JMI Unveils the J. Stanley Marshall Center for Educational Options

MESSENGER
The
The Newsletter of The James Madison Institute
www.jamesmadison.org
Trusted Solutions for a Better Florida
2015 | Edition 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
New Research Advisory
Council Members
Page 3
Team JMI Helps Those in
Need
Page 3
Significant Expansion With
Your Support
Page 3
2015 Legislative Session
Wrap Up
Page 6
Protection of Privacy or Dark
Money?
Page 9
Tour with “The
Conservatarian Manifesto”
Author
Page 9
“Sharp Mind, Noble Heart”
Video
Page 10
JMI College Campus Reps
Page 10
Leaders Fellowship Inaugural
Year Success
Page 11
New Assistant Director
Page 11
2015 JMI Annual Dinner Features a Star Lineup;
JMI Unveils the J. Stanley Marshall Center
for Educational Options
H
undreds gathered in Tallahassee for
The James Madison Institute’s 2015
Annual Dinner on Tuesday, March 24, 2015.
The evening event titled “The Florida Story:
A Lasting Legacy” featured members of the
Florida Cabinet, as well as Stephen Hayes,
senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a
FOX News contributor.
“Throughout the night you’ll hear a lot about
JMI and we hope you walk away knowing we’re
not just a think tank — but a do tank,” said
Dr. Bob McClure, JMI president and CEO in his
welcome. “And what we do encompasses four
goals here at the Institute: Empower Floridians
through education; equip individual citizens
with the tools to carry forth the torch of freedom; educate policymakers and work with
them to establish the best policy decisions for
all Floridians; and engage the culture, especially
within the next generation, because we believe
there is a universal hunger for freedom regardless of political party or preference.”
➤
Dr. McClure’s opening remarks were followed by his introduction of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, who then
gave his perspective of “The Florida Story” and
those who embody it.
“I believe in the Florida story and I believe
Dozens of JMI interns gather at the 2015 JMI Annual
Dinner with JMI EVP Becky Liner.
(Continued on page 4)
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman: Allan Bense, Panama City
President and CEO: Dr. J. Robert McClure, III
Vice Chairman: Robert H. Gidel, Sr., Orlando
Secretary: Jeffery V. Swain, Tallahassee
Treasurer: Glen T. Blauch, Naples
J. F. Bryan, IV, Jacksonville
Charles E. Cobb, Coral Gables
Stan W. Connally, Jr., Pensacola
George W. Gibbs, III, Jacksonville
L. Charles Hilton, Jr., Chairman Emeritus,
Panama City
John T. Hrabusa, Lakeland
John F. Kirtley, Tampa
Frederick W. Leonhardt, Orlando
Thomas K. Sittema, Orlando
Dr. J. Stanley Marshall, JMI Founder (1923-2014)
THE RESEARCH ADVISORY COUNCIL OF
THE JAMES MADISON INSTITUTE
Dr. Michael Bond, University of Arizona
Jack Chambless, Valencia College
Dr. Marshall DeRosa, Florida Atlantic University
Dr. Thomas DiBacco, American University
Dr. Dino Falaschetti, Mercatus Center at
George Mason University
Elizabeth Price Foley, J.D., Florida International
University College of Law
Dr. James Gwartney, Florida State University
Dr. Bradley K. Hob bs, Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr. Randall Holcombe, Florida State University
Robert Poole, Reason Foundation
Dr. Barry Poulson, University of Colorado
Dr. Linda Raeder, Associate Professor of Political
Science, Palm Beach Atlantic University
J.B. Ruhl, J.D., Florida State University
College of Law
Peter Schweizer, Government Accountability Institute
Sam Staley, DeVoe L. Moore Center at The Florida State
University
James M. Taylor, J.D., Heartland Institute
Dr. J. Antonio Villamil, Founder and Principal of The
Washington Economics Group, Inc.
STAFF DIRECTORY
Dana Edwards, Digital Strategist
Carter Fowler, Development Coordinator
Alyssa Gill, Director of Events and Logistics
Francisco Gonzalez, Vice President of Advancement
Kristen Hill, Development Associate
Travis Keels, Director of Public Affairs
Becky Liner, Executive Vice President
Jill Mattox, Foundation Grants Manager
William R. Mattox, Jr., Director of the Center for
Educational Options
Sal Nuzzo, Vice President of Policy and Director of the
Center for Economic Prosperity
Don Orrico, Southwest Florida
Development Director
Daniel Peterson, Director of the Center
for Property Rights
Scott K. Sholl, Florida Verve Editor
Clay Tullos, Finance Manager
Amanda Vossman, Assistant Director of the Wells
Center for American Ideals
Valerie Wickboldt, Vice President of Communications
THE JAMES MADISON INSTITUTE
The Columns
100 North Duval Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301
Phone: 850-386-3131 Fax: 850-386-1807
[email protected] | www.jamesmadison.org
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THE MESSENGER 2015 | Edition 2
What a year it has been and it’s not even over! JMI has
expanded its reach through several different avenues including
opening offices in Orlando and Naples, launching three new
policy centers, adding new staff at our Tallahassee headquarters,
finishing up the inaugural year of our Leaders Fellowship program
for under-40 young professionals, all while starting a new JMI
College Campus Representatives program (We’re hiring! See page
10 for details.) to reach students at 11 campuses across Florida.
The 2015 legislative session finally wrapped up in June, only
Bob McClure
days before the release of the committee week calendar showing
we’ll start the process all over again in less than three months.
It was a unique session and a lot was at stake, including the future financial stability of our
great state. More can always be accomplished, but often it is what is stopped that matters
just as much. JMI’s efforts were instrumental in educating Florida’s leaders on the dangers of
expanding the Medicaid program under Obamacare. With boldness of action, we promoted
alternative reforms that will actually help those in need find access to affordable, quality
care. Florida said no to the federal governments bag of tricks and treats, and taxpayers are
better off for it. While the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Obama administration in King v.
Burwell is certainly disappointing, the precedent set will have far reaching and potentially
discouraging implications for all manner of laws passed by Congress in administrations
both Republican and Democrat. Consider the policy realm of government surveillance, labor
law, or any number of arenas in which a Congress passes laws that are then manipulated
beyond their stated words. This ruling should be considered a loss no matter what one’s
view of Obamacare.
With that said, the effort to truly bring down healthcare costs and increase access to care
continues, as the negative impacts of Obamacare will unfold over the next several years.
Here’s hoping that our elected officials at the federal and state levels will recognize the opportunities afforded them to offer Americans real, long-lasting reforms that will improve our
healthcare system, while protecting personal liberty and our pocketbooks.
In other news, to celebrate Florida, the end of the legislative session, and a milestone
birthday for yours truly, we held a gathering at The Columns, JMI’s headquarters, last month.
Many came including friends of the Institute and family of our staff. Here are a few pictures
from the gathering.
I look forward to hearing about your summer as I travel across the state meeting with
many of you. Stay in touch with us!
J. Robert McClure III, Ph.D.
President and CEO
http://bit.ly/BobMcClureFacebook
https://twitter.com/DrBobMcClure
Significant Expansion With Your Support
W
e recently launched the Forward
for Florida Initiative, which highlights two new JMI policy centers, The J.
Stanley Marshall Center for Educational
Options and the Center for Property
Rights, as well as the opening of JMI regional offices in Orlando and Naples. In
combination with new regional outreach
with the JMI College Campus Reps and
programming planned for every major
metropolitan area in the state, JMI’s Forward for Florida Initiative will give the
Institute a strategic omnipresence in the
years ahead.
This is JMI’s most significant expansion
since the acquisition of our headquarters
in 2011, and we are asking everyone in the
JMI family to help us build capacity and
increase our influence and impact. This
program expansion will require us to grow
our operating budget by 25 percent in 2015.
To this date, your fellow supporters
have donated nearly $900,000 to this effort. We hope you will carefully consider
what you can do to put this new initiative
on firm financial footing by helping us
reach our goal — we are almost halfway
there!
Please join us in moving Florida forward!
Visit http://bit.ly/ForwardFL today
to donate to this special initiative.
Robert Poole and
Sam Staley Join
JMI Research
Advisory Council
-Robert Poole
R
Sam Staley
obert Poole of the Reason Foundation
and Sam Staley of the DeVoe L. Moore
Center at The Florida State University were
recently added as the newest members
of The James Madison Institute Research
Advisory Council. They join 17 thought
leaders advising the Institute on specific
policy issues that have a significant impact
on the Sunshine State’s economy and
increase opportunities for all Floridians.
To learn more about these distinguished
scholars and to read the full list of JMI’s
Research Advisory Council members, visit
http://bit.ly/JMIRAC.
Team JMI Helps Pack 60,000+
Meals for Families in Need
More than 114,900 people live in poverty in the Big Bend area where the JMI
headquarters is located. Of those, 29,400
are children. Summer is a critical time for
children who depend on free or reduced
price school lunches. When school is
out, many of these children do not have
a reliable source of food. To help combat
this serious issue, more than 280 volunteers, including JMI staff and interns,
gathered at a Tallahassee high school
to assemble more than 60,000 meals to
deliver to families across the Big Bend
area in an event called “A Full Summer”.
What a fun time for a great cause!
www.jamesmadison.org
THE MESSENGER
3
➤
2015 JMI Annual Dinner
(Continued from page 1)
in the future of our state,” Commissioner
Putnam said. “Thanks to organizations
like JMI, we will continue to be on the
high road for free enterprise, opportunity,
liberty and fulfilling the American Dream
right here in the Sunshine State.”
Following dinner intermission, the
focus of the event was changed to school
choice, a priority issue for the Institute.
Guests were treated to “Sharp Mind,
Noble Heart: The Story of Valentin Mendez,” a JMI short film about a high school
sophomore from Miami’s Little Havana
neighborhood and his journey to find the
school that best fit his needs. Read more
about this video on page 10
As the film ended, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater was then
welcomed up to the podium to share in
his passion for school choice issues. CFO
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THE MESSENGER 2015 | Edition 2
Atwater explained how he had first
heard of the different school choice
scholarship plans started under the
Bush administration at a PTA meeting.
When asked by the school’s principal if
he would help to fight these scholarship
options, CFO Atwater said he planned
to run for the Florida Legislature to vote
to enact them.
“Will we stay for this fight? Will we
understand the consequences and the
outcomes that will come if any of these
[education options] are chipped away?”
CFO Atwater said. “Everyone of these
initiatives that has advanced the opportunities for our children to succeed in
the world is under assault as we speak
right now.”
The event switched gears again as
Dr. McClure and Stephen Hayes, one
of America’s top political commentators, took the stage in a talk-show style
format.
“What could Washington D.C. learn
form a state like Florida? Look at rankings from Forbes and others who have
the Florida economy at the top of many
reports. This happened after long and
difficult fights against entrenched interest where a lot of this overbearing government was rolled back,” Hayes said.
“JMI has been at the forefront of this
fight, helping keep Florida on the right
track to fiscal solvency. The Institute’s
work is critical and the outcome of JMI’s
efforts to impact public policy in Florida
are to the benefit to all Floridians.”
JMI ended the night with a special announcement: the launch of The J. Stanley
Marshall Center for Educational Options,
which is named in honor of the Institute’s
late founder, Dr. J. Stanley Marshall.
Dr. Marshall, who passed away June
8, 2014, was a former president of The
Florida State University and an education
reformer. His wife Shirley and daughter
Sue Marshall Jones were present for the
unveiling of the Marshall Center.
“JMI’s new education center will build
upon Dr. Marshall’s legacy and pay tribute to his memory,” said Allan Bense,
JMI board chairman and former speaker
of the Florida House of Representatives.
“The Marshall Center will place special
emphasis on ideas like course choice and
personal learning accounts so that all
Florida students can obtain a customized
education tailored to their unique needs,
interests, abilities and learning styles.”
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO
http://bit.ly/JMIDinner15Highlights
VIEW EVENT PHOTOS:
http://bit.ly/JMI2015DinnerPhotos
WATCH FULL VIDEO:
http://bit.ly/JMIDinner15Video
➤
www.jamesmadison.org
THE MESSENGER
5
2015 Legislative Session –
Policy Priorities and Progress
T
he 2015 legislative session can be
summarized in one word — UNIQUE.
As the two-month regular session moved
along, it became apparent to those closely
engaged that many of the legislative
priorities would take a back seat to the
intra-chamber debate on whether or not
to accept federal Obamacare funds for
the expansion of Medicaid in Florida.
As a result of the impasse during regular
session, many legislative efforts, including several policy priorities championed
by The James Madison Institute, were
set aside for future discussion. However,
this was a necessary halt considering that
Florida taxpayers would be on the line for
billions if Florida expanded the Medicaid
program. Florida’s leaders needed to take
the decision very seriously and not jump
at the bait, which could have ultimately
ended up as a switch.
Priority 1: Protect Freedom of Choice in
Florida’s Education System
The challenges faced in the Medicaid
expansion debate had an indirect effect on
other policy areas – probably most notably
in education reform. JMI staff were aggressive in our efforts to educate about the
positives of our reform ideas, but several
priorities did not get taken up as a result
of the budget challenges regarding LIP
funding and Medicaid.
A.Personal Learning Scholarship
Accounts – JMI issued a groundbreaking policy brief, “Expanding
Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts: Why Florida Needs More of a
Good Thing,” along with an article in
the pre-session issue of The Journal,
meant to start the discussion on the
concept of expanding PLSA’s beyond
Bill Mattox, Marshall Center for Educational Options director attends a Naturalization Ceremony with
JMI interns.
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THE MESSENGER 2015 | Edition 2
the cohort of special needs students
to all high school students in Florida
whether in a public setting or beyond
(private school, homeschool, etc.). In
addition, JMI senior staff met on two
occasions with education policy staff
from the Governor’s office to outline
our thoughts and begin to generate
dialogue to build support in future
legislative sessions. The Florida Legislature did pass an expansion of PLSA’s
for 2015-2016, adding $42 million for
special needs students aged 3-4 who
suffer from muscular dystrophy, along
with expansions to the autism cohort
of students.
B. Tax Credit Scholarship Accounts –
While the challenges to the Florida
Tax Credit Scholarship program were
not dealt legislatively, JMI worked
aggressively to help in the judicial
process and fight the lawsuits designed
to evict 70,000 kids from schools that
best fit their needs and desires. This
included a nationally placed op-ed in
USA Today, which was also translated
into Spanish for El Nuevo Herald, and
was also visualized in an exceptional
multimedia video, “Sharp Mind, Noble
Heart: The Story of Valentin Mendez.”
JMI also participated as a sponsor of
the Foundation for Florida’s Future
conference, “Keeping the Promise: A
Florida Education Summit,” where we
debuted the video to attendees and top
media outlets in Florida.
Priority 2: Advance Freedom of Opportunity in Florida’s Economy
With the contentious debate on Medicaid expansion, regulatory reform, and
a push to continue success in the reform
of Florida’s property insurance arena,
Priority 2 saw significant action. JMI efforts complemented legislative efforts to
provide new tax relief to Florida’s business
leaders and citizens.
A.Medicaid Expansion – JMI was at
the tip of the spear in the fight against
expanding Medicaid in Florida. JMI
staff published four op-ed pieces, an
article in the pre-session issue of The
Journal, and a detailed Issue Commentary that ran statewide. JMI senior
staff testified three times in legislative
committee meetings regarding the
negative realties of the Senate’s FHIX
Medicaid expansion proposal. In what
was widely considered JMI’s most effective strategy, between the regular
and special sessions a copy of the
book “The Economics of Medicaid: Assessing the Costs and Consequences,”
written by several top experts in the
free-market movement, was mailed
to every legislator. Included with this
book was a hand-signed note from
Dr. Bob McClure, JMI’s president, imploring Florida’s leaders to recognize
the danger of expanding this flawed
federal entitlement program, and offering alternative reforms that would
increase access to quality, affordable
health care.
B. Regulatory reform – Related to healthcare innovation, JMI senior staff provided legislative testimony on reform
proposals championing telemedicine
and reform of the Certificate of Need
process in Florida.
C. Tax Reform – JMI issued one major Issue Commentary on Florida’s need for
tax relief on communications services
and business leases. The Legislature
passed a compromise tax relief package of $430 million for 2015-2016,
which included a reduction of the communications services tax — a tax that
impacts the budgets of almost every
single Floridian.
Priority 3: Champion Personal Liberty
for Florida’s Citizens
With the passage of Amendment 1,
coupled with the legislative approach
to implementation of the amendment’s
directive and the ongoing debate regarding the long-term water challenges facing
Florida, JMI has placed substantial effort
into Priority 3.
A.Amendment 1 – As with Medicaid,
Amendment 1 was an issue that saw
JMI, in particular our Center for Property Rights, engaged at the very highest
level. JMI released a widely consumed
Issue Commentary that provided our
“10 Principles for Amendment 1 Implementation.” In addition, we published
an article in The Journal, along with
two op-eds, and several appearances
CFO Atwater speaks with media members in a press gaggle at JMI
headquarters.
before legislative committees. This
culminated with a push during special
session that featured an op-ed distributed statewide, personally delivered to
each legislator, and turned into a fourpage Issue Commentary — all timed
for when legislators began debate on
implementation. As a result, radical
environmental efforts to unnecessarily acquire more land (in spite of the
state owning over a quarter of Florida’s
land) were thwarted. Additionally,
JMI’s suggestion of allocating most
of the Amendment 1 funds to better
preserve current protected lands, such
as the Everglades, was adopted with
a deal set aside for $81.8 million for
Everglades restoration, $55 million to
buy land, and $47.5 million for presernation of state natural springs.
B. Federal Intrusion – The federal government has been on a tear in its intrusion
on property rights, notably with new
regulations on energy production and
its unconstitutional Waters of the U.S.
rule. JMI released an Issue Commentary
on energy production and an article in
The Journal that highlighted the EPA’s
attempts at encroaching on Florida’s
property rights. Currently, policy briefs
are in the peer review stages for release
in the late summer. In addition, JMI
provided legislative testimony on multiple occasions regarding policy reform
relating to utilities easements.
(Continued on page 8)
Sal Nuzzo, JMI VP of Policy speaks at press conference on solar energy.
www.jamesmadison.org
THE MESSENGER
7
Legislative Session
(Continued from page 7)
Priority 4: Promote Sensible and
Fiscally Sound Reforms to Florida’s
Governance at All Levels
As with education reform, the major
legislative debates also had an impact on
Priority 4 — specifically in our efforts to
enact moderate reforms to juvenile justice
practices.
A. Juvenile Justice Reform – JMI led a
multifaceted coalition of partners that
engaged in pushing reforms in the
juvenile justice arena. JMI issued two
widely distributed Issue Commentaries on Florida’s direct file and records
expungement rules, authored an oped that ran in targeted media outlets
and statewide channels, and provided
testimony during four legislative committees.
B. Property Insurance Reform – JMI
released a Backgrounder on the next
steps to capitalize on Florida’s success in property insurance reform.
In addition, the study was presented
during a keynote address at the Florida
Chamber’s 2015 Insurance Summit.
While the 2015 legislative session is
just now in the rear-view mirror, JMI
staff are already actively engaged in the
Sen. Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) and Sal Nuzzo speak on civil forfeiture panel.
planning process for 2016. Because of the
Presidential election, Florida’s 2016 session will occur from January to March, as
opposed to the normal schedule of March
to April. This will mean that legislators
will return for preliminary committee
meetings in mid-September.
Our efforts will continue. Our education
initiatives and public affairs work will
not see a break. On several of our major
policy priorities (notably Medicaid and
water policy), the debate will be taken up
once again, requiring more concerted and
focused efforts to bring sanity and common sense to the dialogue in the name of
liberty and free markets.
JMI President Dr. Bob McClure conducts Skype interview with Newsmax TV.
Dr. Bob McClure testifies on the dangers of expanding Medicaid in Florida under Obamacare and the unreliable federal government.
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THE MESSENGER 2015 | Edition 2
Protection of Privacy or Dark Money? JMI Debates!
C
ontroversy abounds over the use of socalled “dark money” by certain nonprofits that under IRS Code can currently
engage in lobbying and political activity,
but do not have to disclose their donors.
However, many have labeled nonprofit
giving as Americans’ right to free speech,
citing the importance of donors engaging
privately with organizations that multiply
their voices in the “public square.”
Adding to the dispute, after facing a
flood of newly proposed nonprofit organizations filing to gain 501(c)(4) status
under IRS Code, the IRS used conservative
terms such as “tea party” and “patriot” to
flag applicants for extra scrutiny.
These revelations and more have
heightened the public deliberation over
this line in the sand: How should the
government regulate nonprofits?
The James Madison Institute held a
debate in April 2015 between Dr. Craig
Holman of Public Citizen and Mr. Hans
von Spakovsky of The Heritage Foundation to discuss these issues. The debate
was moderated by Mary Ellen Klas, capital bureau chief for the Miami Herald and
co-bureau chief of the Tampa Bay Times/
Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau.
We partnered with The Village Square,
Young Americans for Liberty, United
Partners for Human Services, DeVoe L.
Moore Center at The Florida State University, Generation Opportunity, College
Libertarians of FSU, College Republicans
at FSU and Turning Point USA to promote
the event and offer informational tables
for attendees to learn more about these
great organizations.
Curious who made the better argument? Watch the full debate here:
http://bit.ly/JMIDebate15.
Charles C. W. Cooke and “The
Conservatarian Manifesto” JMI Tour
T
he National Review Institute partnered
with JMI to host author, University
of Oxford graduate and National Review
writer Charles C.W. Cooke at events in
Naples, Tampa and Orlando in April 2015.
JMI members and guests had the opportunity to hear Cooke expound upon his new
book, “The Conservatarian Manifesto:
Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Fight
for the Right’s Future”.
In the book he discusses how conservatives and libertarians can unite around
federalism, with an emphasis on returning
many powers from the national government to the state and local level.
Cooke, 30, is a native of
England and the cohost of
the Mad Dogs and Englishmen podcast. He has also
broadcast for HBO (Real
Time with Bill Maher), BBC,
MSNBC, Fox News, The
Blaze, CNBC, CTV, ABC, Sun
News, and CBS.
www.jamesmadison.org
THE MESSENGER
9
Sharp Mind, Noble Heart: The Story of Valentin Mendez
E
xcerpt from JMI’s USA Today & El
Nuevo Herald article: “Several days
before the White House announced the
U.S. would be normalizing relations with
Cuba, a high school sophomore from Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood gave a
speech that wowed a bipartisan group of
state legislators and education advocates
at a conference sponsored by the Hispanic
Council for Reform and Educational Options (HCREO).
In his speech, Valentin Mendez extolled
an educational program that has helped
transform his life. And he introduced
HCREO’s conferees (including Vice
President Biden’s brother, Frank) to La
Progresiva, a small private school with
a remarkable past . . . and an uncertain
future.
La Progresiva Presbyterian School
opened in Cardenas, Cuba in 1900. It
served students there for three generations until Fidel Castro shut it down in
1961. After many of the school’s families
fled Cuba and relocated in Miami, La Progresiva re-opened in Little Havana in 1971.
Valentin had previously attended two
Miami public schools, but had been bullied at both of them. “I was angry; I was
frustrated; I cried almost every day,” Valentin told HCREO. “I had no hope.”
One day, Valentin’s mother learned
that many low-income students at La
Progresiva receive Step Up Scholarships, a
program Jeb Bush helped create during his
time as Florida’s governor. She applied for
assistance; and thanks to Step Up, Valentin
began classes at La Progresiva nearly five
years ago (on Valentine’s Day!).
Valentin initially spent many school
nights sleeping on a floor at the gas station
where his mother worked the graveyard
shift to help support them. “But it didn’t
matter to me because I was happy and
was finally learning,” he said. “Everything
changed at my new school — I began to
care; I began to dream; I began to see a
future for me.”
JMI captured Valentin’s story in a minidocumentary, which was most recently
featured on CNN en Español with Ismael
Cala (http://bit.ly/ValentinCNN). Footage from the video was also used in a
powerful commercial first debuted during
the 2015 Super Bowl and 2015 Academy
Awards. Watch Valentin’s story unfold
by visiting http://bit.ly/JMIValentin.
We’re Hiring
on a College Campus Near You!
T
hanks to a generous donation to
the Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for
American Ideals, JMI is pioneering a new
program this year designed to help the
next generation of leaders understand the
importance of founding principles including economic freedom, limited government and personal responsibility.
The Campus Representative program
is comprised of college students from
11 major colleges and universities in
Florida: Ave Maria University, Florida
A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University,
Florida International University, Florida
Southern, The Florida State University,
University of Central Florida, University
of Florida, University of South Florida
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THE MESSENGER 2015 | Edition 2
and University of Miami.
This paid position affords students
the opportunity to build relationships
and share core American ideals through
outreach to other students on their campuses, through JMI and campus events,
collaborations with like-minded organizations, and mentoring relationships with
professors and instructors.
It is our hope that through this program, young adults developing their political ideologies will gain an important,
transferable skill set and valuable experience by promoting the JMI message.
Visit www.jamesmadison.org for
more information regarding the application process or contact Becky
Liner ([email protected] ) or
Amanda Vossman at 850-386-3131. Visit
http://bit.ly/CampusRep15 for a link to
the application.
Leaders Fellowship Inaugural Year Success
Announcing New
Assistant Director of
JMI’s Wells Center
for American Ideals
T
wo years ago, four young professionals approached JMI with an idea.
All four individuals were up and coming
in their respected professions and were
strong believers in free-market ideals.
However, they realized few organizational
opportunities existed to help further their
beliefs that didn’t involve fundraising or
campaigning, or that were not catered to
the young professional demographic.
In September 2014, we adopted their
idea and launched the inaugural year of
the JMI Leaders Fellowship. The program
is a yearlong endeavor designed for the
purpose of encouraging and promoting
the growth, development, knowledge and
networks of under-40-year-old professionals in the state of Florida. The Leaders
Fellowship program has four independent
regions in Tallahassee, Miami, Tampa
and Orlando. Each region is comprised
of about 15 individuals and is led by a
volunteer regional leader.
In its first year, the Leaders Fellowship
gatherings had many excellent speakers
such as Florida’s Chief Financial Officer
Jeff Atwater and the former mayor of
St. Petersburg Rick Baker. Each region’s
monthly meetings are divided among
social events, meetings with a speaker
and statewide JMI events. Topics range
from specific public policy discussions,
to leadership development and business
management.
With the success of this program,
JMI will be expanding the program into
two more regions this next year. If you,
or someone you know, are interested in
joining the 2015-2016 JMI Leaders Fellowship in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Orlando,
Tampa, West Palm Beach or Miami, or if
you have any questions, please contact
Travis Keels at [email protected].
Thank you to our recent JMI interns!
SPRING 2015 INTERNS
SUMMER 2015 INTERNS
Claire Aguda
Santiago Arango
Delaney Dempsey
Katie Dawson
Colin Gilliam
Corrie Hodges
Erin Mahagan
Maggie Matella
Aaron Ruster-Mack
Caitlin Shanahan
Gege Xiao
Claire Aguda
Cole Davis
Lauren Sumners
Madison Ciklin
Michael Lovetro
Moises Escobar
Ryan Thomas
Will Flanders
A
manda (Mandi) Vossman was recently hired as the assistant director
of The Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for
American Ideals at The James Madison Institute. After interning for JMI, she quickly
became invested in the Institute’s work
and is excited to be joining their staff.
Although born in North Carolina, Mandi
still considers herself a true Floridian after living in The Sunshine State for more
than 20 years. She graduated Summa Cum
Laude from The Florida State University
with a B. A. in English and a minor in
Public Administration.
Mandi has previously worked at The
Florida State University College of Education as a research assistant. Having been
homeschooled, utilized virtual school, and
attended both private and public forms of
schooling, Mandi has developed a passion
for education. She has volunteered with
organizations such as Girls for Africa,
Teach for America, and Youth Programs
Tallahassee.
During her undergraduate experience
at FSU, Mandi was involved with the
Student Government Association, Panhellenic Association, and Phi Mu Fraternity.
She also enjoys advocating for those with
disabilities through organizations such as
The Down Syndrome Association of Jacksonville and Camp I am Special.
Congrats, Mandi! We’re glad to welcome you to Team JMI!
www.jamesmadison.org
THE MESSENGER
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Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Tallahassee, FL
Permit No. 640
P.O. Box 10150
Tallahassee, FL 32302
850-386-3131 Phone
850-386-1807 Fax
[email protected]
www.jamesmadison.org
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