History of Heritage Alliance

Prior to founding Heritage Alliance, Richard Ford, assisted business leaders and many Fortune 500 Companies to develop national Political Action Committees. Drawing from his experience in Washington, Richard decided to apply political strategies in Texas in 1985. These same businesses provided the initial funding for the Free Market Foundation (research & education), Free Market Committee (coalitions and lobbying) and Free Market PAC (elections).

Free Market Foundation subsequently became loosely associated with Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family. In 1997, Richard turned the Foundation over to Kelly Shackleford and took himself off the Foundation's Board in order to concentrate on Free Market Committee and the newly named Free Enterprise PAC (formerly Free Market PAC).

In order to make the activities of Free Enterprise PAC more effective, in 2002 it became a separate segregated fund of Free Market Committee. To signify a unified effort of economic and social conservatives passing those values onto future generations, Free Market Committee's name changed to Heritage Alliance and Free Enterprise PAC became Heritage Alliance PAC.