The NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a national civil rights legal organization founded in 1940 by Thurgood Marshall. Independent from the NAACP since 1957, LDF uses litigation, advocacy, research, public education, and policy work to defend the rights and advance the racial justice and equality of Black people in the United States.
Voting rights and political participation; education equity and school desegregation; criminal justice reform and policing; fair housing and economic justice; employment discrimination and affirmative action; civil rights enforcement and anti-discrimination policy
Primarily philanthropic support including foundation grants, major gifts and individual donations, program grants, and fundraising; supplemented by institutional partnerships and endowments
Thurgood Marshall Institute (LDF research and policy arm); historical affiliation with the NAACP (separate organizations); notable leaders associated with LDF include founder Thurgood Marshall and past and current presidents such as Sherrilyn Ifill and Janai S. Nelson
501(c)(3) nonprofit civil rights law organization / public interest law firm
