2023 Lincoln Fellows

Joshua Abbotoy is the Executive Director of American Reformer and is also a Managing Director at New Founding, where he leads New Founding’s strategic transactions and partnerships. Josh is a private equity lawyer and deal maker by background. Before joining New Founding, he practiced at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and in-house for years, representing private equity clients in transactions exceeding $50 billion in aggregate value. Josh’s popular writing focuses on the intersection of evangelical institutions and politics, and he has appeared in American Reformer, The American Mind, and The Federalist, among other places. Josh lives with wife and three children in the Dallas, Texas area

Andrew Beck has led creative teams for over a decade, including the last eight years at Beck & Stone, the brand consultancy he co-founded to build institutions and incubate cultural enterprises. The firm counts The New Criterion, Acton Institute, National Association of Scholars, The Civitas Institute, Liberty Fund, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, American Compass, Encounter Books, The Claremont Institute, and more as client partners. He currently serves on the board of the Arts & Literature Foundation, the nonprofit publisher of the avant-garde magazine, IM-1776 and is creative director of CREATED, Beck & Stone’s in-house journal. In 2021, he spun-off a specialized agency, Knight Takes Rook, to provide activists and candidates the resources to engage the digital public square and disrupt the political status quo.

Tiffany Marie Brannon currently oversees Social Strategy and Content for AudiencePlus. An award-winning radio news host, magazine writer, and film critic, her work in journalism has encompassed everything from entertainment and culture to public policy and theology. She is an inaugural recipient of the Civic Renewal Fellowship with AEI, a political speechwriter, and a former court-appointed mediator. Tiffany has lectured on the loss of classical reason within Western education at the University of Oxford as a C.S. Lewis scholar and is currently writing a series of children’s books on virtue. She serves as the youngest Director of the Board for the ABEVA, a Precinct Committeewoman for LD4, a Daughter of the American Revolution, and a podcast host. She holds an M.Litt from the University of St. Andrews’ St. Mary’s School of Divinity, a Masters in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University School of Law, and a B.A. in English Literature, Film Studies, and Studio Art from Pepperdine University’s Seaver College.

David Dewhirst is Senior Advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Previously, David served as Chief Deputy Attorney General of Idaho, and before that he was Solicitor General of Montana. David received his B.A. from Western Kentucky University. After a year teaching overseas, David earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, where he served as symposium editor for the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and a president of the Federalist Society. After law school, he helped create and lead the public interest litigation group at the Freedom Foundation, where he litigated constitutional, labor, and campaign finance cases before federal and state courts and administrative agencies. David joined the United States Department of Commerce in 2018 as a Senior Counsel and then Principal Deputy General Counsel. In these roles, he advised the Secretary and other officials on legal and policy matters implicating every corner of Commerce’s broad mandate. He also coordinated closely with the White House and Interagency to advance Administration-wide priorities. David additionally managed the Department’s expansive litigation portfolio, defended Department officials in Congressional investigations, and served as Commerce’s Regulatory Reform Officer and Chief Environmental Review Permitting Officer. Previously, David had the distinct honor of clerking for Judge Lawrence VanDyke on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Adam Ellwanger is a full professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown. His research focuses on the intersection of culture, politics, and rhetorical theory. As a commentor on public affairs, Adam frequently writes for outlets such as The American Mind, Human Events, IM-1776, The American Conservative, Quillette, and many more. He also serves as a Higher Education Fellow at the Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform Online. In addition, he is editor of The Peerless Review, an interdisciplinary online journal for heterodox research in the humanities and social sciences. A critic of higher education, Adam hosts a podcast entitled Whither the Looniversity? where he discusses strategies for reforming the American university with some of the nation’s most prominent professors.

Jake Evans is a Shareholder at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. He is also the former Chairman of Georgia’s Ethics Commission, former President of the Atlanta Young Republicans, and Chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association’s Georgia Chapter. As a lawyer, Jake has achieved notable victories, including being the only lawyer in Georgia history to overturn two elections in the same race, being lead counsel for the Pennsylvania House all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and representing numerous religious institutions in their fight for religious liberties. Jake is consistently recognized as an elite lawyer and is established as one of the most influential people in Georgia.

Mike Howell is the Director of the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation where he leads a team of investigators and lawyers dedicated to exposing the deep rot and corruption in the United States. He is a former Trump administration oversight attorney who served at the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, he was on Capitol Hill investigating the Obama Administration under Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman of House Oversight Jason Chaffetz, and Subcommittee for National Security Chairman Ron DeSantis.

Chris Iacovella is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Securities Association (ASA). Previously, he was the Senior Director of Global Government Affairs, Strategy, and Public Policy at Bloomberg, L.P. and Special Counsel and Policy Advisor to a Republican Commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Senior Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee. He has written for and been quoted in Epoch Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, Financial Times, and RealClearPolitics, among others. Chris holds a B.A. from the University of Connecticut, where he majored in Finance and lettered for the Men’s soccer team, an M.B.A. from the University of Tampa, a J.D. from The Florida State University College of Law where he graduated cum laude, and an LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center where he graduated with distinction and earned a Certificate in National Security Law. Chris lives in Tampa, FL with his wife and two sons.

Earl G. Matthews is a Washington, D.C.-based consultant to Insight Partners, a global private equity and venture capital firm, and a member of the Board of Directors of Albers Aerospace Corporation. Matthews previously served as President of Veeam Government Solutions and held senior positions within the White House, the Department of Defense, and the Intelligence Community during the Trump Administration. At the White House, Matthews served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy and Strategy on the National Security Council staff. Mr. Matthews was the Acting General Counsel and later Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Department of the Army, where he directly advised the Secretary of the Army, the Under Secretary of the Army and the Assistant Secretaries of the Army. Matthews has also been Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Special Counsel to the Director of National Intelligence, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and both an attorney and an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Erica Moshtahedian is currently a Vice President at 1792 Exchange, where she develops strategic campaigns to protect and equip non-profits, small businesses, and philanthropy from “woke” corporations and the dangers of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies and to steer public companies back to neutral on ideological issues. Previously, she was a Senior Advisor during the Trump administration at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. Her background is in public relations and campaign politics, having worked on numerous political campaigns, including state-wide campaigns and a presidential campaign in 2016. She holds a master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, and a certificate in Middle Eastern languages (Farsi) from New York University.

Ryan Neuhaus currently serves as a Policy Advisor to the United States Senate Steering Committee, a group of Senators chaired by Senator Mike Lee of Utah who work to push for conservative outcomes. Prior to that he served as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Lee, leading a team that oversaw education, healthcare, labor, life, marriage, religious liberty, and welfare policy. Ryan received a B.A. from Brigham Young University, a M.A. in Public Policy from Liberty University’s Helms School of Government, and is currently pursuing a M.A. in Government from Hillsdale University’s Van Andel School of Government in Washington, D.C. The eldest of 11 children, Ryan lives in Virginia with his wife, Mckenna, and their three children.

Jared Sichel is partner and co-founder of Winning Tuesday, an award-winning political marketing agency that helps conservatives, Republicans, and patriots reach and impact more Americans online. With more than a decade of experience in content, film, and digital media, Jared has worked with some of the largest brands—including Daily Wire and PragerU—to influence millions of people through short videos, podcasts, and news. He was previously a reporter for The Jewish Journal, the largest Jewish publication on the West Coast, where he won two awards from the Los Angeles Press Club.

Will Thibeau is the Director of The American Military Project at the Center for the American Way of Life. A veteran of The Heritage Foundation, The American Conservative, and Palantir Technologies, Inc, Will is a Catholic husband and father of three originally from Illinois who now lives in Northern Virginia. As a graduate of Fordham University, Will served as an Army Ranger during multiple deployments to the Middle East. Will has commented on technology policy for The Daily Signal and has appeared on Steve Bannon’s War Room and Fox News.

Mark Wait serves as Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Mike Lee, where he assists with implementing the agenda of Utah’s senior senator. A graduate of Utah Valley University, Mark began his career as an intern in Lee’s office.

John J. Waters is an attorney and writer from Nebraska. He served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office. Prior to that, he was a ground intelligence officer in the Marine Corps. Mr. Waters is a frequent contributor to RealClearPolitics, and his debut novel, River City One (Knox Press, 2023), will be published in the fall. He holds a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law and a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy.