2015 freedom conference program

INSPIRING AMERICANS TO GREATNESS

steamboatinstitute.org2

Featuring Keynote Dinner Speaker: LAURA INGRAHAMLaura Ingraham is the most listened-to woman in political talk radio in the United States. “The Laura Ingraham Show” is heard on hundreds of stations nationwide and has been addicting legions of listeners since its launch in 2001. Always smart and entertaining, Laura is a regular Fox News contributor and the principal substitute host on The O’Reilly Factor.

Laura is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of five books: The Hillary Trap, Shut Up & Sing, Power to the People, The Obama Diaries, and new smash hit Of Thee I Zing: America’s Cultural Decline from Muffin Tops to Body Shots. A former litigator and Supreme Court law clerk, Laura is a graduate of University of Virginia School of law and Dartmouth College. She is also an avid supporter of our troops and a variety of military organizations.

Laura lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her three children.

MADISON RISING

Madison Rising is hands down America’s Most Patriotic Rock band! With their flag-waving, blood, sweat and tears style performances, this group has captured the hearts of Americans both young and old by awakening the authentic patriotic spirit within! Crowds erupt after hearing their #1 best selling rendition of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’! The band is lead by Dave Bray, a USN/USMC Veteran.

With original songs like ‘Right to Bear’ ‘Hero’ and ‘Ready if it Goes There’, along with chilling new renditions of American classics like, ‘America the Beautiful’ and ‘God Bless America’, Madison Rising proudly expresses their love of God, Country and The Constitution.

The band has performed at NFL games, Bowl Games, NASCAR races, The Professional Bull Riders World Finale, Sturgis, dozens of private corporate events and rock clubs all across the nation. Madison Rising has been featured on Fox & Friends, Mike Huckabee Show, The Blaze, Breitbart, The Fox Files, and Dennis Miller. They

have shared the stage with acts like Toby Keith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Weezer, Steppenwolf, Kansas, Brantley Gilbert and many more ... Madison Rising will leave you feeling proud, patriotic and awestruck ... Be ready for a great time!

7th Annual Freedom Conference 3

Letter from the ChairmanJeNNIFeR SCHUBeRT-AkIN

On behalf of The Steamboat Institute’s Board of Directors, welcome to our 7th Annual Freedom Conference & Festival! We are honored to welcome visitors from all across the U.S., representing

16 states and the District of Columbia. It is especially fitting that we welcome this year’s keynote dinner speaker, Laura Ingraham. It was Laura who provided the initial spark of an idea for what would become The Steamboat Institute. On a summer morning, back in about 2005, I was listening to The Laura Ingraham Show and heard Laura comment on having just returned from the Aspen Institute, where she was “the token conservative.” That started me thinking…why couldn’t there be a “conservative alternative to the Aspen Institute” and why couldn’t it be right here in Steamboat Springs?! From that initial seed of an idea, The Steamboat Institute was born, and it has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Our annual Freedom Conferences bring the nation’s conservative thought and policy leaders to Steamboat Springs each August. Past keynote speakers for these events, which began in 2009, have included Dr. Ben Carson, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, Jonah Goldberg, karl Rove and Michael Reagan. Our popular Speaker Series, which began with informal gatherings of 20-30 concerned citizens in the back room of a local restaurant, are now held at the Strings Music Pavilion in Steamboat Springs. earlier this year, we co-hosted our first Speaker Series event at the University of

Colorado campus in Boulder, attracting a standing-room-only crowd of 200 people to hear Dr. Yaron Brook of Ayn Rand Institute discuss “The Morality of Capitalism.” Watch for more such events at CU and elsewhere, beginning in October 2015. Our “Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American exceptionalism” has succeeded beyond anything we could have imagined when we announced the formation of the fellowship in 2012. You will be hearing from our Fellows, Jillian Melchior and Tom Rogan, this weekend. You can read more about them, and about the late Tony Blankley, “The Face of The Steamboat Institute,” in this program. Be sure to watch for upcoming announcements about our 3rd Annual “Tony Blankley Chair” Cocktail Reception to be held in Washington, DC in October. Finally, be sure to check out our new “Freedom Festival Tent” across the street from the Steamboat Grand at Torian Plum Plaza. We are thrilled to have a large group of millennials attending in the Festival Tent and watching all of our speakers live on two 70-inch video screens. All conference registrants are welcome to visit the Festival Tent, where we have vendor booths, a live radio broadcast and more! We hope you will enjoy your time in our beautiful Rocky Mountain setting. Our hope is that you will leave our Freedom Conference & Festival feeling refreshed, inspired and hopeful about the future of America…”the last best hope for mankind.”

Jennifer Schubert-AkinChairman, CEO and Co-FounderThe Steamboat Institute


AGeNDAAll sessions in korbel Grand Ballroom at Steamboat Grand unless otherwise noted.

THuRSDAy, AuGuST 27

5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Sponsor/Speaker kick-off Reception (at home of Steamboat Institute sponsor)

FRIDAy, AuGuST 28

8:30 – 11:00am Bonus Session: “Principles of Liberty” – RICH BRATTEN — Spring Creek Room (Steamboat Grand)

9:00 – 10:00am Bonus Session: “Things You Wish You knew Yesterday” – award-winning educator and filmmaker CRAIG LINDvAHL, Midland Institute’s CeO (“Creating entrepreneurial Opportunities”) Program – followed by book-signing

Location: Freedom Festival Tent located at Torian Plum Plaza, across the street from the Steamboat Grand at the Steamboat Ski Area base

10:00am Opening of Registration

OFFICIAL OPENING OF CONFERENCE:*** NOTE: C-SPAN will be recording all Friday afternoon sessions ***

11:45am – 12:00pm Welcome & Opening Remarks – JENNIFER SCHuBERT-AKIN, Chairman, CeO and Co-Founder of The Steamboat Institute

*** Pledge of Allegiance led by JACK WALSH, 5th grader at Heritage Christian School ***

*** Featuring Our National Anthem – performed by America’s Most Patriotic Rock Band ****** MADISON RISING ***

12:00pm - 1:00pm kick-off Luncheon – Featuring BENJAMIN S. CARSON, M.D.

*** NOTE: Questions may be submitted for Dr. Carson on index cards located on your table and via Twitter, using #SteamboatFreedom. Our volunteers will be gathering index cards from the audience at the beginning

of Dr. Carson’s speech.

kindly silence cell phones Audio/videotaping is expressly prohibited

#steamboatfreedom • @steamboat_inst Wifi Access Code: GrandConference | Password: HappyTrails


AGENDA continued

1:00 – 1:15pm Break while Grand staff clears lunch dishes

1:15 – 2:30pm CeO Roundtable – “Managing for Success in the 21st Century: The Impact of Global Security Threats, environmental Regulations, Healthcare Mandates, and economic Challenges”

- PETE COORS – MillerCoors - PAuL DIETzEL – Anedot - HEIDI GANAHL – Camp Bow Wow - JIM NEIMAN – Neiman enterprises, Inc. Moderator: BOB BEAuPREz

2:30 – 3:15pm PETER WALLISON – Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused the World’s Worst Financial Crisis and Why It Could Happen Again – followed by book-signing

3:15 – 3:30pm Break

3:30 – 4:30pm Debate: “Rocky Mountain High: A Debate on Marijuana Legalization” Moderator: MARy KATHARINE HAM Debaters: WAyNE LAuGESEN, editorial Page editor for The Gazette of Colorado Springs vs. MASON TvERT, Director of Communications, Marijuana Policy Project

4:30 – 4:45pm CARLy FIORINA - Special Video Message recorded for The Steamboat Institute

*** BReAk BeTWeeN AFTeRNOON AND eVeNING eVeNTS ***

6:15 – 6:30pm Sponsors, Speakers and VIP registrants board gondola for scenic ride to keynote dinner on the mountaintop

6:30 - 7:30pm VIP/Sponsor/Speaker Reception and Photo Opp with LAuRA INGRAHAM on outdoor deck at Thunderhead Summit of Steamboat Ski Area

7:00 - 7:15pm All other conference registrants board gondola for ride to keynote dinner on the mountaintop

7:30 – 9:30pm • Dinner in Champagne Powder Room, , featuring keynote speaker LAuRA INGRAHAM • Special Presentation to award “Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American

Exceptionalism” •entertainment during dinner provided by Steamboat String Quartet

SATuRDAy, AuGuST 29

7:30 – 9:00am Hot Breakfast Buffet

8:00 – 8:10am Announcements by Leadership Program of the Rockies and “engage to Win”

8:10 – 9:00am Breakfast keynote: ROBERT L. WOODSON, Founder of the Center for Neighborhood enterprise: “Our Founding Principles: Lessons from the Poor” – followed by book-signing

9:00 – 9:15am Break while Grand staff clears breakfast dishes


AGENDA continued

9:15 – 10:00am “Millennials Look Toward Their Future:” - ERICKA ANDERSEN, Digital Director for National Review - Guy BENSON, Political editor for Townhall.com; host of The Guy Benson Show;

Fox News Contributor - CHARLIE KIRK, Founder and executive Director,Turning Point USA Moderator: KEvIN JACKSON, author and founder of The Black Sphere

10:00 – 11:15am “Global Threats to U.S. Security: A World in Chaos”: - MICHAEL LEDEEN, Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Defense of Democracies - JILLIAN MELCHIOR, Investigative Reporter, National Review; Tony Blankley Fellow,

Steamboat Institute - TOM ROGAN, Columnist for National Review; Panelist on The McLaughlin Group; Tony

Blankley Senior Fellow, Steamboat Institute Moderator: PETER BROOKES, Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs, Heritage Foundation

11:15 – 11:30am Break - During the break, kevin Jackson will be signing copies of “Race Pimping: The Multi-Trillion Dollar Business of Liberalism”

11:30 – 12:15pm “End of Discussion: How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun)” MARy KATHARINE HAM and Guy BENSON – followed by book-signing

12:15 – 12:45pm Guests go through hot lunch buffet

12:45 – 2:00pm Announcement of Winner of Inaugural “Freedom Inspired: An Idea Hackathon”

Closing Luncheon, featuring keynote speaker ERICK ERICKSON of RedState: “Freedom Requires Community and Community Requires Freedom”

2:30 – 4:30pm Bonus Seminar: engage to Win (MELANIE STuRM and KRISTA KAFER) — Spring Creek One

2:30 – 4:00pm Bonus Seminar: Screening of Bob Woodson’s “Comeback” video series, sponsored by Opportunity Lives — Spring Creek Two

5:00 – 7:00pm Post-conference Coyote Gold Margarita Party and Live Concert, featuring MADISON RISING Steamboat Stage at Gondola Plaza


TITLE SPONSORS

PREMIuM SPONSORS:

TABLE SPONSORS:

FREEDOM FESTIvAL TENT SPONSORS:

PLATINuM INDIvIDuAL SPONSORS:

FOuNDATION SPONSORS:

ENTERTAINMENT SPONSOR:

TOTE BAG SPONSOR:

KICK-OFF LuNCHEON SPONSOR:

NOTEBOOK SPONSOR: HOTEL KEy CARD SPONSOR:

Thank You to Our Sponsors

David & Debbie Dacus • Chenza & Ron Lazof Ginny & Rich Srednicki

Bill & Kris Bensler (Saturday breakfast sponsor; Host of Sponsor-Speaker Kick-off Reception)

The Honorable John Kinkaid, Moffat County Commissioner

Bruce & Leslie AllbrightBob & Claudia Beauprez

Jean DavietGlenna & James Floyd

Anne & Rich Loweed & June MacArthur

Jean SagouspeBill & Toni Thomson

Curt & Mary WeissBob & karen WoltersJoanna & Otis Wragg

kelsey AlexanderRich & Laurie Bratten

Roger & PC Burton

Citizens Supporting Property Rights

Hillsdale CollegeIndependence Institute

Irene Johnson

karen & Lee korinsBarbara & Dale MorrisonJan & W.M. Stalcup, Jr.

Adolph Coors Foundation el Pomar Foundation

Roe Foundation

Strake FoundationVernon k. krieble Foundation

Joe & Mary Harker

kelsey AlexanderJanet & Tim Borden

Cheri Carsten

Glenna & James FloydAnne & Rich Lowe

Hagemanlaw.com


Rick Akin & Jennifer Schubert-AkinThe Akin Law Firm, LLC

kelsey AlexanderBob & Claudia Beauprez

kris & Bill BenslerRoger & PC Burton

Cheri CarstenCoyote Gold Margaritas

el Pomar FoundationGary Hofmeister/Hofmeister Personal Jewelers

J&S Audio Visual karen & Lee korinsBetty & Ty LockhartAnne & Rich Lowe

ed & June MacArthur/Native excavatingPostNet

Steamboat GrandSteamboat Ski & Resort Corporation

Bill & kay StuartRobert & Linda Zerbe

John DentonBill & Susan Friesell

Spine Center of Steamboat Springs/Henry Fabian, M.D.

Ginny & Rich SrednickiPete & Vangie Vanderhyden

Bunnie CrichtonGary & Sandy Neale

Carl Steidtmann & kathy ClineMichael J. Williams, CFP

Bruce & Leslie AllbrightJanet & Tim Borden

Lynda C. DavisIrene Johnson

Herchel & Julie Portman

Roe FoundationBill & Toni Thomson

Wolters-Althoff Investments(Bob & Karen Wolters)Joanna & Otis Wragg

John & Patricia AdamsMichael Barone

Nancy BretzDebra Burlingame & Robert Fraina

Citizens Supporting Property RightsDavid & Debbie Dacus

Joe & Mary HarkerSteve Hofman

Independence InstituteJohn & Nancy Johnson

John kinkaid

John C. Lamb/Steamboat energy Consultants

Latham Marine, Inc.John Sammarco

Curt & Mary Weiss

Adolph Coors FoundationAnn & Robert Ball

Rich & Laurie BrattenDonna & Tom Cox

Christopher & Meg CummingsJean DavietDarin Davis

Docs 4 Patient Care FoundationFeldmann Nagel, LLCGlenna & James Floyd

Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity

Daniel & Jennifer JessenAnne & ken krieg

eric F. Meyer, M.D.Bryan Scheer, M.D.

Nicholas & Robbin SchoeweJohn & Patty Smith

Jan & W.M. Stalcup, Jr.Curtis Thompson

Vernon k. krieble Foundation

Donors since 2009:

Donors since 2010:

Donors since 2011:

Donors since 2012:

Donors since 2013:

Donors since 2014:

Thank You to Our Many Loyal Supporters Over the Years!


Special Thanks to:

Accent Travel/Connie Sansom-Mott

Jean Sagouspe, host of our 1st Annual

RESORT HOTEL& CONFERENCE CENTER


PANeL & SPeAkeR BIOS

eRICkA ANDeRSeNDigital Director, National Review

ericka Andersen has been a blogger, freelance writer and digital media professional for over 9 years. She blogs about fitness, health and nutrition in the DC-area for a local and national audience at SweetLifeericka.com and is the

Digital Director at National Review. She was chosen as one of Washington D.C.’s Top Fitness bloggers in The Washingtonian. She is a frequent speaker and panelist as a digital media expert at conferences and events around the country. Previously, ericka was the Congressional Online Media Outreach Director on Capitol Hill, where she regularly consulted with Members of Congress on how to improve their social media strategy and blogger outreach. She has been featured in the Washington Post for her work. In 2014, ericka was selected to be featured in Washington Life Magazine’s “Young and the Guest List,” which spotlights rising stars in Washington, DC. She is also a featured PopSugar blogger. Additionally, she is a Fitfluential Ambassador, a community reaching over 100 million fitness and health blog readers per month. The Sweet Life was nominated as a 2012 Best Healthy Living Blog in Fitness Magazine’s Fitterati Blogger Awards. ericka has appeared on NBC to discuss the popularity of Pinterest. In the past, she has also appeared on Fox News and MSNBC and regularly hosts Google Plus Hangouts on a variety of subjects. She is a regular contributor on social media concepts at The Huffington Post and has appeared multiple times on HuffingtonPost Live.

BOB BeAUPReZ Bob Beauprez is a Colorado native. He was raised on a third generation dairy farm near Lafayette, and spent 20 years in partnership with his parents and brother in that operation marketing their animals across the globe. Following his dairy career, Bob purchased and managed a community bank growing assets

from $4 million to over $400 million in 12 years. Additionally, he managed the family’s real estate development, creating a 1500 residential unit golf course community. Bob served as Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from 1999-2002. In 2002, Bob was elected as the first representative from Colorado’s seventh congressional district,

and was re-elected in 2004. While in Congress, he served on the Ways & Means, Transportation, and Veterans Committees. He was the Republican nominee for Governor in 2006. In 2007 Bob founded a public policy e-magazine, A Line of Sight. As editor-in-chief, Bob has built a national distribution and more than 100 contributing authors. His work has been featured in National Review, The Washington Times, Townhall.com, RealClearPolitics, Politico.com, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Denver Post, and numerous other publications. In 2009, Bob published his first book, A Return to Values, that has been applauded for his bold “Agenda for America,” a strategic plan to reclaim our nation’s greatness. In addition to his writing, political, and other activities, Bob says his greatest enjoyment comes from eagle’s Wing Ranch, the buffalo breeding ranch in the northern Colorado Mountains he operates with his son, Jim, and Claudia, his wife of 42 years. The ranch renews the bond he’s always enjoyed with the land, livestock, and nature – and he gets a lot of time to think. It’s where he and Claudia love to spend time with their four children and four grandchildren and count their abundant blessings.

GUY BeNSON Guy Benson is co-author of End of Discussion: How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes American Less Free (and Fun!) He is a Fox News contributor, the Political editor of Townhall.com, and host of the Guy Benson Show -- a weekly radio program.

Forbes Magazine named Guy to its “30 under 30” list for law and policy in 2015. Guy graduated with honors from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 2007 and resides in the Washington, DC area.

RICHARD BRATTeN Richard Bratten produces “Principles of Liberty,” a Colorado state legislative analysis group that reviews legislation based upon clearly defined principles of good government. This non-partisan analysis focuses on clearly defined principles and can be summed up as: Free People, Free Markets, Good Government.

He is also the executive Director for the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, an ad hoc caucus of 25 state legislators from both the Colorado state House and Senate.



Richard is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a CFA Charterholder who has been a successful entrepreneur since the late 1990’s. He has been married to Laurie Bratten for 28 years, lives in Highlands Ranch, and has two children - Chelsea, a recent graduate of Hillsdale College, and Cody, a sophomore studying engineering at MIT.

DR. PeTeR BROOkeSSenior Fellow for National Security AffairsThe Heritage Foundation

One of America’s leading public voices on international affairs, Peter Brookes develops and communicates Heritage’s stance on foreign policy and national security affairs through media appearances, research, published

articles, congressional testimony and speaking engagements. Dr. Brookes is currently a Boston Herald columnist and wrote for the New York Post for ten years. He’s also been a contributing editor for Armed Forces Journal and Townhall Magazine. He has more than 500 published articles in more than 50 domestic and foreign newspapers, journals and magazines. He’s the author of: A Devil’s Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Rogue States (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). He’s in his fifth two-year term as a member of the congressional U.S.-China economic and Security Review Commission, appointed by two different Speakers of the House of Representatives and contributed to annual reports to Congress 2006-2014. He’s on the national advisory board of the Steamboat Institute (Steamboat Springs, CO). Dr. Brookes has made more than 2,500 appearances as a commentator on TV and radio, appearing on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, FOX Business, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, BBC, Sky News, among other domestic and foreign broadcasts. He’s had his own radio show in Washington, D.C. and hosted major market talk radio programs, including XM. Brookes has been quoted by many of the world’s largest newspapers and magazines. He’s testified 10 times before six different Senate and House of Representatives committees as both a public official and a private citizen. Dr. Brookes is also a frequent public speaker around the country and the world, making more than 200 addresses in more than 25 U.S. states and 20 countries, including State Department public diplomacy speaking programs in Japan, Germany, Australia, Poland, Austria, Ukraine, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Before coming to Heritage, Dr. Brookes served in the George W. Bush administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he was responsible for U .S. security policy for 38 countries and 5 bilateral defense alliances. Prior to the Bush

administration, he worked as a Professional Staff Member with the Committee on International Relations in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also served with the CIA, the State Department (UN Mission in New York City), and in the private sector defense and intelligence industries. He’s a decorated military veteran, having served on active duty with the U.S. Navy in Latin America, Asia, and Middle east in aviation and intelligence billets. He has more than 100 missions and 1,000 flight hours aboard U.S. Navy eP-3 reconnaissance aircraft. Now a retired reserve Navy Commander, during his reserve career Dr. Brookes served with the NSA, DIA, Naval Intelligence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the Vice President, working, among other duties, as an intelligence analyst, strategic debriefer, Russian-language interpreter during U.S.-Soviet naval exchanges, defense attaché to former Soviet Union countries, and policy advisor. Dr. Brookes is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.); the Defense Language Institute (Diploma, Russian); the Naval War College (Diploma); the Johns Hopkins University (M.A., Government); and, Georgetown University (Doctorate). He also participated in U.S.N.A.’s Cox Fund language study program to Germany and studied Polish at DLI. He’s a S.e.R.e. school graduate; taught at the National Defense University and the Joint Military Intelligence College; and, played in both U.S. and foreign war games. Dr. Brookes has traveled to all 50 U.S. states and more than 50 countries on 5 continents, including the Soviet Union, North korea and Tibet. He’s served as an international election observer in Indonesia and Cambodia. Dr. Brookes is also a part-time outdoor writer for the Northern Virginia Daily newspaper, penning columns on fly fishing, shotgunning and wingshooting. He volunteers as a fly fishing guide with Project Healing Waters working with disabled vets and is an avid skier and golfer. His honors include: The U.S. military’s Joint Service Commendation Medal; Navy Commendation Medal (3 awards); Navy Achievement Medal; several unit awards; Defense Language Institute Honor Graduate and kellogg Award winner; the Joint Chiefs of Staff service badge; Naval Aviation Observer wings, Navy League of New York’s Frank knox Media Award and championship honors in wrestling and judo at the local, state and national level, including a Junior Olympic and All-Navy wrestling titles.

BeNJAMIN S. CARSON, M.D.

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., had a childhood dream of becoming a physician. Growing up in a single parent home and being challenged by dire poverty, poor grades, a horrible temper and low self-esteem appeared to preclude the realization of that dream, until his


PANeL & SPeAkeR BIOSmother, with only a third-grade education, challenged her sons to strive for excellence. Young Ben persevered, and today is an emeritus professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he directed pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for 39 years. He was the inaugural recipient of a professorship dedicated in his name in May, 2008 and is now the emeritus Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D. and Dr. evelyn Spiro, R.N. Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery, having retired on June 30, 2013. Some career highlights include the first and only successful separation of craniopagus (Siamese) twins joined at the backof the head in 1987, the first completely successful separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus twins in 1997 in South Africaand the first successful placement of an intrauterine shunt for a hydrocephalic twin. Although he has been involved inmany newsworthy operations, he feels that every case is noteworthy—deserving of maximum attention. He is interested in all aspects of pediatric neurosurgery, and has a special interest in trigeminal neuralgia (a severe facial pain condition) in adults. Carson holds more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and has received literally hundreds of awards and citations. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Science, the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and many other prestigious organizations. He sits on the board of directors of numerous organizations, including kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation, the Academy of Achievement and is an emeritus Fellow of the Yale Corporation, the governing body of Yale University. He was appointed in 2004 by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Bioethics. He is a highly regarded motivational speaker who has addressed various audiences from school systems and civic groups to corporations and has spoken twice during the President’s National Prayer Breakfast in 1997 and 2013. In 2001, Carson was named by CNN and TIME magazine as one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists.That same year, he was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 “Living Legends” on the occasion of its 200th anniversary. He is also the recipient of the 2006 Spingarn Medal which is the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP. In February, 2008, Carson was presented with the Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal by President Bush at the White House. In June, 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the President, which is the highest civilian honor in the land. Carson was recognized in November, 2008 by U.S. News & World Report and on February 7, 2009, the awardwinning movie entitled Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, starring Cuban Gooding, Jr. as Carson, premiered on TNT and is based on his memoir. Carson is president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds forexceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. The Fund is currently operating in 50 states and the District

of Columbia, having awarded more than $ 6.2 million dollars to more than 6200 scholars. The program also establishes Carson Reading Rooms to encourage young students and their families to discover the pleasure to be found in books and to recognize the true power of learning. His first four books, Gifted Hands, THINK BIG, The Big Picture and Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose and Live with Acceptable Risk (January, 2008), provide inspiration and insight for leading a successful life; a fifth book, America The Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, was released in early 2012 and made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2013. His sixth book, One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America’s Future was released on May 20, 2014 and has also made The New York Times Best Seller List. Carson has been married for over 39 years to his wife, Candy, and is the father of three adult sons and has two grandchildren. Dr. Carson is currently a candidate for President of the United States.

PeTeR H. COORSChairman, MillerCoorsVice Chairman, Molson Coors Brewing Co.

Peter H. Coors is chairman of MillerCoors and vice chairman of Molson Coors Brewing Company. Pete is a native of the state of Colorado. He was born on September 20, 1946, in Golden, Colorado, and remains a resident of Golden today.

He graduated from the Phillips exeter Academy in exeter, N.H., in 1965, attended Cornell University where he received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1969. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Denver in 1970. He also has received honorary doctorates from Regis University in 1991, Wilberforce University in 1992, Johnson & Wales University in 1997, and Colorado State University in 2011. Pete’s professional career in the brewing business follows a Coors tradition that has spanned more than a century and five generations of Coors family members. He has served in a number of positions at the company. In 2002, Pete was named Chairman, Coors Brewing Company and Chairman of Adolph Coors Company. Currently, Pete is Chairman of MillerCoors. Pete’s outside corporate board of director membership includes energy Corporation of America and American enterprise Institute. He is president and a trustee of the Adolph Coors Foundation. His numerous and diverse civic responsibilities include serving as a trustee and member of the executive board of the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a member of the National Western Stock Show Association executive committee.


PANeL & SPeAkeR BIOS Pete is also a member of the International Chapter of Young Presidents Organization, and the Denver Art Museum Foundation. Pete is an avid outdoorsman. Active in wildlife conservation, he serves on the boards of several conservation groups. Peter is currently a national trustee and also is a former national president and chairman of Ducks Unlimited. Pete is the son of Joseph and Holly Coors, and is a great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the Golden brewery in 1873. He and his wife, Marilyn, have six children and eleven grandchildren.

PAUL DIeTZeL Paul Dietzel is founder of Anedot Inc. — a technology company headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA and a former U.S. Congressional candidate for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University (MBA, MPP) and Louisiana State University (BA). Anedot Inc., the leading

fundraising software platform for campaigns in the United States, gives political campaigns, religious organizations and nonprofits the ability to securely collect donations and manage donors. Dietzel is the grandson of LSU football Coach Paul Dietzel who led the LSU Football team to a national title win in 1959 and became Coach of the Year. He later coached at West Point Academy, University of South Carolina. Follow @PaulDietzel on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for more.

eRICk eRICkSON

erick erickson is a recovering lawyer, the editor of RedState.com, a Fox News Contributor, and host of the erick erickson Show on the nation’s most listened to news/talk station, WSB Radio out of Atlanta. Occasionally, Rush Limbaugh lets him fill in. When not working or with his family, erick is working on his Masters

Degree at Reformed Theology Seminary. The Atlantic magazine named erick the most powerful conservative in America and the Hollywood Reporter called him the most influential conservative blogger on the internet. erick lives in Macon, Georgia with his wife and two children where he’s far more likely to be discussing cooking or bourbon than politics.

CARLY FIORINA

Carly Fiorina is a passionate, articulate advocate for conservative policies that advance economic growth, entrepreneurship, innovation, and effective leadership. When Carly was recruited to Hewlett Packard, she became the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 business and grew HP to the

11th most profitable company in the US. In her six years as Chairman and CeO of HP, she would double its revenues to $90 billion; more than quadruple its growth to 9%; triple the rate of innovation to 11 patents a day; achieve market leadership in every market and product category and quadruple cash-flow. She currently serves as the Chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation, which annually hosts CPAC (the largest annual gathering of conservatives); the Chairman of Good360, the world’s largest product philanthropy organization; and the Chairman of Opportunity International, the largest non profit micro-finance lender in the world giving out $6 billion at an average of $150 per loan lifting millions out of poverty around the world. In 2014, Carly launched the Unlocking Potential Project, a new PAC aimed at engaging women voters and refuting the false notion that conservative ideas and principles amount to a “war on women.” The UP Project’s grassroots efforts aided Republican wins in crucial elections across the country, from Iowa to Colorado. Carly is currently a candidate for President of the United States.

HeIDI GANAHL Founder and CEOCamp Bow Wow

Heidi Ganahl is the founder and CeO of Camp Bow Wow, the largest pet care franchise in North America. Through her personal and professional tragedies, from the loss of her young husband to losing a million dollar insurance settlement, Ganahl has faced

extraordinary adversity. She responded by turning her life-long passion for dogs into Camp Bow Wow, the nation’s largest pet care franchise company, and created the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives and health of dogs. Ganahl and her first husband Bion conceived the idea of starting a doggy day and overnight care business born out of their love for dogs and the need for a market alternative to the bleak conditions of the traditional kennel environment. Unfortunately, shortly after Heidi and Bion


finished developing the Camp Bow Wow business plan, Bion was killed in a tragic plane crash, while in an open cockpit stunt plane for his 25th birthday. The untimely death had a paralyzing effect on Heidi and sent her into a downward spiral – albeit temporary. She then lost almost the entire $1 million settlement from Bion’s crash in unreturned loans to friends and family, a series of bad investments, and the failure of two start-up businesses. Finally, in 2000, as a single mom with only $83,000 of the dwindling settlement left, Heidi was encouraged by her brother to take a leap of faith and start Camp Bow Wow. She invested the last of her savings and opened the first camp in Denver in the Fall of 2000. In 2003 Ganahl started franchising the concept and has sold over 200 franchises! Today, Camp Bow Wow is one of the largest woman-led franchise companies, one of the largest and fastest growing brands in the pet industry, the largest pet care company in the world and a $100 million leader in the $60 billion United States pet sector. Heidi recently sold Camp Bow Wow to VCA, a leader in the pet care industry, but will continue in her role as CeO. She was recently featured in Fortune magazine, and was a recipient of the 10 Most Promising entrepreneurs at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Heidi was also featured on the cover of the April 2015 Franchise Times. Outside of leading Camp Bow Wow, Heidi is passionate about giving back. She is: a Director on the Foundation Board for the University of Colorado, advisory board member of the Leadership Program of the Rockies, a Director on the Board of Colorado Succeeds, leader of Moms Fight Back (her nonprofit empowering moms to make social change and become important players in Colorado) and is head of the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, Camp Bow Wow’s 501c3 focused on lending a paw to animals in need. Heidi is married to Jason, one of the top competitive BBQ cooks in the country, www.gquebbq.com, and is the proud mom of Tori, Hollie and toddler twins, Jack and Jenna!

MARY kATHARINe HAM Mary katharine Ham is a writer and political commentator who spars weekly with Bill O’Reilly on “The O’Reilly Factor.” A Fox News Contributor, Ham appears regularly on “America’s Newsroom,” “Red eye,” and “Your World w/ Neil Cavuto.” She is editor at-large for HotAir.com, a conservative and libertarian

news site, a Twitter enthusiast, and a sometime guest on “The View” and “Real Time” with Bill Maher. A fourth-generation newspaper journalist, she did a stint covering NASCAR, high school football, and the county’s largest legumes before embracing New Media and heading to

Washington, D.C., where her career goal has been to discover the formula for talking about politics without being a blowhard. She created The Heritage Foundation’s first-ever blog in 2004, won several awards for her work in the fledgling online video world— her series, “HamNation”—and has written for “The Weekly Standard” and “The Daily Caller.” She’s from North Carolina and graduated from the University of Georgia, raised on a perfect combo of Tobacco Road basketball and SeC football. She serves on the board of the Travis Manion Foundation — a non-profit that does work with returning veterans and families of the fallen. She climbed kilimanjaro on her honeymoon, and hopes to add more mountains to the list with a toddler in tow. She lives in Virginia with her husband and her daughter.

keVIN JACkSON kevin Jackson is a Fellow at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, a nationally syndicated radio host, frequent Fox News guest, and national speaker. He is an Amazon best-selling author, and genuine patriot. In kevin’s role as executive Director of The Black Sphere, he and his team have undoubtedly left an

indelible imprint on the American political scene.

kRISTA kAFeR krista kafer is a Denver Post columnist, a radio personality on 710 kNUS and the co-host of “Head On” on Denver’s Channel 12. She teaches communication at Colorado Christian University. A Colorado native, krista returned to Colorado in 2004 after nine years in the nation’s capital where she served as the senior expert on education policy at

the influential Heritage Foundation. She was regularly cited in analysis in leading newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune, and magazines such as Business Week, Forbes, World Magazine, and The Economist. She has been interviewed on numerous radio and television programs including CNN’s “Live from the Headlines,” FOX News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes,” “Studio B with Shepard Smith,” and “The Big Story with John Gibson,” Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” and “Joe Scarborough Country”, and NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” and “The Tavis Smiley Show.” On several occasions, Ms. kafer testified before Congress and




state legislatures. She was also a frequent panelist and guest speaker at national and international conferences. In her spare time, krista enjoys international travel, spending time with family, and hiking with her dog Bacon.

CHARLIe kIRk Charlie Kirk is the Founder and executive Director of Turning Point USA, a national student movement dedicated to educating, empowering, and mobilizing young people behind the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. Since the

inception of Turning Point USA on June 5th of 2012, Charlie has grown Turning Point USA from nothing to having representation on over 800 high schools and college campuses nationwide. At 21 years old, he has appeared on Fox News, CNBC, and FOX Business News over ninety times including frequent appearances on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” “Varney & Co.” and “The Willis Report.” He is a featured columnist for The Washington Times and a contributor at Breitbart.com. In addition to his entrepreneurial political endeavors, Charlie plays every type of Saxophone, was captain of his school’s Varsity Basketball and Football team, and is a proud eagle Scout.

WAYNe LAUGeSeN Wayne Laugesen is editorial page editor of The Gazette (Colorado Springs), which won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2014. He writes for the National Catholic Register and makes guest appearances on Fox News. Laugesen has worked as managing editor of Consumers’ Research magazine, assistant editor of Soldier of

Fortune magazine, editor of Boulder Weekly and has written for Newsweek and most major newspapers throughout the United States. Laugesen and his wife, Dede, have six boys and reside in Monument, Colorado.

DR. MICHAeL LeDeeN Dr. Michael Ledeen is an internationally renowned scholar, whose ideas and insights on the workings of the Iranian government have been a critical part of the policy discussion for decades. He is a highly regarded expert on Iran’s Green Movement and maintains close ties to opposition groups inside Iran. His scholarship on Iraq, terrorism and

international security have been sought after by those in and out of government and the intelligence community, the media and policy influencers. He is a contributor to The Hill and a contributing editor at National Review Online. Previously, Dr. Ledeen served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department. He has also served as a special adviser to the Secretary of State. He holds a Ph.D. in modern european history and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, and has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Rome. Dr. Ledeen is the author of more than 20 books, the most recent of which include: Virgil’s Golden Egg and Other Neapolitan Miracles; An Inquiry into the Nature of Creativity, Accomplice to Evil: Iran and the War Against the West; The War Against the Terror Masters; The Iranian Time Bomb; Machiavelli on Modern Leadership: Why Machiavelli’s Iron Rules Are As Timely and Important Today As Five Centuries Ago; Tocqueville on American Character: Why Tocqueville’s Brilliant Exploration of the American Spirit Is As Vital and Important Today As It Was Nearly Two Hundred Years Ago; and, Freedom Betrayed: How America Led a Global Democratic Revolution, Won the Cold War, and Walked Away. Dr. Ledeen regularly appears on cable news talk shows as well as a variety of talk radio programs as an expert contributor. He has a significant following on his blog, “Faster Please!,” hosted by PJMedia, which supports Iran’s democracy movement. In addition, Dr. Ledeen also blogs at The Huffington Post. See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/about-fdd/team-overview/michael-ledeen/#sthash.3P6Kqagy.dpuf

CRAIG LINDVAHL Award-winning educator and filmmaker Craig Lindvahl has put pen to paper to share his unique brand of wit and wisdom in the new book Things You Wish You Knew Yesterday. Lindvahl is the head of an entrepreneurship program


called CeO (Creating entrepreneurial Opportunities), a transformational program for high school students. In CeO, students learn to take ownership of their work and behavior by interacting with business people on a daily basis and starting their own businesses. CeO is true economic gardening, and connecting with young people through real world, real life experience equips them to be the next generation of leaders in our communities. Things You Wish You Knew Yesterday is the essence of CeO, and the insights Craig shares in this fast paced and entertaining talk will make you think about our young people and our country in a new and exciting way!

JILLIAN MeLCHIOR Jillian Melchior writes for National Review, and currently is a fellow for the both the Franklin Center and Independent Women’s Forum. Jillian is the 2015-16 recipient of The Steamboat Institute’s Tony Blankley Chair. She does investigative reporting on domestic issues, including government waste, fraud and

abuse, energy and environment issues, and organized labor. She has lived in China, reporting on Christianity and persecution, and has also done foreign correspondence in Iraq, Ukraine, Hong kong, Macau, Taiwan, and elsewhere. She has worked as an editorial writer for The Daily, an online editor for Commentary, a Robert Novak fellow, and a Bartley Fellow at the Wall Street Journal Asia. Her writings have been published in National Review, The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, The New York Post, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, TechCrunch, The Detroit News and other publications. She is a graduate of Hillsdale College and a native of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

JIM D. NeIMANVice President and CEONeiman Enterprises, Inc.

Jim D. Neiman is the 3rd generation in his family to work in the forest products industry. His grandfather, A.C. Neiman, started a sawmill in the Black Hills in 1936, and his dad, James S. Neiman, is still actively involved in the family’s ranch and timber

businesses at the age of 85. The Neiman Family now owns four Forest Products facilities: Devils Tower Forest Products, Hulett, WY; Rushmore Forest

Products, Hill City, SD; Spearfish Forest Products, Spearfish, SD; and Montrose Forest Products, Montrose, CO. The Neiman Family also owns Neiman 77 Ranches and The Golf Club at Devils Tower, located in Hulett, WY as well as Heartland Wood Pellets, Spearfish, SD Jim is a 1974 graduate from the University of Wyoming with a BS degree in Range Management and a minor in Business Administration. He and his wife Christy of 38 years, have two grown children. Marcus works with the family companies and is also a member of the Army National Guard. Sonja lives and works in Dallas, TX at Half-Time Institute. He is a past member of the Wyoming Occupational Health & Safety Commission; the Wyoming economic Development & Stabilization Board; the Independent Forest Product Association; the enhanced Oil Recovery Commission and the Chairman of the School of environmental and Natural Resources with the University of Wyoming, past President of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees and a former director with Summit National Bank. He currently serves on the Hulett Airport Advisory Board, is the Treasurer of the Black Hills Forest Resource Association and a member of the Intermountain Forest Association along with the Federal Forest Resource Coalition. Jim is also one of the members of the Tenth District economic Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of kansas City. In 1984 Jim received the SBA award for the Small Business Person of the Year. He is very honored that Neiman enterprises, Inc. has won three prestigious awards – The BBB – Torch Award for Business ethics and the USFS Stewardship Award, and Montrose Forest Products won the 2015 eDIe Company of the Year Award from the economic Development Council of Colorado.

TOM ROGAN

In 2014, Tom Rogan was named the recipient of the Steamboat Institute’s inaugural Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American exceptionalism. In 2015, the Steamboat Institute extended Tom’s fellowship, naming him “Senior Fellow.” Tom is based in Washington, DC, and is a columnist for National

Review as well as a TV/radio media contributor, providing commentary on U.S. domestic politics/foreign policy to various media outlets, including The McLaughlin Group, Real Time with Bill Maher, Fox News, CNN, Newsmax TV, BBC News and many others. He is an honors graduate of king’s College of London (War Studies) and a graduate of the law program at The College of Law, London.




MeLANIe STURM

Melanie Sturm writes a bi-monthly column for the Aspen Times called “Think Again… you might change your mind” in which she has developed a persuasive style to reach readers who think they disagree. Taking on the most controversial issues of

the day in her fact-infused and uniting commentary, Melanie has discovered that most readers are persuadable and even hostiles can be powered down, improving the environment for our society-enhancing values and policies. Melanie’s lessons are at the core of engage to Win -- the persuasion workshop she co-founded -- which teaches how to influence people in our personal networks, one impressionable person at a time. Visit Melanie’s website www.ThinkAgainUSA.com to read all her columns, to subscribe to get receive future columns by email, and to learn more about her. More information on engage to Win is available at www.engage2win.org.

MASON TVeRT

Mason Tvert is the director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national organization working to end marijuana prohibition at the federal and state levels and replace it with a system in which marijuana is regulated similarly to alcohol. MPP lobbies in Congress and state legislatures, supports state and

local ballot initiatives, and carries out public education efforts. Mason co-directed the successful campaign in support of Amendment 64, the 2012 ballot initiative to regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado, and he played an integral role in passing a similar statewide initiative in Alaska in 2014. Prior to joining MPP, Mason co-founded and directed Safer Alternative For enjoyable Recreation (SAFeR), a Colorado-based nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the relative safety of marijuana compared to alcohol. During this time, he led the local ballot initiative campaign that resulted in Denver becoming the first city in the world to vote to remove all penalties for adult marijuana possession. Mason is a co-author of the book, Marijuana Is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?, and he appears frequently in the local and national news discussing marijuana and marijuana policy. In January 2013, the Denver Post named him the Colorado’s “Top Thinker” in the area of politics and government.

PeTeR J. WALLISON Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies —American Enterprise Institute

Peter J. Wallison holds the Arthur F. Burns Chair in Financial Policy Studies and is co-director of AeI’s program on Financial Policy Studies. Prior to joining AeI, he practiced banking, corporate and financial law at Gibson, Dunn

& Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. Mr. Wallison has held a number of government positions. From June 1981 to January 1985, he was General Counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan Administration’s proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and between 1972 and 1976, he served first as Special Assistant to New York’s Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller as vice president of the United States. Mr. Wallison is admitted to practice before the courts of New York and the District of Columbia, and he is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1963 and law degree from Harvard Law School in 1966. Mr. Wallison is the author of Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency, published in December 2002 by Westview Press. On financial or regulatory matters, he is the author of Back From the Brink, a proposal for a private deposit insurance system, and co-author of Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; The GAAP Gap: Corporate Disclosure in the Internet Age; and Competitive Equity: A Better Way to Organize Mutual Funds, all of which were published by AeI. He is also the editor of Optional Federal Chartering and Regulation of Insurance Companies, and Serving Two Masters, Yet Out of Control: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also published by AeI. On campaign finance, he is the author (with Joel Gora) of Better Parties, Better Government, (AeI Press 2009) and Bad History, Worse Policy: How a False Narrative about the Financial Crisis Led to the Dodd-Frank Act (AeI Press 2013) . His most recent book is Hidden In Plain Sight: What Caused the World’s Worst Financial Crisis and Why it Could Happen Again (encounter Books 2015). He testifies frequently before committees of Congress, and is a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other print and online journals. He has also been a speaker at many conferences on financial services, housing, the causes of the financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act, accounting, and corporate governance, and is a member of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations, the SeC Advisory Committee


on Improvements to Financial Reporting (2008), co-Chair of the Pew Financial Reform Task Force (2009), and a member of the congressionally- authorized Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (2009-2011). In May 2011, for his work in financial policy, Mr. Wallison received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Colorado.

ROBeRT L. WOODSON, SR.

Robert (Bob) Woodson is Founder and President of the Center for Neighborhood enterprise (CNe) and one of America’s most influential leaders on issues of poverty and upward mobility. He chose the word “enterprise” in naming CNe because he believes strongly that market-

based principles should also operate in the social economy. Woodson was instrumental in paving the way for resident management and ownership of public housing, brought

together task forces of grassroots groups to advise the 104th Congress, the Pennsylvania Legislature, and the Wisconsin Assembly on welfare reform, and helped create Violence-Free Zones that now operate in many of the nation’s most troubled schools and communities. More recently, he has taken Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan on a “listening and learning” tour of some of America’s most impoverished neighborhoods in an effort to move beyond the traditional conservative and liberal understanding of how to address the needs of the poor. Woodson is frequently featured as a social commentator in print and on-air media, including The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The O’Reilly Factor, the Garrison Show and other national and local broadcasts. He is the only person ever to receive both the liberal and conservative world’s most prestigious awards – the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Prize, as well as the Presidential Citizens Medal. He has written several books, including The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhood.


SPECIAL THANKS TO OuR STEAMBOAT INSTITuTE TEAM!

Jennifer Schubert-Akin, CeO

ericka Andersen, Social Media Consultant

kathleen Chandler, event Coordinator

Allen Fuller, Digital/Website Consultant

Angela Lieurance, Development Consultant

Morgan McDougald, email Marketing

******

Jeanie & Rod Durham, Head Volunteers

And our many wonderful volunteers!


STeAMBOAT INSTITUTe ANNOUNCeSWinner of Second Annual

“TONY BLANkLeY CHAIR FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND AMeRICAN eXCePTIONALISM”

Steamboat Springs, CO - August 1, 2015 - Today the Steamboat Institute announced the selection of Jillian Melchior as the 2015-16 Fellow for the Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American exceptionalism. Tom Rogan, the 2014-15 Fellow, will become a Se-nior Fellow. “Jillian’s impressive work as a journalist is a fitting tribute to Tony Blankley’s legacy and we look forward to collaborating with her,” said Jennifer Schubert-Akin, Chairman and CeO of the Steamboat Institute. “Her reporting from around the globe exemplifies the determination, character and wit that made Tony so special.” Melchior will be honored at a dinner as part of the Steamboat Institute’s 7th Annual Freedom Conference in Steamboat Springs, Colo. on August 28, 2015. “I am honored to join the Steamboat Institute as its second Tony Blankley Chair,” Mel-chior said. “The fellowship’s namesake defended America’s most important values with nuance, verve and humor–a legacy that still thrives today at the Steamboat Institute. I’m deeply thankful for this opportunity and look forward to a productive year ahead.”

In addition to naming Melchior as the 2015-16 Fellow, the previous Fellow, Tom Rogan, will continue to work with the Steamboat Institute in a new role as Senior Fellow. “Tom’s leadership as the inaugural Tony Blankley Fellow has been critical to the pro-gram’s success,” Schubert-Akin said. “As the trailblazer for this endeavor, we wanted to honor his contributions by naming him our Senior Fellow.” ”I’m deeply honored to have the opportunity to join the Steamboat Institute as the Se-nior Fellow,” Rogan said. “Serving as the Tony Blankley Chair for the past year has been profoundly rewarding. Tony’s life encapsulates the Steamboat Institute’s defining values – patriotism, intellectual rigor and an abiding commitment to the founding ideals that make America so exceptional. I can think of no better successor than Jillian Melchior, one of America’s top conservative reporters.”

About the Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American Exceptionalism

The Tony Blankley Chair for Public Policy and American exceptionalism was established by the Steamboat Institute to provide high-profile recognition and financial support to emerging conservative thought leaders who share the principles and ideals espoused by the late Tony Blankley and the Steamboat Institute. Those principles are lower taxes, limited government, free market capitalism, individual rights and responsibilities, and strong national defense.

Selection Committee members for the Tony Blankley Chair include:

• Lynda C. Davis, Ph.D. • Edwin Meese – 75th Attorney General of the United States • Steven Hofman – Consultant; Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor • Lauren Maddox – Principal, Podesta Group; Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education • Thomas P. McDevitt – Chairman, Board of Directors, The Washington Times • John O’Sullivan – British commentator and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher • John Roberts – Author and television producer for The McLaughlin Group; veteran of the Reagan White House

TONY BLANKLEY (1948-2012)

Jillian Melchior,2015-16 Blankley Fellow

Tom Rogan,2015-16 Senior Fellow


The Steamboat Institute’s Board of Directors

JeNNIFeR L. SCHUBeRT-AkIN Chairman

Jennifer Schubert-Akin and her husband, Rick Akin, co-founded The Steamboat Institute in 2008. They have lived in beautiful Steamboat Springs, Colorado, since 1995. Jennifer is a graduate

of the University of Oklahoma and received her M.B.A. from St. edward’s University in Austin, Texas. Jennifer founded Marathon Accounting Services, LLC, in 1999, providing accounting and consulting services to a variety of small businesses. Beginning in 2014, Jennifer is the full-time Chairman and CeO of The Steamboat Institute. Jennifer is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies and also served on that organization’s Advisory Board for several years. In 2013, she and Rick received the “Leaders in Action” award from the Leadership Program of the Rockies. Jennifer was formerly Chairman of the Routt County Republican Central Committee and has also participated in many community activities in Steamboat Springs, including serving as Community Representative on the Steamboat Pilot & Today editorial Board, Steamboat Marathon Committee, Tax Policy Advisory Board (appointed by the Steamboat Springs City Council) and many other activities. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys trail running with her 4-legged children, Boomer and Cruiser. She has completed 3 Leadville Trail 100-mile Races, the Western States 100-Mile endurance Run and the last 21 consecutive Boston Marathons, raising $83,000+ for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society along the way.

RICk AkIN Vice ChairmanFounding Member, The Akin Law Firm, LLC, Attorneys and Counselors, Denver, Austin, and Steamboat Springs

Jennifer’s husband, Rick, is the Vice Chairman and a co-founder of The

Steamboat Institute. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Letters Degree with Highest Honors from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of Order of the Coif and The Texas Law Review. Rick is currently an owner of The Akin Law Firm, LLC with offices in Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Rick began his career at Austin’s largest law firm, Clark Thomas & Winters, where he was a shareholder and member of the management committee before moving to Steamboat Springs in 1995. Rick has also served as a member of the board of Directors of Marathon kids, a non-profit corporation dedicated to exercise and healthy habits for school age children. He is a former member of Steamboat Pilot & Today editorial Board and the Routt County Airport Board and is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies. In 2013, Jennifer and Rick received the “Leader in Action” award from the Leadership

Program of the Rockies. Rick enjoys fishing, canoeing, hiking, and climbing 14ers.

GARY HOFMeISTeR Treasurer

Most people know Gary Hofmeister from Hofmeister Personal Jewelers which he founded 36 years ago and remains the C.e.O. Prior to entering the jewelry industry, he was a professional singer/

actor, salesman and health administrator. Though he says he never had one conservative professor all the way through his undergraduate studies nor his graduate work at Purdue, he has been an active conservative most of his life and was the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in 1998 for the 10th congressional district. Gary’s political beliefs also led him to teach Applied economics for Junior Achievement in several high schools for 10 years. Taking it to another level in 1992, he began going to the former Soviet Union to share Democratic Capitalism and his experiences as an entrepreneur after the Berlin Wall fell. He made 18 such trips developing his own curricula and running seminars from one to three days in various cities. Most trips lasted about three weeks. Gary also hosted a political talk show in 1990-91 called TALk OF THe CITY and another for WFYI from 2004-06 called BROADWAY MeMORIeS: MUSIC AND THe STARS, drawing on his experiences as a Broadway singer. He is married to JoAnne and together they share 20 grandchildren.

ANNe A. LOWe Secretary

Anne and her husband Rich have lived part time in Steamboat Springs for more than a decade, and have been full time residents since 2007. Steamboat provides excellent recreational opportunities for the

sports Anne enjoys such as skiing, hiking, biking and horseback riding. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Anne earned a BS in Biology and later a BS in Pharmacy, both from the University of Utah. She later received her Pharmacy Doctorate (Pharm D) from the University of Colorado in 2006. Anne is a Clinical Pharmacist and Anticoagulation Specialist at Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs. She also fills in periodically at the locally owned community pharmacy, Lyons Drug Store. This year Anne graduated from The Leadership Program of the Rockies, LPR Class of 2013. She and her husband have three grown children and two grandkids. Anne claims that becoming a grandma has been her motivation for involvement with The Steamboat Institute and LPR in the principled fight for liberty. She realizes that as Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”


The Honorable BOB BeAUPReZ

Bob Beauprez is a Colorado native. He was raised on a third generation dairy farm near Lafayette, and spent 20 years in partnership with his parents and brother in that operation marketing their animals across the globe. Following his dairy career, Bob purchased and managed a

community bank growing assets from $4 million to over $400 million in 12 years. Additionally, he managed the family’s real estate development, creating a 1500 residential unit golf course community. Bob served as Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party from 1999-2002. In 2002, Bob was elected as the first representative from Colorado’s seventh congressional district, and was re-elected in 2004. While in Congress, he served on the Ways & Means, Transportation, and Veterans Committees. He was the Republican nominee for Governor in 2006. In 2007 Bob founded a public policy e-magazine, A Line of Sight. As editor-in-chief, Bob has built a national distribution and more than 100 contributing authors. His work has been featured in National Review, The Washington Times, Townhall.com, RealClearPolitics, Politico.com, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Denver Post, and numerous other publications. In 2009, Bob published his first book, A Return to Values, that has been applauded for his bold “Agenda for America,” a strategic plan to reclaim our nation’s greatness. In addition to his writing, political, and other activities, Bob says his greatest enjoyment comes from eagle’s Wing Ranch, the buffalo breeding ranch in the northern Colorado Mountains he operates with his son, Jim, and Claudia, his wife of 42 years. The ranch renews the bond he’s always enjoyed with the land, livestock, and nature – and he gets a lot of time to think. It’s where he and Claudia love to spend time with their four children and four grandchildren and count their abundant blessings.

ALLeN FULLeR

With over a decade of experience blending marketing, design, technology, and politics, Allen Fuller currently leads the Principles That Matter project at The Centennial Institute, a Colorado-based think tank. During his career he has served as a legislative staffer in the US Senate and

a communications director in the US House, staffed numerous campaigns, advised Fortune 50 companies, led innovation as the chief operating officer of a tech startup, and founded Flat Creek – a digital agency with over 300 clients across 35 states and 3 continents. In each role he has focused on weaving emerging technology with advocacy for the principles he believes in. Allen holds a masters degree in eCommerce from The University of Alabama and is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies where he received the 2013 Defender of the Declaration award. He resides in Boulder County, Colorado with his wife and two daughters. Connect with Allen on Twitter @allenfuller.

MATTHeW SPALDING Associate Vice President and Dean of Educational Programs — Hillsdale College

Matthew Spalding is Associate Vice President and Dean of educational Programs for Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C. As such he oversees the

operations of the kirby Center and the various academic and educational programs of Hillsdale in the nation’s capital. He is the best-selling author of We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future, which details America’s core principles, shows how they have come under assault by modern progressive-liberalism and lays out a strategy to recover them. Spalding also is executive editor of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, a line-by-line analysis of each clause of the U.S. Constitution. His other books include A Sacred Union of Citizens: Washington’s Farewell Address and the American Character; Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition; and The Founders’ Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders & Most Eloquent Words of the American Founding. Prior to joining Hillsdale, Dr. Spalding was Vice President of American Studies at The Heritage Foundation and founding director of its B. kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics. He continues at Heritage as the Henry Salvatori Visiting Fellow, and is also a Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy. He received his B.A. from Claremont Mckenna College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the Claremont Graduate School. In addition to teaching at Hillsdale, he has taught at George Mason University, the Catholic University of America and Claremont Mckenna College. He and his wife elizabeth, a 1988 Hillsdale alumna, currently reside with their two children in Arlington, Virginia.

CHeRI CARSTeN (Ex Officio)

Cheri Carsten is an active and enthusiastic volunteer for conservative causes and candidates in Colorado, and nationally. She is a native of Colorado and an avid horsewoman. She had a first career

as a Non-Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army serving in Asia, europe and the U.S. and then as a civilian with the Department of Defense in Germany and Washington DC with a specialty in Organizational Development. Cheri holds a degree in psychology from the University of Maryland. In her second career, Cheri was a senior Human Resources Management executive for several large corporations including Prudential and a subsidiary of Air Canada. Cheri is a graduate of the Leadership Program of the Rockies.

The Steamboat Institute’s Board of Directors


Kelsey AlexanderUnapologetic Capitalist from Castle Rock, Colorado; Graduate of Leadership Program of the Rockies

Khristine BrookesVice President of Communications – Cato Institute

Peter BrookesSenior Fellow for National Security Affairs – Heritage Foundation

Debra BurlingameAttorney and expert on the threats of terrorism. Ms. Burlingame is the sister of Captain Charles F. “Chic” Burlingame, III, pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Bill FriesellFounding Board Member of Indian River Tea Party (Vero Beach, FL); former CeO of a number of domestic and international consumer businesses of Citibank/Citigroup, including Diners Club International

Steve HofmanFormer U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor; Former Guest Scholar at Brookings Institution; Former member of Council on Foreign Relations; Currently, Steve has consulting practice, advising CeOs on their business strategies, as well as writing on economic issues for major newspapers and magazines

Kevin JacksonAuthor of Sexy Brilliance and Other Political Lies; founder of BlackSphere.net

Cherylyn Harley LeBonCo-Chairman of Project 21 National Advisory Board; President and CeO of kLAR Strategies LLC; former Senior Counsel for U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

Rich LoweFormer President of Xpedx, Inc. (a division of International Paper Co.); Former Senior Vice President of International Paper Co.; Vice President of PowerICe, Inc.; Chairman, Bike Town USA Initiative Committee, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Ed MacArthurPresident and Founder of Native excavating Inc. (Steamboat Springs, Colorado)

Kate ObenshainAuthor of Divider-in-Chief: The Fraud of Hope and Change; regular guest on Fox News, CNBC and radio shows; former Vice President of Young America’s Foundation

Amy Oliver Cookeexecutive Vice President and Director of energy Policy Center – Independence Institute

Monica Owens BeauprezCo-founder of WestBrooke Group, a consulting firm located in Denver, specializing in fundraising, event planning and public affairs for corporate, non-profit and political candidates

Hal Scherz, M.D.Founder of Docs 4 Patient Care; Pediatric Urologist in Atlanta

Dr. Carl SteidtmannFormer Chief economist – Deloitte, LLP

Ginni ThomasSpecial Correspondent for the Daily Caller; Founder of LibertyCentral.org

Bill ThomsonFounder of Thomson Group LLC, a public affairs and government affairs advocacy organization in Cheyenne, WY; Past President of Wyoming Taxpayers Association; Member of Litigation Board of Mountain States Legal Foundation

Grace-Marie TurnerFounder, President and Trustee, Galen Institute, Inc. – public policy research organization, promoting an informed debate over free-market ideas for health reform

Evangeline Hidalgo-vanderhydenCertified Public Accountant and former Vice President and CFO, Medicare Division – Transamerica Corporation

Michael J. WilliamsFounder and President of ALTIUS Financial, Inc. – Denver, Colorado; Facilitator of “Defenders of Capitalism” program for Leadership Program of the Rockies

THE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTENATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD


NOTeS

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(970) 846-6013PO Box 883037

Steamboat Springs, CO 80488

2015 freedom conference program

Documents