Mark Tapscott was named executive editor of The Washington Examiner in March 2012. He had previously served as editorial page editor since April 2006. As executive editor, he oversees the daily work of the newspaper's special reporting team. His byline can also be found regularly on columns and blog posts on the newspaper's websites. He appears regularly on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and talk radio programs. Tapscott was named Conservative Journalist of the Year at the 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and he was inducted into the First Amendment Center's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Hall of Fame in 2006. He has testified before Senate and House committees on government transparency issues. Prior to joining the Examiner, Tapscott was director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for Media and Public Policy where he founded the think tank's Database 101 Computer-Assisted Research and Reporting (CARR) boot camps in 1999. More than 400 editors, reporters, researchers and bloggers representing virtually every major news media organization in the country have attended the boot camps, which until 2011 provided training in data-driven journalism. Tapscott is a long-time member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and is an advisory board member for the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. He was an assistant managing editor and managing editor for The Journal Newspapers and The Washington Times between 1985 and 1999. Prior to his journalism career, Tapscott served in the Reagan administration as a political appointee in the Senior Executive Service where he was assistant director for public affairs at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). He had previously been communications/publications director at the Republican National Committee and, before joining the 1980 Reagan-Bush campaign, was a senior aide to a U.S. senator and two U.S. representatives. Tapscott and his wife, Claudia, live in Sykesville, Md. He is originally from Oklahoma and is a graduate of Oklahoma State University. 

Speech Given 
"Bring Back Ronald Reagan" - Northwood University Midland, MI March 2016

Allen West was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in the same neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached. He is the third of four generations of military servicemen in his family. During his 22-year career in the United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel West served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was a Battalion Commander in the Army's 4th Infantry Division, and later in Afghanistan. He received many honors including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals and a Valorous Unit Award. In 1993 he was named the US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year. After his retirement from the Army in 2004, Allen taught high school for a year before returning to Afghanistan as a civilian military adviser to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007. In November of 2010, Allen was honored to continue his oath of service to his country when he was elected to the United States Congress, representing Florida's 22nd District. As a member of the 112th Congress, he sat on the Small Business and Armed Services Committees and was instrumental in passage of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. Allen is currently President and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, established in 1983. He is also a Fox News Contributor, a Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, and regularly writes for numerous media outlets.

Speeches Given 
"Stand for your Values" - Northwood University Midland, MI March 2016
"Freedom, Strength and the Future of the U.S. and Global Economies"- Bay Harbor Gala Bay Harbor, MI August 2016
 

Jonathan Williams is the Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where he works with state policymakers, congressional leaders and members of the private sector to develop fiscal policy solutions for the states. Williams also co-authors Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer Economic State Competitiveness Index with Reagan economist Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. Prior to joining ALEC, Williams served as staff economist at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, authoring numerous tax policy studies. Williams's work has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Investor's Business Daily. He is a contributing columnist to Tax Analysts, the leading provider of tax news and analysis for the global community. He has written for the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In addition, Williams was a contributing author of In Defense of Capitalism (Northwood University Press). Williams has testified before numerous legislative bodies and spoken to audiences across America. He is frequent guest on talk radio shows and has appeared on numerous television outlets, including the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Fox Business News and Bloomberg News. Williams was also the recipient of the prestigious Ludwig von Mises Award in Economics. Williams has visited all 50 states and regularly travels more than 100,000 miles a year. While on the road, he is a connoisseur of local and regional food across the state capitals.

Speech Given 
"Examining Americas Rich and Poor States" - Northwood University Midland, MI April 2016