Category: Speakers

Commentary Writer, The Washington Examiner

Emily Jashinsky is Commentary Writer for the Washington Examiner, and served previously as the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation (YAF)– the nation’s largest conservative youth outreach group and the organization that maintains the Reagan Ranch in California. At YAF, Emily spearheaded media initiatives to push back against bias on college campuses. Her work has been featured everywhere from the Washington Post to “Good Morning America.” She is a regular guest on Fox News and Fox Business. In 2016, Red Alert Politics named Emily to its “30 Under 30 List” of leading young conservatives.

White House Reporter, Washington Examiner

Sarah Westwood is White House Reporter for the Washington Examiner. She previously covered local government for the Marietta (Ga.) Daily Journal.  She appears frequently on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, and many talk radio programs, including WMAL’s “Mornings on the Mall” and WTOP News in Washington.

Assistant Professor, George Mason University

Emily K. Vraga joined the faculty at George Mason University in 2012 as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and spent one year as a Post-Doctoral Research Instructor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.

Dr. Vraga’s research focuses on how individual predispositions and motivations influence the processing of media content, particularly in the evolving digital environment. Her work has investigated a wide range of new media formats, including political blogs, social media networks like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and television programs that blur the lines between entertainment and information. Dr. Vraga is particularly interested in the ways in which partisans process messages to match their predispositions, as well as techniques that can limit biased information processing and the spread of misinformation.

Editor, Red Alert Politics

Ron Meyer is editor of Red Alert Politics (RAP), which focuses on younger and millennial readers, reaching more than one million monthly readers. RAP also produces an annual “30 under 30” list of influential conservatives under 30.

In 2015, Ron was elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and is Northern Virginia’s youngest elected official. He often appears on Fox News, Fox Business, and radio shows nationwide.

Previously, he was spokesman of Young America’s Foundation.

CNN Correspondent

Rene Marsh is CNN’s aviation and government regulation correspondent, based in the network’s Washington bureau. In this position, Marsh reports on all issues related to aviation and transportation – from safety and security to passenger issues, in addition to government regulation.

Marsh joined the network in 2012, and has since reported on several high profile assignments including the disappearance of commercial passenger plane, MH370. Marsh also covered the shoot down of MH17 over Ukraine. During her tenure at CNN Marsh also reported on the ill-fated Asiana flight 214, the U.S Supreme Court Affordable Care Act, and the death of 25 year old Baltimore man, Freddie Gray, who died in police custody.

Prior to CNN, Marsh was a general assignment correspondent for WSVN in Miami, Florida, covering breaking news, local politics, education and sports. She also worked as an investigative reporter and weekend anchor at CBS 6 in Albany, New York.  Marsh started her career as a reporter and anchor at KTAL in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Marsh graduated with honors from Binghamton University and earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

WJLA/ABC 7 News Anchor

Michelle Marsh is an Emmy Award winning journalist. Michelle joined the team in January 2016. She anchors the 4 p.m. newscast for WJLA/ABC 7 and the Late Night Report at 10 p.m. for NewsChannel 8.

Michelle came to ABC7/WJLA-TV from WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC where she spent 4 years as a morning and noon anchor. While in Raleigh, she was awarded two Emmy’s for breaking news coverage and best newscast.

Prior to working in North Carolina, Michelle anchored and reported in Atlanta, GA for WGCL. Michelle is a native New Yorker and began her career as a reporter at stations in Binghamton and Albany. She is an alumnus of Syracuse University, graduating Magna Cum Laude from the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism.

Michelle’s move to the DMV brings her closer to family. Her sister Rene is the Aviation and Government Regulation Correspondent for CNN based in Washington, D.C.

Senior Political Reporter, CNN

Nia-Malika Henderson is a senior political reporter for CNN. She reports broadly on the 2016 campaign for CNN’s digital and television platforms, with a special focus on identity politics — exploring the dynamics of demographics, race and religion, and reporting on the groups of people who help shape national elections.

Prior to joining CNN, Henderson was a national political reporter for The Washington Post, where she covered the White House, the 2012 presidential campaign, the 2010 mid-term elections and anchored The Post’s Election 2012 blog. She also covered the first two years of the Obama administration for Politico and was Newsday’s lead reporter covering Obama’s 2008 campaign, the Democratic primary race and the Democratic National Convention. Before joining Newsday’s national staff, she wrote for The Baltimore Sun.

Henderson graduated cum laude from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in literature and cultural anthropology, and earned master’s degrees from Yale University in American studies and Columbia University in journalism.

Journalist and Author, “The Hostage’s Daughter: A Story of Family, Madness, and the Middle East”

Sulome is a journalist and author based between New York City and Beirut, Lebanon. An alumna of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, she regularly reports feature stories for publications including The Atlantic, VICE, Newsweek, New York magazine, Foreign Policy, and Vox. Her goal is to write about people existing in extreme circumstances–instead of focusing exclusively on the politics of conflict, and to convey how political strife affects the humans involved. She’s covered a wide range of topics including child suicide among Syrian refugees, the war against ISIS in Iraq and Hezbollah’s position in Lebanon. Her father is Terry Anderson, the Associated Press bureau chief kidnapped in Lebanon three months before she was born in 1985. She met him when he was released after almost seven years of captivity. Her book, The Hostage’s Daughter, is a reported investigation of her father’s captivity blended with memoir, in which she explores the very personal toll war has taken on her life.