Vital signs
FreeCons fill a variety of roles in America’s conservative movement
Since the Freedom Conservatism Statement of Principles was released last summer, we’ve been posting regular updates at FreedomConservatism.org.
Some of our posts have linked to coverage of the FreeCon project in such media outlets as Politico, USA Today, National Review, Reason, C-SPAN, the Deseret News, and the Orange County Register.
Other posts have featured articles or statements by FreeCon signatories themselves, many of whom serve as regular contributors to such outlets as Fox News, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
The ranks of FreeCons include more than political commentators and scholars, however. Today we feature four signatories who fill four essential roles in our movement: governance, fundraising, talent development, and talent deployment.
Leading boards
Sara Albrecht chairs the board of the Liberty Justice Center, a public-interest litigation firm that seeks to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights. She’s also a FreeCon signatory.
Albrecht’s background in investment management led to the formation of Swan Capital in 2007. Her career began as an analyst at Harris Associates L.P. , and from there she went on to become one of the founding partners of the equity team at PPM America, Inc.
In addition to practicing investment management, she also taught international finance at St. Xavier University’s Graham School of Management and owned and operated the retail chain Ultimo.
Albrecht joined the board of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 1995 and was active in every part of the company, most recently serving as chairman of the board and acting executive director. She has also served as a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art since 1999 and as the president of the MCA’s Emerge group.
In addition to her work with Liberty Justice Center, Albrecht serves on the boards of the Illinois Policy Institute and Empower Illinois.
Raising money
When Jess Yescalis was a child growing up in Pennsylvania, he had two great passions. The first was politics. The second was travel and adventure.
As Yescalis later related in an interview with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, he managed to find a way to combine his two passions by spending part of his time fundraising for free-market policy objectives and the rest training political parties around the world on how to advance freedom and human rights.
Yescalis, a FreeCon signatory, is president of Yescalis Campaign Strategies, a public affairs and development firm located in Phoenix, Arizona. Over his career, he’s raised more than $200 million for freedom-minded organizations.
Currently a senior advisor to the Mackinac Center, Yescalis has also worked for such nonprofits as State Policy Network and the Goldwater Institute. He began his career as an aide to former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and later served as political director for the Arizona GOP, executive director of the Hawaii GOP, and regional finance director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee
Having just returned from a trip to Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, Yescalis has so far visited 179 countries — and he’ll be off again soon to add more to the list!
Developing talent
Casey Given is the executive director of Young Voices and president of its board of directors. A FreeCon signatory, Given joined Young Voices in 2014 when it was a project of Students For Liberty and oversaw the project’s transition to an independent nonprofit in 2016.
Young Voices provides fledgling writers with the guidance needed to succeed during the most critical years of their early career. The organization does so by acting as a copy editor, agent, and mentor to a roster of pro-liberty writers through its cornerstone Contributors Program.
The Young Voices network generates 50+ commentaries in print, online, TV, and radio every single month — including multiple articles and interviews about the FreeCon project itself.
Given previously served as director of communications at Students For Liberty and as a state policy analyst at Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
Deploying talent
Claire Kittle Dixon is executive director of Talent Market, which helps match talented professionals with employers within the free-market nonprofit sector.
Claire previously operated her own headhunting firm in the private sector before realizing she didn’t want to build a life around “making widgets.” Seeking a more meaningful line of work, she took her skills and transitioned into a career in the free-market movement.
She joined the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation where she served as the program officer for leadership and talent development. While at Koch, Claire managed the hiring process for the Foundation and launched and managed two talent programs: the Koch Associate Program and the Koch Internship Program.
Before launching Talent Market, Claire served as the vice president and director of research of the Buckeye Institute, Ohio’s free-market think tank.