About Us
Providing Christian college students with formational educational and professional opportunities that propel them to lives of faith and leadership in the public square.
Our Mission
The Initiative on Faith & Public Life is a project of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), one of the world’s leading policy think tanks, based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to provide Christian college students with formational educational and professional opportunities that propel them to lives of faith and leadership in the public square.
We achieve this mission by partnering with an ecumenical community of students, faculty, scholars, and professionals across the country and by sponsoring conferences, on-campus events, and other intensive programming. We also produce a variety of educational resources, including books, essays, videos, and documentaries.
Reflected in all our programs and resources are AEI’s core values: a commitment to democracy and free enterprise, solidarity with those at the margins of our society, and an appreciation for a robust competition of ideas. In that spirit, we foster rigorous, nonpartisan dialogue about a wide range of relevant topics—economics, business, society, culture, politics and public policy, and vocation and calling—from a distinctly Christian perspective.
Through all this work, our initiative exists to equip Christians for faithful, informed engagement in contemporary public life. Explore our website or contact us to learn more and get involved.
Our Team
Jeff Pickering
Director
Mitchell Baron
Associate
Ingrid De Groot
Assistant
Based in Washington, DC, our core team is part of the American Enterprise Institute’s broader Academic Programs department. We plan and coordinate all of the initiative’s programs, with the help of AEI staff and scholars and a network of external partners.
Visiting Professors
A position that rotates each academic year, our Visiting Professors are partner faculty members who are selected to contribute to the initiative’s work in various ways. Past Visiting
Professors have served as instructors for our Summer Honors Program, given lectures on campuses, written publications, and provided our team with advice and guidance.
Elizabeth Corey
2021-2022 Visiting Professor
Mary Hirschfeld
2021-2022 Visiting Professor
Matthew Kaemingk
2021-2022 Visiting Professor
Peter Meilaender
2021-2022 Visiting Professor
Paul Miller
2021-2022 Visiting Professor
Ideas Council Members
Our Ideas Council is a group of mid-career professionals who work in a variety of sectors, but share an interest in the intersection of faith, politics, society, and economics, and are committed to our initiative’s mission of investing in the lives of
college students. Like Visiting Professors, they support our work in various ways: advising and guiding our staff, serving as mentors for students, speaking on campuses, and participating in major conferences. A selection of members are listed below.
Matthew Lee Anderson
Baylor University
Jeff Bailey
Center for the Common Good
Nathan Barczi
Christ the King Presbyterian Church
Taylor Barkley
Stand Together
John Coleman
Author, “Passion & Purpose”
John Cortines
Generous Giving
Elise Daniel
Bellwether Communications
Katherine Haley
The Philanthropy Roundtable
Anne Marie Hauser
Hudson Institute
Michael Hendrix
Manhattan Institute
Chris Horst
HOPE International
Daniel Huizinga
Management Consultant
Jacqueline Isaacs
Bellwether Communications
Adam Josefczyk
Forge Leadership Network
Ashley Labosier
Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership
Endel Liias
Nexus Impact Advisors
Chandler Epp Navarrete
Polymath Innovations
Heather Rice-Minus
Prison Fellowship
Abby Skeans
Stand Together
Andrea McDaniel Smith
CarterBaldwin
Chelsea Patterson Sobolik
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commisision; Author, “Longing for Motherhood”
Jake Thomsen
Sovereign’s Capital
Brittany Vessely
Catholic Education Partners
Oye Waddell
Hustle PHX
