Kristen Waggoner

Kristen Waggoner

CEO, President, and General Counsel

Kristen Waggoner is the CEO, president, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom: the world’s largest legal organization advancing every person’s God-given right to live and speak the truth. With more than 450 team members in 10 offices worldwide, ADF is at the forefront of today’s most consequential battles in law, public policy, and culture.

Under Waggoner’s leadership—first as head of U.S. litigation and now as CEO—ADF has played a role in nearly 80 U.S. Supreme Court victories and won 15 of its own cases before the Court, including serving as legal counsel with Mississippi in the landmark Dobbs ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. Waggoner personally argued several of ADF’s Supreme Court cases including the well-known Masterpiece Cakeshop and 303 Creative cases, winning major victories for free expression.

She has the honor of leading ADF International, which, like its U.S. counterpart, defends religious liberty, free speech, parental rights, human life, and biological reality around the world. ADFI has a strong record of success at the European Court of Human Rights, the United Nations, and other international tribunals, while securing the release of more than 2,000 imprisoned Christians and the reopening of more than 1,000 churches.

In her speeches, articles, and media appearances, Waggoner loves to tell the stories of ADF’s clients and cases, connecting them to the larger themes shaping our culture and public life. She is passionate about defending truth and freedom as essential values for human flourishing.

After law school, Waggoner clerked at the Washington Supreme Court and spent over 15 years at a Seattle law firm before joining ADF.

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