About Us
The Fooled No More Foundation is a survivor-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on coercive control and related forms of psychological, financial, technological, and post-separation abuse.
These patterns can occur in intimate relationships, families, caregiving relationships, and other settings. They can affect people of every gender, identity, age, and background. Our work is behavior-based: a person does not need to diagnose someone else—or adopt any particular label—to take harmful conduct seriously.
We provide practical education, safety-focused tools, and connections to independent support. We also advocate for better understanding, stronger professional practice, and improved access to justice. We do not diagnose individuals, investigate allegations, provide legal or clinical advice, or promise a particular outcome.
Recognizing coercive control can be disorienting and lonely. Survivors deserve to be believed, treated with dignity, and supported in making their own informed choices. Our goal is to help people understand patterns, prepare questions, and find safer next steps without blame or pressure.
Meet the Founder
Hello, my name is Meredith Malleck
I am a survivor of coercive control and an advocate for others who are trying to understand what happened to them.
One of the hardest parts of my experience was not having clear language for the pattern while I was living through it. Sustained control can erode trust in your own judgment, isolate you from support, and make a dangerous or deeply harmful situation seem normal. My experience included psychological and physical harm, as well as an aftermath that took time, support, and determination to navigate.
I know how lonely and disorienting this can feel. If you are experiencing coercion or abuse, your reactions do not mean you are weak, and the responsibility belongs to the person choosing the harmful behavior.
I founded what is now The Fooled No More Foundation so recognition and help would be easier to find. Our role is to educate, validate, advocate, and connect people with qualified independent support—while respecting each survivor’s autonomy, privacy, identity, and pace.
No one should have to face this alone, and lasting change also requires collaboration. We welcome survivors, loved ones, professionals, funders, and organizations that want to improve understanding, safety, practice, and access to justice.
The Fooled No More Foundation exists to close the gap between how abuse is defined and how coercive control is recognized and addressed in real life.