What was your experience with CPI before becoming a fellow?
CPI was already a regular part of my professional life in D.C. before the fellowship. Almost weekly, I would attend meetings, classes, or a speaker event to better understand specific policy issues, improve my communication skills, or connect with other conservative staffers. It was always a place I looked forward to leaving the office for, and you rarely walked out without something useful. By the time I applied to Veritas, CPI was already a professional home base of sorts.
What was the most memorable thing you learned or took part in during the fellowship?
The New York City trip stands out above everything else. Sondra and Scooter led our cohort of about twenty fellows, and those few days together built genuine friendships, not just professional ones. Visiting Newsmax’s headquarters, sitting down with Fox News editors, and touring Meta and X gave us access and relationships that most communication staffers spend years trying to build on their own.
How did your fellowship affect your career trajectory?
Having CPI and the Veritas fellowship on your resume means something in conservative circles. What I learned and the relationships I built carried forward, back to my work on Capitol Hill and now into my current role leading external affairs for the Idaho Attorney General’s office. The network has been invaluable. Having national contacts and friends I can actually call and lean on has made me more effective, no matter where the work takes me.
Will you be coming back to CPI soon, and if so, for what?
Living in Boise, Idaho, makes it harder these days, but I hope to get back for a future event next time I’m in Washington, D.C. CPI has always been worth making time for.
If you were to give one piece of advice to young conservatives, what would it be?
Invest in relationships and treat every interaction as an opportunity to leave a good impression. You may only cross paths with someone once or twice, so make it count. Be professional, be genuine, and follow through on your word. As conservatives, we will almost always be outspent, out-funded, and largely shut out of mainstream media. Building real relationships with the people in your network is how you close that gap.
On the career side, don’t be in such a rush. It’s okay to stay in a role for longer than you might want and just learn from the people above and around you. If I could do it over I’d slow down and stop treating my career like something that needed to be figured out right away.