Executive Director

Peter Bonilla, Executive Director.
peter@mitfreespeech.org

Peter joined the MIT Free Speech Alliance as Executive Director in November 2022. Prior to joining MFSA, Peter spent more than 14 years on the staff of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), most recently serving as FIRE’s Vice President of Programs. Among his many duties during his tenure, Peter oversaw FIRE’s Campus Rights Advocacy program and managed the implementation of its Speech, Outreach, Advocacy, and Research project, supported by a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Most recently, Peter managed FIRE’s faculty outreach and programming, including its annual Faculty Network Conference. He authored several hundred posts for FIRE’s Newsdesk in addition to columns and features for multiple outside publications, has been quoted in numerous national publications on free speech and higher education issues, and has spoken on free expression issues at campuses around the country.

Prior to his work with FIRE, Peter was the literary manager of Philadelphia’s InterAct Theatre Company, and he is a past recipient of a fellowship in playwriting from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned undergraduate degrees in theater arts and economics. A seven-time marathon finisher, he lives with his wife in Woburn, Massachusetts.