WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today announced several new, key staff members and promotions, adding talent to the organization while positioning for a dynamic year ahead.
Dr. Jay Richards is promoted to vice president of Social and Domestic Policy, Stewart Whitson will be chief of staff to Dr. Kevin Roberts, Dr. Peter St. Onge is returning to Heritage as senior economist, and Dr. Allen Mendenhall will join the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies as a research fellow while continuing to advise Heritage’s innovative Capital Markets Initiative.
Roger Severino is now vice president of Economic and Domestic Policy and will handle all legal policy issues in the interim as recruiting continues for a new vice president for the Institute for Constitutional Government.
Heritage President Dr. Kevin Roberts welcomed and congratulated his colleagues:
“We are proud to welcome Stewart Whitson and excited to have Jay Richards, Roger Severino, Peter St. Onge, and Allen Mendenhall enter new eras in their Heritage tenure. Heritage is looking ahead to an important 2026, preparing to launch a string of landmark policy initiatives while advancing our conservative mission through a critical year for the country.
“Positioning and adding top talent to our team is an important part of the success to come—and we are glad to kick off the announcements with Stew, Peter, and Allen. Heritage is the place for conservatives who want influence and impact—because we know what time it is. We’re rooted in principle, responsive to reality, and committed to winning the fight for America’s future.”
Whitson joins Heritage from the Foundation for Government Accountability, where he served in several capacities, most recently as senior director of federal affairs. Richards is a Heritage veteran and previously served as director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing.
St. Onge, a renowned economist, is returning to Heritage as senior economist, and Mendenhall is continuing his work at Heritage. In addition to policy work in the Roe Institute, Mendenhall will supervise the Capital Markets Initiative alongside Visiting Fellows Robby Starbuck and John Backiel. To date, the Capital Markets Initiative has filed more than two dozen shareholder resolutions and is battling DEI, ESG, and its variants in corporate America.
More information about the new and returning team members can be found below.
About Stewart L. Whitson
Stewart L. Whitson is a U.S. Army veteran, former federal agent and professor, longtime legal expert, and experienced government relations professional. He brings a decade of experience in military, law enforcement, education, and policymaking to Heritage. As chief of staff to President Kevin D. Roberts, Whitson will serve as chief advisor and strategist to Dr. Roberts, driving a wide range of Heritage initiatives.
As an Infantry Platoon Leader in the U.S. Army, Whitson led 50 soldiers on more than 300 combat missions in Baghdad and throughout Anbar Province, Iraq including a mission that led to the successful rescue of a hostage. He later served in the Minnesota Army National Guard as an Infantry Company Commander before his time as a law clerk in a prosecutor's office in a major metropolitan area.
Whitson spent a decade serving the American people at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), working his way from special agent to acting section chief in the Directorate of Intelligence, where he was charged with overseeing the FBI’s global Human Intelligence (HUMINT) program. After leaving the FBI, Whitson taught a course on Modern Islamic Terrorism as an adjunct professor at the Catholic University of America (CUA).
Most recently, Whitson worked at the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), an organization committed to advancing reforms to better the lives of Americans. As senior director of federal affairs, Whitson led the team tasked with building relationships and partnering with federal policymakers. He has routinely testified before Congress in public hearings and closed-door committee briefings on issues related to limited-constitutional government, deregulation, and the de-weaponization of the federal government.
Whitson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, a J.D. from the University of Minnesota School a Law, a Master of Professional Studies from George Washington University, and a certificate in strategic management from Georgetown University. He is a proud husband and father of five.
About Peter St. Onge, PhD
Peter St. Onge, PhD, is an economist and public policy expert recognized for his clear, data‑driven analysis of taxation, monetary policy, and government regulation. He earned his doctorate in Economics from George Mason University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from McGill University. Before entering the policy arena, St. Onge worked in corporate marketing and strategy and served as an assistant professor of International Trade and Marketing at Feng Chia University in Taiwan. His international experience spans Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and Japan, contributing to his global perspective on economic issues and allowing him to converse in five languages.
St. Onge has held research and fellowship positions at leading free‑market institutions, including The Heritage Foundation, the Montreal Economic Institute, and the Mises Institute. His commentary and research have appeared in major outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, The Globe and Mail, The Financial Post, Business Insider, Bloomberg, and CoinDesk. He has authored numerous policy papers, journal articles, and book chapters addressing inflation, financial regulation, technology policy, and economic freedom. Today, he is widely known for his accessible explanations of complex economic trends, particularly through his daily economics briefs that reach an audience of over 300,000.
About Allen Mendenhall, PhD
Allen Mendenhall, PhD has been a senior advisor for the Capital Markets Initiative at The Heritage Foundation, where he develops strategy and leads outreach and coalitions efforts on ESG and capital markets. Previously, he was Associate Dean and Grady Rosier Professor in the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University, where he directed the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy.
He writes a weekly column for 1819 News, Alabama’s bold and innovative conservative news outlet. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey appointed him to the 2025-26 State Textbook Committee of the Alabama Department of Education.
Before joining Troy University, he served as Associate Dean and Founding Executive Director of the Blackstone & Burke Center for Law & Liberty at Faulkner University’s Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in Montgomery, Alabama. He edited Southern Literary Review for over a decade and was a visiting scholar and trustee at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), an adjunct legal associate at the Cato Institute, president of the Alabama Association of Scholars, a Mises Emerging Scholar with the Ludwig von Mises Institute Canada, a Humane Studies Fellow with the Institute for Humane Studies, a staff attorney for Chief Justice Roy S. Moore of the Supreme Court of Alabama, Assistant Attorney General in the State of Alabama Office of Attorney General Luther Strange, and Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Alabama Center for Law and Liberty.
He has authored hundreds of publications, including fiction and poetry, and studied under the creative writers Gilbert Allen, Michael Blumenthal, William Aarnes, and Chantel Acevedo. His books include Literature and Liberty (2014), Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Pragmatism, and the Jurisprudence of Agon (2017), Of Bees and Boys: Lines from a Southern Lawyer (2017), The Southern Philosopher: Collected Essays of John William Corrington (2017), Writers on Writing: Conversations with Allen Mendenhall (2019), The Three Ps of Liberty (2020), Shouting Softly: Essays on Law, Literature, and Culture (2021), A Glooming Peace this Morning (2023, a novel), and Controversies Among Conservatives: Conversations on Conservatism, Vol. II (2023) (edited with Marcus Witcher and Kevin Hughes).
Mendenhall holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Furman University, a master’s degree in English from West Virginia University, a JD from West Virginia University College of Law, an LLM from Temple University Beasley School of Law, and a PhD in English from Auburn University.
