James W. Foley Legacy Foundation

The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation (JWFLF) was founded after the kidnap and murder of American freelance journalist James Foley, who was reporting on the conflict in Syria. JWFLF advocates for the freedom of all Americans held hostage abroad and promotes the safety of journalists worldwide.

We advocate for American hostage freedom by:

• Supporting individual hostages, wrongful detainees and their families
• Raising awareness about US citizens kidnapped or wrongfully detained abroad
• Conducting annual research to ensure US hostage policy is prioritizing the return of our citizens held abroad and assisting their families
• Engaging with the US Congress, White House, FBI, and Department of State to push for necessary improvements in US hostage policy
• Collaborating with third party experts and partner organizations assisting families in their efforts to free their loved ones

We promote journalist safety by:

• Developing and implementing James W. Foley journalist safety curricula for both graduate and undergraduate university journalism programs
• Increasing access to safety training, medical insurance and security information for freelance journalists through A Culture of Safety (ACOS) Alliance and other journalism and press freedom partnerships, including annual safety training grants