F.A.A.D is an incorporated non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. It is a successor to the NWSA Academic Discrimination Advisory Board (ADAB) which was originally created in 1981 as the Task Force on Academic Discrimination. In 2004 F.A.A.D. formally separated from NWSA, becoming an independent organization.

"As academic feminists, we are getting too caught up in competition for academic success to pay attention to the basic rights of women on our campuses.  Each of us, no matter how successful we have become professionally, must always reach back to help other women advance as far as we have."

- Annis Pratt