ABOUT US
HOnorary chair
Senator joni ernst
Joni Ernst, native of Red Oak, Iowa, has dedicated her life to her state and country, having served in the military for over 23 years and now representing Iowans in the United States Senate.
Joni is working to grow a strong economy; stand up for Iowa farmers, families, and small businesses; hold Washington accountable, ensure a strong national defense, and support our veterans.
Born and raised on a farm in Montgomery County, Joni’s parents instilled in her the values important to Iowans: hard work, service, and sacrifice. After graduating top of her class at Stanton High School, Joni went on to Iowa State University where she joined the university’s ROTC program.
After graduating from Iowa State, Joni joined the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2003, she served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq, leading 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Joni retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of military service.
Known for her independent leadership and commitment to public service, Joni previously served as the Montgomery County Auditor where she worked to eliminate wasteful government spending and protect taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars, and was the local commissioner of elections. As a state senator, Joni fought to balance the state budget and helped turn Iowa’s $900 million budget deficit into a $1 billion surplus. In November 2014, Joni was elected as the first woman to serve in federal elected office from the State of Iowa and also became the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the United States Senate.
Joni still lives in Red Oak, not far from where she grew up, and near her family. Her daughter Libby is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
MEET THE BOARD
Barry Jackson
Barry Jackson is an incisive Republican strategist who leverages his years of senior executive and legislative branch experience to counsel clients on the tactical steps needed to achieve success in Washington, D.C. Corporate clients rely on Barry’s intuitive sense of the political landscape to guide decision-making processes and communications strategies.
From 2010 to 2012, Barry served as chief of staff to former House Speaker John Boehner.
He also served as Speaker Boehner’s first chief of staff from 1991 through 2001. Barry served as executive director of the House Republican Conference during Speaker Boehner’s tenure as chairman, as well as executive director of the Contract with America, the document outlining the party’s national platform that vaulted Republicans into the House majority for the first time in four decades.
In between his stints in Congress, Barry served in the White House of President George W. Bush as assistant to the president for Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs, managing the White House offices of Political Affairs, Public Liaison, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Strategic Initiatives.
Currently, Barry serves as director of the National Endowment for Democracy; a director of the Consortium of Catholic Academies; chair of the American Australian Council; and a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the University of Iowa School of Journalism. He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and President Barack Obama to serve as a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Kent Lucken
Kent Lucken is a Managing Director at Citi Private Bank in Boston and serves as the firm’s North American Head of Financial Sponsors, where he leads Citi’s engagement with global private equity and infrastructure funds. Prior to joining Citi, Kent worked at Robertson Stephens, a leading technology-focused investment bank.
Kent is a fourteen-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, where he completed diplomatic assignments at the U.S. embassies in Italy, the Soviet Union and Russia, Georgia, Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, he served as the first U.S. diplomat in the newly independent Republic of Georgia. He also participated in the Dayton peace talks while assigned to the former Yugoslavia.
Kent serves on Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center International Council, he’s Chairman Emeritus of the U.S.-Asia Institute, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit focused on building stronger relations with Asia, and he was named to the US State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Marathon Initiative, a strategy think tank focused on great power competition and The Reagan Institute’s Westminster 2.0 Working Group on the Democracy in the 21st Century. Kent is a member of Economic Club of New York, the Board of Governors at Iowa State University, and he’s a Trustee at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art.
Kent served as a Foreign Policy Advisor for Governor Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, worked as a Political Advisor for two Iowa Caucuses, and helped lead national security transition planning for the Romney campaign. He’s represented the U.S. as an OSCE International Observer at national elections in the Republic of Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, and he has been a featured commentator on foreign affairs for The New York Times, National Public Radio, and The Boston Globe, and lectured at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Kent earned his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and graduated with a BA in Political Science from Iowa State University. His wife, Kristen, is a faculty member at Brandeis University, and they have two sons.
Morgan Ortagus
Morgan Ortagus is an active U.S. Navy Reserve Officer and a business executive. During the Trump Administration, she served at the Department of State as the Spokesperson for the United States of America.
At the State Department, she worked closely with the White House on the historic Abraham Accords that brought peace deals between Israel and UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. Traveling with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to more than 50 nations, she coordinated messaging campaigns and responses to sensitive and high-profile foreign policy actions, from hostage negotiations to the U.S. campaign against Huawei’s 5G expansion in the West.
She led U.S. government efforts to push back against sophisticated Chinese, Russian, and Iranian disinformation campaigns, and was instrumental in the United States’ determination of the Chinese government’s genocide against the Uyghurs.
Morgan worked her way through public high school, in an array of jobs, including as an Applebee’s waitress and hostess. Morgan earned an honors thesis at Johns Hopkins University for her research on counterinsurgency and graduated from Johns Hopkins in May 2013 with a dual Master of Business Administration/Master of Arts in Government. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science, cum laude, from Florida Southern College.
In the private sector, Morgan founded Ernst & Young’s Geostrategic Business Group and was a Global Relationship Manager at Standard Chartered Bank in the Public Sector Group covering clients in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She pioneered a new political risk analysis suite for Ernst & Young’s largest corporate clients. Morgan was also the co-founder and Managing Director of GO Advisors, a National co-Chair of Maverick PAC, and a national security contributor at Fox News.
Morgan began her government service as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she spent several months in Baghdad, Iraq. She was an intelligence analyst at the U.S. Treasury in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and was assigned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the Deputy U.S. Treasury Attaché. Morgan was the principal liaison from the U.S. Treasury to the banking sector in Saudi Arabia.
Morgan and her husband, Jonathan, have a daughter, Adina, who is the light of their lives. They moved to Nashville so that Morgan could help lead a healthcare investment firm. Her family attends Congregation Sherith Israel.
COL David Trotter
Colonel Trotter is a retired commissioned officer of the United States Army in November 2021 with thirty five years of active military service. He served in multiple combat tours, leadership roles, and executive positions. He also served at all levels from the squad, battalion, brigade, division, corps, Army, and in the Pentagon. His combat tours include Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
During his career, Colonel Trotter pursued and received a Bachelors in Business Administration and a Masters in Business Administration. He graduated from the Army’s Command and General Staff College and was selected to attend the Army War College as a senior Fellow at the Central Intelligence Agency. Today, Colonel Trotter consults for small and large businesses. He also manages a small horse and cattle ranch in Leavenworth, Kansas. His interests include Veteran’s Affairs, Developing Resilience – individual and organization, Equine Therapy for Veteran’s suffering from PTSD, and Veteran suicide prevention.
Colonel Trotter attended the following schools – Ranger, Airborne, Pathfinder, Air Assault. Some of his awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal, NATO Meritorious Service Medal.
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CONTACT THE TEAM
MEET THE BOARD
JONI ERNST
Joni Ernst is a mother, a soldier and a leader. From the start, she has taken on Washington and delivered on her pledge to “Make ‘em Squeal.”
Senator Joni Ernst, native of Red Oak, Iowa, has dedicated her life to her state and country, having served in the military for over 23 years and now in the United States Senate.
In November 2014, Joni was elected as the first woman to serve in federal elected office from the State of Iowa and also became the first female combat veteran elected to serve in the United States Senate. In Washington, Joni serves on four Senate committees of major importance to Iowans: Armed Services; Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Environment and Public Works; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Joni is focused on growing a vibrant economy and ensuring the government runs effectively and efficiently which means cutting out-of-control spending, reducing taxes, eliminating harmful regulations and balancing the budget.
Born and raised on a farm in Montgomery County, Joni’s parents instilled in her the values important to Iowans: hard work, service and sacrifice. As a mother, soldier and independent voice, Joni is committed to bringing these values to Washington, D.C.
Joni received her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University where she joined the university’s ROTC program. After graduating, Joni joined the U.S. Army Reserves. In 2003, Joni served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq, leading 150 Iowa Army National Guardsmen during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Joni retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard after 23 years of military service.
Known for her independent leadership and commitment to public service, Joni previously served as the Montgomery County Auditor where she worked to eliminate wasteful government spending and protect taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. As a state senator, Joni fought to balance the state budget and helped turn Iowa’s $900 million budget deficit into a $1 billion surplus. In addition to her work to balance the budget, Joni worked tirelessly to grow jobs and the economy, cut taxes, improve education, and reduce the role of government in Iowans’ lives.
BARRY JACKSON
Barry Jackson is an incisive Republican strategist who leverages his years of senior executive and legislative branch experience to counsel clients on the tactical steps needed to achieve success in Washington, D.C.
From 2010 to 2012, Barry served as chief of staff to former House Speaker John Boehner. He also served as Speaker Boehner’s first chief of staff from 1991 through 2001. Barry served as executive director of the House Republican Conference during Speaker Boehner’s tenure as chairman, as well as executive director of the Contract with America, the document outlining the party’s national platform that vaulted Republicans into the House majority for the first time in four decades.
In between his stints in Congress, Barry served in the White House of President George W. Bush as assistant to the president for Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs, managing the White House offices of Political Affairs, Public Liaison, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Strategic Initiatives.
Currently, Barry serves as director of the National Endowment for Democracy; a director of the Consortium of Catholic Academies; chair of the American Australian Council; and a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the University of Iowa School of Journalism. He was appointed by President George H.W. Bush and President Barack Obama to serve as a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
MORGAN ORTAGUS
Morgan Ortagus is a seasoned business executive, distinguished public policy and communications professional, and an active U.S. Naval Reserve Officer.
A veteran of both the Obama and Bush Administrations, Ms. Ortagus was sworn in as U.S. State Department Spokesperson on April 3, 2019 for her third tour of duty in the executive branch. During this time, she worked closely with the White House on the historic Abraham Accords that brought peace deals between Israel and UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan. As Spokesperson, she developed strategic communications plans for every area of U.S. foreign policy. Traveling with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to more than 50 nations, she coordinated messaging campaigns and responses to sensitive and high-profile foreign policy actions, from hostage negotiations to the U.S. campaign against Huawei’s 5G expansion in the West. She led U.S. government efforts to push back against sophisticated Chinese, Russian, and Iranian disinformation campaigns, and was instrumental in the United States’ determination of the Chinese government’s genocide against the Uyghurs.
In the private sector, Morgan founded Ernst & Young’s Geostrategic Business Group and was a Global Relationship Manager at Standard Chartered Bank in the Public Sector Group covering clients in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. She pioneered a new political risk analysis suite for Ernst & Young’s largest corporate clients. Morgan was also the co-founder and Managing Director of GO Advisors, a National co-Chair of Maverick PAC, and a national security contributor at Fox News.
Morgan began her government service as a public affairs officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where in 2007 she spent several months in Baghdad, Iraq. From 2008-2010, she was an intelligence analyst at the U.S. Treasury in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. In 2010, she was assigned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the Deputy U.S. Treasury Attaché. Morgan was the principal liaison from the U.S. Treasury to the banking sector in Saudi Arabia.
Morgan earned an honors thesis at Johns Hopkins University for her research on counterinsurgency and graduated from Johns Hopkins in May 2013 with a dual Master of Business Administration/Master of Arts in Government. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science, cum laude, from Florida Southern College.