Lindsay Hayes has served as a writer and communications consultant in the White House and the U.S. Senate, for a Cabinet-level agency, and on two presidential campaigns. Hayes received her master's degree and Ph.D. in political communication from the University of Maryland, where she taught communications courses for over a decade. She also holds a bachelor's degree in political science and communication from Boston College.

‍

Laban Jackson is the founder of Free the Facts. He has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Clear Creek Properties, Inc., a real estate development company, since 1989. He has been a director of J.P. Morgan Securities plc since 2010. Mr. Jackson served as a director of The Home Depot from 2004 to 2008 and a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1987 to 1992. He is also an emeritus Trustee of the Markey Cancer Foundation. Mr. Jackson is a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

‍

Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. has worked in government, politics, the private sector, and academia. A veteran of several high-profile presidential campaigns, Chen previously served as a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed member of the Social Security Advisory Board—an independent, bipartisan panel that advises the president, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security on matters related to the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs. He was also a senior appointee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Chen is currently the David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University; and an affiliate of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is also a Senior Counselor at the Brunswick Group, a global critical issues business advisory firm.

Tom Church is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He studies income inequality, poverty, health care policy, entitlement reform, and immigration reform. He has conducted research on developing supplemental statistics to better measure income, poverty, and health insurance coverage. He also contributes to the Hoover Institution’s immigration reform initiative. Church received his master’s degree in public policy with honors from Pepperdine University, specializing in economics and international relations. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and political science from the University of Michigan.

‍

Prior to joining Free the Facts, Camden Stuebe served as President of the Independent Journal Review, overseeing the company’s business and editorial operations. Stuebe’s career at IJR spanned more than three years and included a variety of roles, among them being Chief of Staff. Through these positions, she acquired experience in organizational strategy and operations, management and talent development, digital media, editorial operations, and content development. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Beloit College, where she double-majored in political science and psychology.

Julius L. Chen, Ph.D. is a health economist and assistant professor at Columbia University. His research studies innovative strategies designed to improve the delivery and financing of health care. He also teaches graduate-level courses on health care finance and management. Julius attended the University of California, Berkeley and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and was a fellow at Harvard University. He also served as a California Senate Fellow from 2010-2011.

‍

Ven Gopal is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics. Ven got involved with Free the Facts as a student Ambassador in 2017, when he hosted a Social Security event with UConn's Undergraduate Student Government. He joined as a Free the Facts Scholar in 2018 and has been in the organization's Communications Department ever since. Previously, Ven has also interned at the Executive Office of the President in Washington, D.C.

Bri is a recent graduate of Smith College, where she majored in Government. Bri became involved with Free the Facts during her senior year, when she served as an ambassador to bring the organization to her Black Students' Alliance club. After graduating, Bri joined Free the Facts to spearhead a new tour for students at Historically Black Colleges & Universities as well as students in Black Student Unions.

‍

Jason Marcella has worked in advertising and marketing for the past 20 years. He is experienced in all aspects of visual design, from branding and promotion to motion graphics and photography. His client list is diverse, including real estate developers, defense contractors, banks, tech companies, and the Virginia Lottery.

‍

Gabe first attended a Free the Facts Social Security presentation in 2018 and immediately applied to become an Ambassador for his campus. After participating in the organization’s Internship and Scholar Programs, he joined the team full-time. Gabe has worked with a variety of organizations to develop data-driven programs and strategy. Holding a bachelor's degree in ACS Biochemistry from Southern Oregon University, Gabe is a native Oregonian, raised in Portland, and remains an avid fan of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Madison is a recent graduate from Brigham Young University, where she majored in Political Science. Madison became involved with Free the Facts after attending one of their events at her college. She completed her senior year as an Ambassador and co-hosted several events on her campus. Madison is now a part of the Scholar Program and is working with the Communications Team in order to help create more opportunities for people to learn more, feel empowered, and get involved.

Thomas Fodor is a 2020 graduate of Carson-Newman University, located in East Tennessee, where he majored in Political Science and Philosophy with a minor in Math and Religion. He became involved with Free the Facts in the spring of 2019. Before he joined Free the Facts as a Program Operations Coordinator, he was a part of the Scholar Program. He also spent time interning at USCIS and The Fund for American Studies.

Madelynn recently graduated from Utah State University with a bachelor of science in Outdoor Product Design and Development. She became involved with Free the Facts as an Ambassador in the fall of 2020 after a close friend started her Scholar tenure with the organization. Madelynn has a wide variety of interests that has led her to work as a writer at an outdoor trade magazine, a designer at a fitness brand, and an AmeriCorp VISTA at the Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection. She is excited to continue to work with Free the Facts as a Scholar this summer.

Alice is a rising third-year student at American University where she is studying Communication, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government (interdisciplinary). At American University, Alice is a student of the University Honors Program, serves as a Peer Facilitator and Communications Director at the American University Project on Civil Discourse, and is involved in the university’s international relations society. She became involved with Free the Facts as an Ambassador in fall 2020. Presently, Alice is looking forward to applying her knowledge in the areas of public policy and economics to support Free the Facts’ mission as a summer intern!

Anne Pearson is a rising senior at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky with majors in political science and psychology and a minor in criminal justice studies. In addition, she is currently completing research on police interactions with individuals with mental illness, permanent resident voting rights in Kentucky, and alternative schooling in her hometown. She first became aware of Free the Facts through connections at the RAND Corporation and is now working with FtF’s Executive Office as a summer intern.

This is Shanna Kim’s (she/her) first year with Free the Facts. She is an incoming sophomore at Washington and Lee University where she plans on double majoring in Global Politics and Anthropology. In her free time, Shanna enjoys practicing the French horn and looking for creative ways to curate content for her university’s mock trial Instagram account.

Catherine Morris is from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and is a rising senior at The George Washington University majoring in Political Communication and double minoring in Criminal Justice and Public Policy. This summer, she is a Digital Communications intern in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice. She has been an Ambassador at Free the Facts since her freshman year.

Conrad is a rising senior at the University of Chicago triple majoring in Public Policy, Political Science, and Religious Studies. This summer, he is working at the U.S. Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom. Last year, Conrad worked as an intern for Free the Facts’ Executive Office. Conrad also works as a research assistant for the University of Chicago's Division of the Social Sciences and serves as the President of the UChicago Political Union during the academic year.

Daniela is a junior at the University of Michigan studying PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and Economics. Daniela has been an Ambassador for Free the Facts since September of 2019, and hopes to continue working with the team throughout college. Post graduation, Daniela's main aspiration is to ensure government officials have the necessary data to best serve, and respond to, constituents' needs. As such, she is passionate about utilizing her knowledge of economics and public policy to facilitate the process of translating Americans' voices into reflective legislation by means of research and advocacy.

Zach Steward is an African-American Studies and Legal Studies double major at UMass Amherst. He has experience working on a political campaign as an intern and as part of a team developing leadership and entrepreneurial skills through a program with the Boston NAACP. He's also been a leader during his time at UMass through jobs he's held, in addition to being dedicated to racial and social justice. This summer he will be taking a class through Pepperdine University's DC Policy Scholars Program called Humanizing Education Policy: A Study of Foundational Philosophies. He looks forward to learning more about how education and public policy intersect, and hopes to apply what he learns to a Master's in the future.