2026 Lincoln Fellows

Amanda Banks is Senior Vice President at Family Policy Alliance Foundation where she oversees education and training programs for elected officials and engaged citizens while directing events and outreach to strengthen the social conservative movement. In this role, she leads the Statesmen Academy for state legislators, the School Board Academy for school board members, Christians Engaged Academy for citizens, and the Social Conservative Policy Conference (SoConCon) for movement leaders.

Amanda is a former Indiana state senator and recipient of the state’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash. Her career includes roles in public relations and government affairs at the American Red Cross and Grace College & Seminary, as well as federal policy analysis and advocacy at Focus on the Family. A proud Hoosier, she earned her degree in public affairs at Indiana University and resides in northeastern Indiana with her husband and three daughters. 

Micah Bock currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications at The Department of Homeland Security. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Congressman Lance Gooden. In the Trump Administration and during his time on Capitol Hill, Micah utilized close relationships with national media, local press, and industry experts to build national narratives, navigate complex political crises, and consistently deliver effective communications products to decision makers at both the federal and state level. A graduate of Patrick Henry College, Micah earned his B.A. in Strategic Intelligence in National Security in 2020. In addition to his professional achievements, Micah is an avid traveler, amateur photographer, and enjoys long walks on the beach while scrolling X.

John Cohen is a Research Fellow at the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life. He has written for numerous outlets, including Newsweek, The Federalist, The American Mind, American Affairs, The National Interest, and The American Conservative. Cohen holds a B.A. from Hampshire College and an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

West Cuthbert is a Director at August Strategy Group, a policy and government affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. 

He served in the Trump Administration as Associate Deputy Secretary and Chief of Staff to Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. His team oversaw the daily operations of one of the largest departments in the Federal government and led initiatives focused on innovation, AI strategy and implementation, and fighting fraud. Previously, West was a Vice President at True North Management Group and real estate developer and investor with The Georgetown Company. He began his career as an investment banker with Berenson & Company in New York City.

A Richmond, Virginia native, West graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. While at Yale, he competed on the Men’s Varsity Swimming team and was an inaugural fellow of the William F. Buckley, Jr. Program and member of the Tory Party in the Yale Political Union. He lives in Virginia with his wife and three daughters.

Ashlea Frazier is the Managing Director and COO of Center for Renewing America and Citizens for Renewing America. Prior to being a founding member of CRA she served as Chief of Staff at the White House Office of Management and Budget under Director Russ Vought. Prior to joining the administration, Ashlea was the Director of Operations and Programs for Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C. and worked for The Heritage Foundation’s Center for American Studies as the Program Manager. Ashlea has served four Republican Conventions with the Official Proceedings team. Ashlea is a recipient of America’s Future Foundation’s William F. Buckley Award for her dedication to conservative values.

Ross Hougham serves as President of the John Jay Institute, where he trains young Christian leaders for lives of public service. Before joining John Jay, Ross worked at The Heritage Foundation, where he oversaw student programs, including the Young Leaders Program internship, online Heritage Academy, and others aimed at fueling the conservative talent pipeline. He completed his undergraduate studies at UCLA, obtained a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California, and spent a year pursuing post-graduate research in Western European history and twentieth-century propaganda from the University of Oxford.  

Benjamin Jaros is a Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where he works on the Fiscal Policy and State and Local Governance Initiatives. His research focuses on federal and state tax reform. He produces revenue estimates and fiscal impact analyses of proposed tax policies, and his research informs congressional and state policy debates. His work and commentary have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and RealClearPolitics. He has previously worked at the Tax Foundation. Jaros received his BS in economics, magna cum laude, from Seton Hall University, and his MA and PhD in economics from Clemson University. His hometown is Boulder, Colorado. When not researching, he can be found reading theology, history, and literature or weightlifting.

Brad Jensen is the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Department of Education. He directs state advocacy efforts and is the primary liaison for the Department with governors, state lawmakers, and territorial, tribal, and local elected officials. He also serves as the Committee Management Officer for the Department, overseeing the appointments and operations of several advisory committees. Before serving in the Trump Administration, Mr. Jensen was the Director of Legislative Affairs for San Bernardino County, California where he managed the state and federal advocacy program and was Director of Public Policy for the San Gabriel Valley Partnership, an economic development corporation in eastern Los Angeles County.

Brad was also a research associate at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College and served as an assistant to the majority staff at the Arizona House of Representatives. Brad Jensen is a graduate of Brigham Young University where he received a joint bachelor’s degree in political science and Russian. He served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Yekaterinburg, Russia. 

Noelle Mering is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in the Life and Family Initiative. She is the author of Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology, co-author of the Theology of Home book series, and author of the forthcoming No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them.

A columnist for the Catholic Herald, her writing has appeared in Newsweek, The American Mind, National Review, The Federalist, The Daily Wire, and the National Catholic Register. She has been featured several times on Fox News, EWTN, Relevant Radio, and in various documentaries including Jesus Thirsts. She is a frequent speaker on issues of family, culture, and political ideology, with appearances at venues including the Napa Institute, SEEK Conference, and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

She is the co-founder of Family Revival, an initiative dedicated to strengthening family life and formation. Noelle lives in California with her husband and is the mother of six children.

Emmet Penney is a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation focusing on Infrastructure and Energy. He is a contributing editor at Compact Magazine, a recipient of a Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship for his work on the power grid, and runs the Nuclear Barbarians Substack. His work has appeared in American Affairs, Spectator World, the American Conservative, the Claremont Review of Books, the Free Press, and elsewhere.

Joe Proenza is a Republican campaign operative and public affairs strategist who currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Bull Moose Project.

A Georgia native, Joe got his start with the Georgia Republican Party, where he held several roles across two election cycles, including as political director during the 2020 presidential election. He also managed campaigns for candidates running for state house, state senate, and Congress. In 2022, Joe joined the American Principles Project as political director, where he led the development and execution of the group’s PAC by shaping messaging, targeting key races, coordinating independent expenditures, and ensuring strategic alignment between grassroots engagement and broader electoral objectives.  

Prior to joining Bull Moose, Joe served in the Trump Administration as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. He was a part of the team that developed the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025–2030,” marking the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in our nation’s history. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and son. 

Dawn-Marie Sullivan is Deputy to the Associate Director of Legislative Affairs at the White House Office of Management and Budget. She previously served as Legislative Director for Congressman Andrew Clyde and, before that, held various legislative roles on Capitol Hill. Dawn-Marie lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband.

Kelly Jane Torrance is a writer, editor, and critic in New York City who is helping lead the editorial side of The Washington Star. She oversaw 2024 swing-state election coverage at the New York Post, where she also served as op-ed editor, books editor, and Sunday opinion and ideas editor. Her roles in Washington, DC, included deputy managing editor of The Weekly Standard. Her work, which has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, has been published in, among other venues, Modern Age, National Review, The New Criterion, The American Conservative, Reason, The Spectator, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, San Diego Union-Tribune, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, New York Sun, The University of Chicago Magazine, and Capitol File. She is a frequent commentator on cable news in the United States and around the world. A former full-time film critic and think-tank veteran, she’s reported from wartime Ukraine and interviewed just-escaped Iranian dissidents in Paris. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in honors philosophy from the University of British Columbia.