Whistleblower Aid

Description

Whistleblower Aid is a nonprofit legal organization that helps government employees and private-sector workers safely, lawfully and responsibly report and expose wrongdoing. It was founded in 2017 and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. It describes itself as filling a niche no other organization matches, making whistleblowing safer, more accessible and more effective.

The organization works directly with whistleblowers as clients, using what it calls a holistic support model. This includes guiding clients through the disclosure process and providing legal representation before a whistleblower takes any risky step. It also shepherds disclosures to oversight and regulatory bodies to trigger legal and policy change, builds a media strategy for public awareness, and develops an advocacy strategy based on each client’s goals. It further protects anonymity through digital and physical security measures and addresses clients’ mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Legal representation is provided at no cost to clients. Whistleblower Aid works with whistleblowers from government, Big Tech and other parts of the private sector. It says it has represented some of the most significant whistleblowers of its time, including Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and the intelligence officer whose 2019 disclosures led to the first impeachment of President Trump.

Its stated aim is a democracy where institutions and leaders are subject to scrutiny and those who act corruptly or illegally are held accountable. The organization is led by chief executive officer Libby Liu, with a legal team headed by chief legal counsel Andrew P. Bakaj. Its board includes founder John N. Tye, a former National Security Agency employee who established Whistleblower Aid after his own whistleblowing disclosure.