Co-Founder, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism

Heidi Beirich is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Strategy officer of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Beirich is also is an Advisory Board Member of the Network for Hate Studies based out of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and the former Intelligence Project Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Intelligence Project, which publishes the award-winning Intelligence Report and the Hatewatch blog.

Beirich is an expert on various forms of extremism, including the white supremacist, nativist and neo-Confederate movements, as well as racism in academia.

Beirich oversaw the SPLC’s yearly count of the nation’s hate and anti-government groups, was a frequent contributor to the SPLC’s investigative reports, and is an oft-sought speaker at conferences on extremism. Before joining the SPLC staff in 1999, Beirich earned a doctorate in political science from Purdue University. She is the co-editor and author of several chapters of Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction.