant cycles. Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation once funded the Forum itself, and those relationships shaped an institutional culture that values scholarly rigor over programmatic reach.

The Brembeck Fellowship is the most accessible formal entry point for individual scholars and practitioners. Named for the founder, it represents the Forum's investment in developing the next generation of global security experts. Researchers working on sanctions policy, nuclear nonproliferation, countering violent extremism, or post-conflict governance should identify this fellowship as the primary formal pathway and contact info@ffforum.org directly, since no public application portal exists.

Organizations — think tanks, university research centers, international NGOs active in sanctioned states or multilateral security processes — are most likely to engage through co-authored publications, joint expert convenings, or technical consultations. The Forum's 2026 Just Security article (co-authored with George A. Lopez of Notre Dame) and 2025 Syria sanctions policy brief illustrate this collaboration model precisely. Approaching the Forum as a thought partner and potential co-author, rather than a funder, is strategically correct and consistent with how the organization now operates.

The Forum's financial trajectory reveals a profound organizational transformation over the past decade, with direct implications for what external partners can realistically expect.

Historical giving (2011-2015): Annual total giving ranged from $3.5M (2015) to $3.9M (2011), sustained by external contributions of $2.1M-$4.3M annually. During this period, the Forum acted partly as a capital conduit — channeling external philanthropic funds into the peace and security research ecosystem alongside its own operations.

Post-2016 contraction (2019-2024): Annual giving fell to $646K-$1.2M. External contributions collapsed to near-zero: $0 in both 2020 and 2021, $35,000 in 2022, $30,750 in 2023. The 2024 ProPublica filing shows charitable disbursements of $847,498 against net assets of $22,689,450. Revenue now flows almost entirely from a ~$21-22M endowment generating $363K-$1.1M in annual net investment income depending on market conditions.

External grant-making is negligible: The grants_paid line in IRS filings shows $0 for 2020-2023. Only 2019 recorded discrete external grants ($260,881). The "total giving" figures in recent years ($646K-$1.2M) represent primarily internal program expenditure, not an external grant portfolio.

Where the budget goes: Officer compensation alone consumed $489K-$521K annually in 2022-2024, covering President Alistair Millar ($240K-$292K), COO Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf ($133K-$162K), and Secretary/Treasurer Patrick Pinnick ($55K-$66K). The remaining program budget — approximately $475K in documented program expenses — supports research, publications, expert convenings, and the Brembeck Fellowship.

Program area allocation: The Forum reports a single IRS program area, "Research and Consulting," without public allocation across its three thematic pillars (Sanctions/Diplomacy, Counterterrorism, Nuclear Dangers). No geographic breakdowns appear in public filings.

Endowment health: Assets have grown from $17.8M (2015) to $22.7M (2024) despite negligible external contributions — indicating strong investment management. The endowment could theoretically support expanded external engagement, but no public signal of such a shift exists as of mid-2026. Any realistic external support arrangement should be scoped as a fellowship stipend or modest project contribution, not a program grant.

Fourth Freedom Forum occupies a unique position among peace and security funders: a small, endowment-driven operating foundation whose influence far exceeds its financial footprint.

(Peer figures are approximate based on publicly available 990 data and foundation profiles; Fourth Freedom Forum figures reflect 2024 IRS filings.)

Three observations stand out. First, the Forum's annual giving is dramatically smaller than every peer, reinforcing that it functions as an operating research institution rather than a capital distributor — organizations seeking six-figure program grants should look to Ploughshares Fund or Carnegie Corporation. Second, Stanley Foundation and Ploughshares Fund actively solicit proposals from the peace and security sector; Fourth Freedom Forum does not maintain a formal open application process, making it structurally inaccessible through standard grantseeker pathways. Third, the Forum's intellectual legacy punches far above its asset weight: having pioneered smart sanctions now used by the UN and G7 governments, co-authorship or research affiliation with the Forum carries disproportionate policy credibility — making it a strategic partner of a different kind than its balance sheet suggests.

The Forum's most recent documented output comes from spring 2026, when President Alistair Millar co-authored "The Next Frontier: Overcoming Crime and Corruption in Post-Sanctions States" with George A. Lopez (Notre Dame's Kroc Institute) and Susan Carter, published in Just Security on May 15, 2026. The article addresses governance challenges in nations transitioning away from international sanctions — a timely policy issue as Syria, Iran, and other sanctioned states face evolving diplomatic environments.

In June 2025, Millar and Stephen J. Fallon published "A Framework for Proactively — and Rapidly — Lifting Sanctions on Syria," reflecting rapid-response engagement with Middle East developments. These two publications signal that the Forum's current research front is sanctions relief and post-sanctions accountability, rather than the earlier emphasis on sanctions design and counterterrorism cooperation.

The FY2024 Form 990 was filed on September 19, 2025, confirming financial stability: $22,689,450 in net assets and $847,498 in charitable disbursements.

Leadership has been stable for many years. Alistair Millar continues as President (compensation: $292,525 in 2024, up from $240,721 in 2020). Linda Gerber-Stellingwerf remains COO ($162,270 in 2024) and Patrick Pinnick continues as Secretary/Treasurer/CFO ($66,395). David Cortnight serves as Board Chair; unpaid directors include Rafia Bhulai, Erin Corcoran, Danielle Cotter, Connor Gallagher, William P. Johnson, Greg Jurgonski, Frank Martin, and Joseph T. Barkman. No leadership transitions, new program announcements, or major external grants were identified in the 2025-2026 search window.

Because Fourth Freedom Forum is an operating foundation with negligible external grant-making, effective engagement requires departing entirely from the standard grant-seeker playbook.

Lead with intellectual credentials, not organizational capacity. Forum staff are published policy experts and long-term participants in UN and multilateral security processes. Any outreach that opens with organizational size, budget, or program scale will signal a mismatch. Instead, lead with your most recent peer-reviewed publication, government advisory role, or specific UN/intergovernmental engagement.

Read Forum publications before reaching out. Visit fourthfreedomforum.org/publications and identify at least two or three recent works relevant to your proposed contribution. Your initial email to info@ffforum.org should cite these by title and explain specifically how your work extends, challenges, or applies their findings. This single step distinguishes genuine peer outreach from generic solicitation.

Propose a concrete co-created output. Rather than requesting a grant for an existing program, propose a specific joint deliverable: a co-authored policy brief for Just Security or a similar outlet, a joint expert roundtable with government or UN participants, or a contribution to an ongoing Forum research project. The Forum's model (illustrated by its Notre Dame-Kroc Institute partnership since 1992) centers on shared intellectual products, not financial transfers.

Inquire explicitly about the Brembeck Fellowship. Individual researchers should ask about current fellowship cycles, eligibility criteria, stipend levels, duration, and any in-person expectations when writing to info@ffforum.org. No public information about fellowship parameters exists — a direct, professional inquiry is the only access point.

Align with the Forum's active research front. 2025-2026 publications focus on post-sanctions governance and Syria sanctions relief. Proposals connected to these geopolitical contexts — rather than broad peace, human rights, or civic education framing — will resonate with President Millar and his team.

Avoid standard grant application language. Terms like "grant amount requested" or "evaluation metrics" signal a mismatch with the Forum's operating model. Frame all communications as research collaboration proposals.

Budget for a long runway. Forum institutional relationships develop over years. First contact is unlikely to yield immediate results; demonstrating expertise and intellectual follow-through over 6-24 months is realistic.