Nico Perrino

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 Times, USA Today, Politico, Newsweek, and The Guardian, and he regularly travels the country to speak about free speech and civil liberties issues.

As a documentarian, Nico was Co-Director and Senior Producer of “Mighty Ira: A Civil Liberties Story” (2020), a feature-length film about the life and career of former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser. He worked as Creative Consultant on “Can We Take a Joke?” (2015), a film about censorship in stand up comedy.

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.