Leadership Institute News

LI�s Summer Interns Arrive Next Week with Already 474 hours of LI Training

Mon, 14 May 2012 00:00:00 EST

Next week the Leadership Institute will welcome 12 conservatives hailing from nine American states and two countries as interns for the summer 2012 semester.
 

Already these 12 young people have taken 474 hours of Leadership Institute trainings in topics as various as public speaking, youth leadership, campaign management, public relations, campus elections, TV training, and fundraising.
 

As interns, they will have the opportunity to take additional free LI trainings for the next year, be mentored by LI’s staff in their departments as they complete 40-hour work weeks, stay rent-free in the Sacher Intern House just blocks from the office, attend private dinners with conservative leaders, and host a weekly conservative book discussion.
 

Please help us welcome our newest members to the team!
 

Click to read the full story to the right to read each of their bios and know them personally.

 

Career Path for Recent College Grad: Get Elected and Serve Community

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 EST

This is a busy time of year as college students around the country graduate and begin their careers. 
 

With cap and gown, Carla Shutrop walked across the stage three years ago at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota and received her B.A. in political science.
 

However, unlike many her age, she was elected to public office just five short months after graduation.
 

Carla was elected to the school board in her hometown of Shakopee, Minnesota in November 2009, where she spent her first year of the four-year term as treasurer, her second year as vice-chair, and now serves as the elected chair of the board, a post she’s held since January.
 

As chair of the school board, Carla chairs the twice-a-month board meetings, appoints the standing and ad hoc committees and chairs, serves as the board liaison to the superintendent, and assumes the role of spokesperson to the public at large.
 

Ohio Teen �Ticked� at Government Now Joins the Fight, Not the Club

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

Timothy Hershner, now 25, still vividly remembers the story “Big Jim,” his best friend’s father Jim Gerwin, shared with him.
 

In the 1970s Henry and Fern, two people who worked in his Ohio shoe factory, both were hard workers, working 40 hours each week plus 10 hours each of overtime.  However, they owed the government more than 30 percent of their pay in income taxes.  
 

“It is solely this story that got me ticked off with the government and eventually led to my political activity,” Tim said.

Navy Man & Entrepreneur Gets Fed Up: Now Congressional Candidate

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

In 1993, Dan Sebring bought an old auto service repair station and started to build a business.

The company is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the state where Dan, and his parents before him, were born and raised.

Dan moved home to Wisconsin in 1992. He'd left in the 1980s -- the severe recession left him unemployed and living out of his car -- to serve in the U.S. Navy, first at the Pentagon then at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

When Dan came back, he was ready to get involved in his state's politics. He found his opportunity when Milwaukee, his city, proposed a handgun ban in 1994. Dan didn't sit back; he got involved.

That sparked a nearly 20-year journey of activism and campaigning.

An All-American Woman

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

Peggy Hutt is an all-American woman.  Born in Ohio, she was raised in Southern California, stationed to Utah by the military, then moved in 1985 with her husband to Seattle, Washington for his job, and she’s been in Washington state ever since.

Peggy recruits and organizes conservatives in the state of Washington as the state coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots and co-founder/coordinator of the Tacoma Narrows Tea Party. 

On Tuesday, Peggy and the Tacoma Narrows Tea Party (TNTP) hosted their annual Tax Day Rally in their community with around 150 people present. Peggy dressed as a peasant and greeted people saying, “Taxed enough already, me lord!”

One Man�s Story�From Rental Car Employee to Campaign Doctor for Local, State, and National Races

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

Chuck Muth’s political roots run deep and have been a lifetime in the making.
 

His father took a break in the 1980s from Baltimore City firefighting and served one term in the Maryland Legislature when Chuck and his three brothers and two sisters were growing up. Later, Chuck’s brother worked for former Maryland Congressman Bob Ehrlich, who later became the 60^th Governor of Maryland (2003-2007).
 

Chuck was himself pulled into politics in 1995, when he was elected chairman of the local GOP central committee in Las Vegas, where he and his wife of 25 years, Gia, moved in 1988 for a job with a rental car company.
 

Now, Chuck has distinguished titles on his resume—former executive director of the American Conservative Union, National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Clark County GOP chairman, and former Nevada Republican Party executive director.
 

Today Chuck stays busy as a conservative in Las Vegas.
 

He’s president and CEO of the libertarian-leaning, non-profit grassroots advocacy organization Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News and Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com, an online candidate coaching program.
 

“The Leadership Institute came out to do a training program for grassroots activists at my invitation,” Chuck said, “and that established my longtime relationship with and admiration for LI.”
 

For Chuck, “Leadership Institute training has been the basis and foundation of my entire political/public policy career. I wouldn’t be where I am today – doing what I love doing, while making a difference – were it not for the training I received early on, and to this day, from the Leadership Institute. That’s not hyperbole. That’s not spin. That’s just fact,” Chuck said.

Get the most out of ConservativeJobs.com

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 11:50:00 EST

ConservativeJobs.com is known for its wide variety of new employment opportunities posted daily. You can peruse hundreds of available jobs and internships in non-profits, communications, broadcast media, public policy, or on Capitol Hill. But are you aware of the other ways ConservativeJobs.com can assist you in your job search? Learn how to take advantage of all the site has to offer by following these five steps.

LI Welcomes President Obama�s Conservative Cousin Dr. Milton Wolf

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 EST

“I may not be the first doctor to oppose ObamaCare, but I am the first doctor from Barack Obama’s own family to oppose Obamacare. In fact, I stand opposed to every part of Barack’s big-government agenda.”

The mother of family feuds hit home yesterday when the Leadership Institute hosted Dr. Milton Wolf, President Obama’s second cousin. Dr. Wolf is a practicing diagnostic radiologist, a conservative columnist for The Washington Times, and an outspoken opponent of nationalized healthcare.
 

“A Civil War tore our country apart, ripped families in two, and divided brother against brother,” Dr. Wolf said before the 83 guests in attendance yesterday. “Today our country is similarly divided. There is a division of worldviews between liberty and tyranny.”

President Obama is a caring man and means well, Dr. Wolf, his cousin, said, but he profoundly misunderstands America and what makes us exceptional.

“I’d like to believe Barack wants the best for America. I just can’t accept that he wants to destroy America. But it’s a matter of semantics because the things that he wants to do will destroy America.”

LI Graduate Elected to the Washington State House of Representatives at Age 25

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Twenty-seven-year-old Hans Zeiger is no stranger to public life.
 

At age 19, Hans ran for precinct committee officer in the 25^th legislative district in Washington state. He was elected two years later in 2006 and then again in 2008.
 

Hans authored a book at age 20, with multiple published works following.  He is a regular guest writer to more than 13 newspapers across the country, including the Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, and Human Events, where he’s penned hundreds of pieces since teen years, and now, is a distinguished syndicated columnist.
 

In college, Hans was elected president of the senior class.  As World Magazine says, “When Hans shared the commencement stage with Mitt Romney as student president of Hillsdale College, the biased campus buzz was that they’d rather vote for (Hans) Zeiger.”
 

Newsweek caught hold of him, and profiled him as one of the “15 College Students You Haven’t Heard of … But Will.”
 

In 2010, at age 25, Hans put himself again on the ticket for his beloved Evergreen State.  But this time, he took a more public role.
 

Now, Hans is in Washington State House of Representatives.  He represents his stomping grounds of Puyallup, where he, his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all grew up. Hans brings his district’s voice to the state capital as their state representative.
 

“I was able to put some of the Leadership Institute’s training to practice while working on campaigns, and then really put it practice on my own campaign for the state legislature,” Hans said. “LI training was essential to my success as a candidate.”

Leadership Memo: Spotlight on Justin Pulliam

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

At 19, Justin Pulliam was named the "most dangerous man on campus" by the New York Times.
 

"I thought it was clever," Justin, now 22, said. He paused for a beat and grinned. "But true."
 

Justin entered Texas A&M University as an 18-year-old freshman in fall 2008. A Texas native from north of Dallas, he intended to be an Animal Science major, maybe show cattle like he'd done in high school, and be involved in some campus groups.
 

He had no idea that one year later he'd have a profile in the New York Times, a live interview on MSNBC, and a reputation as a tough, principled conservative activist and student leader.
 

In his orientation week at A&M, Justin met up with Tony Listi, a senior, a graduate of four Leadership Institute trainings, and a future LI staff member. Tony had founded a campus conservative group, later known as the Texas Aggie Conservatives, and he wanted Justin to be involved. The two reviewed Tony's plan for the year and, in less than two weeks, Justin was the group's Technology Director, responsible for video footage and the website.
 

At the group's first activism event in September 2008, Justin was “really timid,” as he explained. It was a counter-protest to the Brazos Valley Coalition Against the War, and he spent the time holding a camera -- not a sign.
 