Policy Promotion

Some, such as Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Susan B. Anthony List CEO Marjorie Dannenfelser, and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao, become conservative icons, due in no small measure to the grounding they received in our Young Leaders Program.

In 2019, we honored another conservative leader, Charles Mitchell (shown above accepting the Robin and Jocelyn Martin Young Leaders Program Distinguished Intern Alumni Award from Vice President Bridgett Wagner), with our Robin and Jocelyn Martin Young Leaders Program Distinguished Intern Alumni Award.

Mitchell interned at Heritage 15 years ago. Today, he serves as president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives, an increasingly influential free-market think tank in Pennsylvania. In 2019, the organization’s research and advocacy efforts helped convince state lawmakers to pass criminal justice reforms, boost school choice, and reject all proposed tax hikes.

In accepting the award, Mitchell traced much of his success back to our Young Leaders Program. “At a very young age, Heritage gave me an amazing environment in which to begin that transition from being an activist and writer, to being a leader … and I am only one of thousands of people for whom you have done that,” he said.

Young Leaders Program Turns 40

Mentorship, hands-on experience, intellectual rigor—these are the key elements of the intern experience at Heritage. Launched in 1979, our Young Leaders Program gives young people a firm grounding in our nation’s founding principles and equips them to identify “True North” on policy questions and stand up for what is right. Over the last four decades, we’ve sent more than 4,500 nascent conservative leaders out into the world.

In 2019, we welcomed 188 interns from 118 colleges and universities in 31 different states. Each of our three intern classes participated in our First Principles lecture series, attended weekly policy briefings by Heritage experts, and worked shoulder to shoulder with our staff. Every group enjoyed unique experiences, as well.

For example, our spring interns participated in the March for Life and helped represent Heritage at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference. Following a tour of the Supreme Court, they had a private meeting with Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who fielded their questions for nearly an hour.

Our fall interns met with another “Supreme,” Justice Clarence Thomas. The summer interns visited the National Archives and enjoyed an inspiring tour of Mount Vernon.

Twelve interns also participated in a pilot program co-sponsored by the Gloucester Institute. They travelled to historic Holly Knoll in Gloucester County, Virginia, for two daylong sessions with members of Gloucester’s Emerging Leaders Program. Their frank talks and probing discussions addressed four issues critical to the future of civil society: race, criminal justice reform, school choice, and health care. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we are planning for more collaborations with the Gloucester Institute in 2020.

Gloucester wasn’t the only new partnership established this year. Always looking to reach new audiences that seldom hear the conservative side of debates, the Young Leaders Program also conducted joint events with the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Turning Point USA’s Young Jewish Leadership Summit, and Christians United for Israel.

Additionally, we hosted briefings for over 65 student groups and spoke at 19 outside youth conferences. In all, the Young Leaders Program carried the conservative message to more than 3,000 students and young professionals in 2019.

Our Phillip N. Truluck Center for Leadership Development also was active in developing young talent. Center staff trained college students at meetings of the Forge Leadership Network and the Hispanic Action Network and conducted two multisession programs of their own.

Through its Local University Conservatives Program and its Conservative Hill Intern Program, the center introduced more than 160 Gen Z and millennials to our country’s First Principles and to Heritage policy solutions. These sessions help us to identify strong candidates for our intern program and to develop young talent for future placement across the conservative movement.

Beyond the Internships

Heritage doesn’t just develop strong conservatives and prepare them for leadership roles—we help them find work where they can lead the nation forward. In 2019, our Job Bank helped 30 former interns land their first public policy jobs.

Over the course of the year, the Job Bank placed 120 conservatives in excellent positions—42 of them in slots on Capitol Hill or in the Trump administration.

Having the right people in the right places is often pivotal to achieving policy success. Dr. Brian Blase is a prime example.

Blase first came to Heritage as a graduate fellow in health policy. He was later promoted to policy analyst. In 2017, he joined the Trump administration as special assistant to the president for health care policy.

Serving on the White House’s National Economic Council, he helped draft and advance regulatory changes to lower health care costs and expand insurance choices. He also coordinated development of the administration’s groundbreaking report, “Reforming America’s Health Care System Through Choice and Competition,” which pairs nicely with our Health Care Choices reform plan.

In September 2019, Blase returned to Heritage as a visiting fellow, where he will continue working to advance conservative policy on health care and entitlement reform.

Rising to the Challenge

Vice President Bridgett Wagner organized another outstanding Resource Bank Meeting, held May 28-30 in Scottsdale, Arizona. With a theme of “Rise and Renew,” it was a clarion call for all elements of the conservative movement to rise to meet the challenges of the Left and renew our commitment to conservative principles.

The 547 attendees—including local, state, and national leaders, as well as four foreign ambassadors to the U.S.—represented the full range of modern conservatism. They heard from Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, members of Congress, pollsters, fundraising and communications experts, journalists, and businesspeople, as well as leading national policy experts.

Among the panel discussions, the session on immigration reform generated the greatest interest. It drew a crowd that went beyond standing-room-only to full-fledged overflow.

Two other highlights of the meeting: the presentation of our Salvatori Prize for American Citizenship to journalist and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway, and the annual Robert H. Krieble Lecture, in which former U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Janice Rogers Brown spoke on “Constitutional Law and Judicial Restraint.”

Wagner’s team also added a new element to the meeting: the Rising Leaders Fellowship. After soliciting movement allies for recommendations of outstanding conservative students and young professionals, we selected 35 of these “Rising Leaders” to join us for the conference. In addition to having access to all general sessions, they attended special networking and communications-training sessions designed just for them. On the strength of participants’ reviews, we have decided to expand the program in 2020.

Barnstorming for Health Care Reform

Coalition Relations teamed with our domestic policy experts to conduct a nationwide tour to educate state leaders, lawmakers, activists, and students on the Health Care Choices reform proposal.

The first stop, Kentucky, included briefings with Gov. Matt Bevin, Health Secretary Adam Meier, state lawmakers, and local activists, as well as local staff from the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and U.S. Rep. Andy Barr.

Following the briefings, our health experts participated in a well-attended press conference, then met with the editorial board of the Louisville Courier-Journal before topping off the evening with a roundtable discussion of single-payer health care with student leaders of the University of Louisville. By the time they moved on to the next stop, they had generated more than a dozen news stories.

Coalition Relations Director Jordan Hess followed this model on similar stops in Arizona, Florida, and Georgia, always partnering with local think tanks. In each instance, the program generated new support for our health care plan—from state think tank leaders, taxpayer advocates, and faith-based organizations, as well as state legislators.