Our Mission
Defend American Ideals, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, champions the founding ideals of this country—that we are all created equal and should be judged by the content of our character. These are principles declared by the Founding Fathers and advocated by brave Americans throughout our history. Yet a corrosive ideology dominates our public discourse today: It shames Americans for their race, color, ethnicity, or gender; teaches children that they are oppressed, or oppressors, due to the color of their skin; pressures public and private institutions to grant preferences to some racial groups while discriminating against others; and infuses racial grievance into nearly every aspect of American life. All the while, politicians and the media defend such practices under the false notion of “diversity” or “equity.”
Defend American Ideals seeks to defeat and eradicate the corrosive ideology that perpetuates such divisions. While racism is not extinct in America, it is wrong to condemn America as a systemically racist country and to implement policies that embrace bigotry masquerading as social justice. Rather, upholding the founding principle of equal rights remains crucial to living up to America’s ideals. Through public advocacy and education, Defend American Ideals advocates for common sense, equal opportunity, and the founding ideals of this country.
We are a sister organization of the American Ideals PAC, a political action committee dedicated to promoting the same enduring American principles.
Our Leadership
Ying Ma
Ying Ma is chair and president of Defend American Ideals.
The author of Chinese Girl in the Ghetto, and president of the American Ideals PAC, Ms. Ma has advised multiple high-profile presidential and regional campaigns, including the Ben Carson presidential campaign in 2016. A former attorney at a Wall Street law firm, she has worked for the U.S. Congress and premier think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Ms. Ma has written widely on, and provides regular on-air commentary about, domestic politics and international affairs. Her articles have been published in The Wall Street Journal Asia, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Forbes.com, and other publications, and she has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and Bloomberg Television.
Betty Chu
Betty Chu is vice chair of Defend American Ideals.
Attorney, political leader, banker, real estate developer, and trailblazer among Americans of Asian descent, Chu is former mayor and two-term city council member of Monterey Park, California; the first American woman of Chinese descent to co-found and run a bank; and the first female Chinese lawyer in Southern California. In the 2020 elections, Betty served as honorary co-chair of the No on Prop 16 campaign, which defeated by a landslide an effort to restore state-sponsored racial and gender preferences in California. In 2009, Betty was candidate for U.S. Representative in California’s 32nd congressional district.
Andy Frankel
Andrew Frankel is a member of the board of directors of Defend American Ideals.
An attorney in New York City with over 30 years of experience in complex commercial litigation, Frankel is a member of various nonpartisan organizations dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties through civic engagement and meaningful, civil dialogue.
Our Advisors
Becky Norton Dunlop
Becky Norton Dunlop is a prominent leader, strategist, and counselor in the conservative movement. Most recently, she served as The Heritage Foundation’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow. Prior to that, she was the organization’s vice president of external relations. Dunlop served from 1994 to 1998 as Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She was a senior official in the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1989—in the White House, at the Justice Department, and at the Interior Department.
michelle easton
Michelle Easton is the founder, chairman, and former president of the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women, a nonprofit organization that promotes conservative women role models and prepares young women for leadership. Michelle was appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Education, serving the full 12 years of their administrations. In 1994, Virginia Governor George Allen appointed Michelle to the State Board of Education, whose members later elected her as president of the board. Michelle is the author of How to Raise a Conservative Daughter (2021).
Manny Klausner
Manny Klausner is an attorney with expertise in complex and significant litigation involving constitutional law, election law, media law, and business litigation matters. A former member of the California State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, he is co-founder, trustee, and legal advisor of the Reason Foundation. He is also a founding director of the Institute for Justice, and for twenty years, he served as outside general counsel to the Individual Rights Foundation. In 2020, he served as vice chair of the No on Prop 16 campaign in California.
Michael Y. Warder, Sr.
Michael was formerly vice chancellor of Pepperdine University. He has held executive positions at a variety of think tanks, including The Claremont Institute, The Heritage Foundation, the Ethics & Public Policy Center, and The Rockford Institute. His newspaper columns have appeared in hundreds of newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and other outlets. He has been a guest on a wide variety of network radio and television programs. He earned an AB from Stanford University.