 Austin Berg
Co-Founder and CMO, Iron Light
Austin Berg is the Co-Founder and CMO at Iron Light, a digital marketing agency helping purpose-driven brands change the world. He also serves as Vice President of Marketing at the Illinois Policy Institute. He and his work have been featured in the Economist, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, and he was honored as one of Chicago’s “20 in their 20s” by Crain’s Chicago Business. Austin is the co-author of “The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities,” published in 2019 by Southern Illinois University Press. He is also the writer of the 2016 documentary film, “Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics.”
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 Rob Bluey
Vice President of Communications, The Heritage Foundation
Rob Bluey oversees Heritage’s communications strategy, leading an award-winning team that excels at rapid response, multimedia productions, compelling storytelling, and effective marketing. He is responsible for building innovative media campaigns and digital assets that reach millions of people with conservative policy solutions. Bluey is the founding editor of The Daily Signal, launched in 2014 to provide credible reporting and influential commentary. Bluey joined Heritage in 2007 after five years as a reporter and editor in Washington.
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 Mike GonzalezSenior Fellow, Douglas & Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy
& Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Fellow, The Heritage Foundation
Mike Gonzalez writes on identity politics, Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory, multiculturalism, assimilation and nationalism, as well as foreign policy in general. He spent close to 20 years as a journalist before joining the administration of President George W. Bush, where he was speechwriter for the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission before moving on to the State Department’s European Bureau. Gonzalez began reporting in 1981 for The Boston Herald and then joined Agence France-Presse in 1987, reporting globally, including covering the war in Afghanistan. He then spent 11 years in New York, Hong Kong, and Belgium with The Wall Street Journal.
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 Beverly Hallberg
President, District Media Group
Beverly Hallberg is the founder and president of District Media Group and a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum. An expert media coach, lecturer, and public speaker with more than 18 years of experience, she has trained members of Congress, CEOs, policy wonks, reporters, non-profit and movement leaders, and politicos. Beverly is a guest columnist for the Daily Signal, the Washington Examiner, and The Hill, and is a frequent contributor on Fox News and CNN.
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 Tim Murtaugh
Visiting Fellow, Communications, and Contributor, The Daily Signal
The Heritage Foundation
Murtaugh is a lifelong conservative who has spent his career advancing and promoting conservative causes, candidates, and principles. Most recently, he served as director of communications for President Donald J. Trump’s re-election campaign. He spent the prior two years in a similar post for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. For more than two decades, Murtaugh worked in state and national politics, including in senior roles at the Republican National Committee, Republican Governors Association, and numerous political campaigns. Prior to entering politics, he worked in radio news and was the capitol bureau chief in Richmond, Virginia, for WVIR-TV (NBC) in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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 David Payne
President, CODAVATE
David Payne is the president and founder of CODAVATE, a digital public affairs agency based in Reston, Virginia. From teaching himself to code in college to a multi-decade career that has empowered 20 of the corporations on the Fortune 100 list, David’s expertise on digital and social campaigning is sought after by organizations and conferences including The Washington Center, Public Affairs Council, AAPC, and Ad Week DC. He has also taught digital communications at the graduate level for The George Washington University. David’s core expertise is in building data-driven campaigns that blend powerful digital tactics and micro-targeting to achieve high-stakes objectives.
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 Christopher Rufo
Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute and Contributing Editor, City Journal
Christopher Rufo is a senior fellow and director of the initiative on critical race theory at the Manhattan Institute. He is also a contributing editor at City Journal where his writing explores a range of issues including critical race theory, homelessness, addiction, crime, and the decline of cities of America’s west coast. Rufo previously served as executive director at the Documentary Foundation, where he directed four films for PBS. He is a graduate of Georgetown University, former visiting fellow in domestic policy studies at the Heritage Foundation, and former Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute.
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 Greg Scott
SVP of Communications, Alliance Defending Freedom
Greg Scott is the Senior Vice President of Communications at Alliance Defending Freedom. In this role, he helps further the legal objectives of ADF through a strategic communications program, which includes constituent communications, marketing, social media, brand management, and media relations. Prior to rejoining ADF, Scott served as director of media and public relations for The Heritage Foundation and public affairs chief in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. From 2004 to 2017, Scott served ADF in various media and communications leadership positions. Before that, he spent 10 years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, most recently as public affairs officer at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
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 Genevieve Wood
Senior Advisor and Spokesperson, The Heritage Foundation
Genevieve Wood is a leading voice for The Heritage Foundation where she serves as Senior Advisor and Spokesperson. Previously a member of Heritage’s senior management as vice president of marketing, Genevieve advances conservative policy ideas in the media and events nationwide by helping everyday Americans understand how what happens in Washington affects them. Prior to joining Heritage in 2006, Genevieve worked for a variety of political, policy and media organizations including the Family Research Council, Republican National Committee, Cato Institute, Manhattan Institute, Susan B. Anthony List, NBC News and National Public Radio.
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Instructors
