Nico Perrino is FIRE's Executive Vice President and the creator and host of FIRE’s So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. Prior to his current role, he led FIRE's Communications department for nearly a decade, most recently as its Senior Vice President of Communications.

Nico previously worked in the Communications department at the Institute for Justice. His writing has been featured in The Los Angeles TimesUSA TodayPoliticoThe Boston Globe, and The Guardian, and he regularly appears on radio and TV to speak about free speech and other civil liberties issues.

As a documentarian, Nico was Co-Director and Senior Producer of “Mighty Ira” (2020), a feature-length film about the life and career of former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser. He also worked as a consultant on “Can We Take a Joke?” (2015) and "The Coddling of the American Mind" (2024).

Nico graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington (IU) with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and history. While at IU, he was a member of the track & field team and served as editor-in-chief for the Indiana Standard and as a reporter and columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.

Originally from Chicago, Nico now lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area. 
 

FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino speaks at the Cato Institute's Sphere Summit at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2023.
WATCH: FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino speaks at the Cato Institute's Sphere Summit at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2023.
Nico Perrino on CNN's The Lead w/ Jake Tapper
WATCH: FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino joins Frederick M. Lawrence and CNN's Jake Tapper on Dec. 8, 2023 to discuss free speech and anti-Semitism in the wake of congressional testimonies by the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT.

 

Students on college campus

Explore Our Work

FIRE is a mission-driven organization of hardworking, dedicated team members committed to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought. 

Explore FIRE's Advocacy
Students on college campus
Share