Rick A. Dearborn, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, returned to The Heritage Foundation as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow to support Project 2025, an initiative to prepare the next presidential administration.

Dearborn is currently a Partner at Mindset, brining three decades of experience that includes service under two U.S. presidents and six U.S. senators. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the White House. In that role, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of approximately 100 staff in five separate Executive Offices of the President departments. He was Executive Director of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team and was responsible for the direction and management of the Transition Team’s 600-plus members. 

Dearborn previously served Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) for over two decades, both as his Chief of Staff and Legislative Director. He was appointed by President George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional Affairs, where he worked with the Senate, House, and tribal governments on the President’s energy agenda. Earlier in his career, he worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Republican Conference, and the Senate Steering Committee. 

Dearborn graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration with a minor in Economics.