The Forward Party, often shortened to Forward (FWD), is a centrist political party in the United States. The party was founded by former Democratic 2020 presidential and 2021 New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. It describes its goals as the reduction of partisan polarization and the implementing of electoral reforms. The party is looking to achieve ballot access in all 50 states by 2025 and federal recognition by 2028.

Forward was officially formed as a political action committee (PAC) on October 5, 2021. The PAC intended to seek recognition from the Federal Election Commission as a political party to achieve its stated goal of providing an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties. It also stated that, for the time being, candidates affiliated with the organization will remain members of the two major American political parties and third parties, as well as independent candidates. On July 27, 2022, the Forward Party announced that it had merged with the Serve America Movement and the Renew America Movement to further its effort to form a new third party named Forward.

Ideologically, Forward is populist and reformist, and a representative of centrism in the United States. It considers itself to be the center within the American political spectrum, although the party has also been described as big tent or syncretic due to its unwillingness on holding any firm stances or positions, and its rejection of the left–right political spectrum. The party's American-style populism, particularly in its early platform, focused toward independent voters and those dissatisfied with the American two-party system, and advocated a universal basic income within humanistic capitalism. It continues to support electoral and democratic reform (favoring in particular: nonpartisan primaries), independent redistricting commissions, and ranked-choice voting.

The party's principles and positions have been positively commented by the likes of Kara Swisher, while they have been criticized by some on the American Left as a rebranding for the status quo, uninspiring and lacking vision, and questioned its populism and third party aspirations. Forward has also been criticized by some Democrats for the possibility of the spoiler effect that could favor Republicans; the party has disputed this claim.

In his book Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy (2021), Andrew Yang announced the creation of the party. Yang also criticized American political leaders, writing that "our leaders are rewarded based not on solving problems but on accruing resources and retaining office." Yang said that part of the reason why he wanted to start a third party instead of a caucus within the Democratic Party was that a majority of states with ballot initiatives are red states, and that efforts to institute electoral changes would be partisan and not system-wide. Yang stated that he would have liked to have implemented the Forward Party's platform within the Democratic Party; however, he felt that the implementation of ranked-choice voting and open primaries would be difficult to get while remaining a Democrat.

On October 5, 2021, Yang launched the Forward Party as a PAC, with the intention of creating a political party. The Forward Party stated that it would endorse candidates of both major parties in the 2022 midterm elections who support its policies. Yang stated that the Forward Party would not serve a spoiler because it would endorse any Democrats and Republicans who support the party's platform. The Forward Party website suggests that candidates affiliated with the Forward Party would likely run as a member of one of the two major parties. Yang stated that the Forward Party is not interested in running a candidate for U.S. president but is focused on trying to decrease partisan gridlock within Congress and state legislatures. The Forward Party stated it may hold its own primary process to nominate a candidate prior to the 2024 United States presidential election. The party's initial team included former congressional candidate Blair Walsingham and attorney Jeff Kurzon.

In November 2021, Yang discussed the Forward Party with Van Jones about "positive populism, finding common ground, and why Democrats often end up having to defend the status quo". In February 2022, the Forward Party chose Minnesota as the first state to launch an affiliate party. According to Yang, Minnesota was chosen because there are "open primaries, public resources for candidates [and the state has] an independent spirit". The Minnesota affiliate is being headed by John Denney, who ran for the sixth district in the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. Denney attempted to get Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, to run as a member of the Forward Party in the 2022 Minnesota Attorney General election. Cory Hepola, a radio host, announced he was running as a member of the Forward Party in the 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election. He later withdrew from the race.

In July 2022, the Forward Party, Renew America Movement, and Serve America Movement announced that they would be merging in an attempt to form a new third party. The new party, named simply Forward, would be co-chaired by Andrew Yang and former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman. Shortly after launching, former Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Representative Joe Sestak and former Florida Republican U.S. Representative David Jolly both announced they would be joining the party. They also announced that the party would launch on September 24, 2022, with its first national convention in summer 2023.