Emily Tisch Sussman

Emily Tisch Sussman is a democratic strategist and the former Executive Director of Young Democrats of America, the nation’s largest partisan, youth-led political organization.

Emily also served as the Co-Director of Government Affairs for the Service members Legal Defense Network, an organization dedicated to the free legal representation of LGBT members of the military. At SLDN, she represented LGBT service members through the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Prior to joining SLDN Emily founded Think Blue, a political organization for young professional Democrats. Think Blue supports young, national Congressional candidates, by encouraging the next generation of leaders to get involved with the political process. For her work with Think Blue, Emily was named one of the “40 under 40 Emerging Leaders in Politics” by New Leaders Council in their inaugural list.

Emily is a member of the New York Bar, and earned her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, graduating Cum Laude. She holds a Bachelors of Social Work from Skidmore College, where her concentration was in Developmental Disabilities, specifically in adult populations.  She was also recently honored by Cardozo Law School Nathaniel Gates award, and received the award from Truman National Security Project for Extraordinary Contribution toward Advancing the Truman Democratic Word View.

Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore joined The Wall Street Journal as a member of the editorial board and senior economics writer on May 31, 2005. He splits his time between Washington and New York, focusing on economic issues, including budget, tax and monetary policy.

Stephen has been a frequent contributor to the Journal over the years, and is previously known as the founder and former president of the Club for Growth, which raises money for political candidates who favor free-market economic policies. He left that position in 2004. Just prior to coming to the Journal, Stephen was president of a new organization, the Free Enterprise Fund.

Over the years Stephen has served as a senior economist on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, as a budget expert for the Heritage Foundation and as a senior economics fellow at the Cato Institute, where he published dozens of studies on federal and state tax and budget policy. He was a consultant to the National Economic Commission in l987, and research director for President Reagan's Commission on Privatization.

Stephen is the author of five books, most recently, "Bullish on Bush: How the Ownership Society Is Making America Richer." He graduated from the University of Illinois and holds a masters degree in economics from George Mason University.

Isabel Sawhill

Isabel V. Sawhill is a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. She serves as co-director of both the Budgeting for National Priorities project and the Center on Children and Families. She holds the Cabot Family Chair. She served as Vice President and Director of the Economic Studies program from 2003 to 2006. Prior to joining Brookings, Dr. Sawhill was a senior fellow at The Urban Institute. She also served as an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1995, where her responsibilities included all of the human resource programs of the federal government, accounting for one third of the federal budget. In addition, she has authored or edited numerous books and articles, including the recently published volume, Creating an Opportunity Society, co-authored by Ron Haskins. Her research has spanned a wide array of economic and social issues, including fiscal policy, economic growth, poverty and inequality, welfare reform, the well-being of children, and changes in the family. Dr. Sawhill helped to found, and now serves as President of the board of, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. She attended Wellesley College and received her Ph.D. from New York University in 1968.

Kate Obenshain

An author, blogger, regular guest on Fox News, CNBC and radio shows, as well as a popular national speaker, Kate Obenshain is fearless defender of liberty. She inspires audiences with her passionate, experienced insights, never hesitating to speak her mind, even when it contradicts the establishment—as it often does.

Kate is the author of Divider in Chief: The Fraud of Hope and Change (Regnery, 2012)—a book that has garnered national praise for its searing, systematic indictment of the Obama administration’s divisive, destructive tactics. Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, David Limbaugh, Congressman Allen West and other widely respected conservatives have lauded the book.

She speaks regularly all across the country--on college campuses; for civic, political and religious groups; conferences and conventions, women’s retreats, Tea Party rallies—you name it, she’s done it—for over 20 years, enlightening and entertaining audiences on topics ranging from economic policy, national security, education, faith, parenting, political correctness on campus, and the changing role of women in politics and the work place. 

Professional Background

From 2008 to 2012, Kate championed her conservative convictions as vice president of Young America’s Foundation, a group that inspires emerging young leaders at the Reagan Ranch, Reagan Ranch Center, and on college campuses across the country.

Encouraging young people and women to become philosophically knowledgeable and active in public policy issues is a driving passion for Kate. In 2003, she founded the Jennifer Byler Institute, a leadership training program for women in Virginia.

Kate garnered national attention as the first woman chairman of the Virginia GOP. Serving from 2003 to 2006, she led the charge against tax increases and the expanding role of government. During her tenure as chairman, she eliminated the Party’s massive debt by implementing a business mentality and aggressive fundraising operation.  She rebuilt the grassroots operation and restored strong conservative philosophical underpinnings as well as the credibility of the Party that had faced significant challenges before her term. While she was chair, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified her as a rising star in national politics.

She served as Virginia Senator George Allen's chief of staff and as his chief education and health policy advisor while he was governor. From 1995 to 2000, she advanced budgetary reform and programmatic accountability as an appointee of Governors Allen and Gilmore on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Along with Ann Coulter, Laura Schlessinger, Phyllis Schlafly and Jeane Kirkpatrick, Kate's work is featured in the book, Great American Conservative Women. Of this book, Rush Limbaugh, said, “It's past due that someone put together a collection of ideas and philosophies from conservative women in print.”

Kate has also been the editor of a local magazine, fulfilled her dream of working in a bookstore, served on numerous campaigns, founded a non-profit organization that helped widows in times of distress, and sold Eskimo pies on the corner of 6th and Main Streets in Richmond Virginia as a summer job growing up.

Currently, in addition to her writing, speaking and media work, Kate advises numerous political candidates, both formally and informally, on policy development, messaging and media.

In 2005, Kate received Young America’s Foundation’s prestigious Torch of Freedom Award. She has also served on Young America's Foundation's board.

Kate has received the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute’s Conservative Leadership Award and has been featured in six of the Institute’s popular annual calendars. She currently serves on their board.

Kate attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a BA in English. She distinguished herself early as a student leader at the University of Virginia, where she was editor of the campus conservative newspaper, the Virginia Advocate. She organized one of the year’s best-attended campus events—a state-wide rally in support of America’s troops—that refuted vocal, anti-war leftists purporting to represent all students.