Richard Foltin

Fellow for Religious Freedom

Richard Foltin is a fellow for religious freedom at the Freedom Forum, where he writes and speaks on religious liberty, pluralism and the role of faith in society. He previously served in many senior positions for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), including director of national and legislative affairs. Foltin’s work, which often focuses on religious discrimination in the workplace, has included testimony before congressional committees and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, along with a chapter in the American Bar Association’s forthcoming book “Covid’s Impact on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.” While at the AJC, he spearheaded policy and advocacy efforts around issues ranging from civil rights and immigration to combatting antisemitism and helped promote passage of the International Religious Freedom Act and the Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act. In 2009, Foltin received the Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and, in 1999, he was named a Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow. He is a native of New York City and a child of Holocaust survivors.

Richard Foltin

Affiliations

  • Special Counsel, American Bar Association Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (CRSJ)
  • Co-Chair, CRSJ Religious Freedom Committee
  • Member, Inter Jewish Muslim Alliance Executive Committee
  • Member, Committee on Religious Liberty
  • Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Education

  • B.A., New York University
  • J.D., Harvard Law School