Though she calls South Carolina home, Samantha Bonsack – soldier, world traveler, and writer – will be the first to tell you she is a Multi-State American Girl.  She recently added Iowa to her repertoire of states due to her new job as Congressional Staff Assistant to Rep. Rod Blum. 

Samantha, though forging ahead in her political career, came relatively recently to the working world of politics.  After a life of military service, and several other jobs that took her across the country and around the world, Samantha sought a new direction in life.

“I began to question the direction of my life,” Samantha said.  “I had one job and I was lucky if I got 18 hours!  I was pretty bad off at 31 with a degree and a 10 year military background but no open doors.”

Samantha said the Leadership Institute (LI) helped her open a door where at first it seemed there were only walls.

Due to travel and safety concerns, the Tuesday, February 17, 2015, Conservative Intern Workshop has been canceled.  This workshop will be rescheduled later this semester.

Drumroll please…..the winner of the Leadership Institute’s 2014 employee of the year is Miss Kaitlyn Schallhorn.

Kaitlyn Schallhorn joined the Leadership Institute as a Campus Reform (CRO) reporter in February of 2014.

One of the first things Kaitlyn wrote for CRO was a 1,500 word exclusive report that uncovered a corrupt Black Panther professor, who was intimidating students, and involved in a graduation scandal that resulted in the resignation of the university’s chancellor.

But Kaitlyn’s crowning achievement has been her tireless work developing...

Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District was over 60% Democrat and the media had painted the race as “unwinnable” for a Republican.  But that didn’t stop one dedicated conservative from running against the odds.

Unlike many who run for public office, Jacob Turk didn’t plan to run.  He graduated from the University of Missouri – Kansas City with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is a Marine Corps veteran, business owner, volunteer, proud father, and grandfather.

“Honestly, if I had not felt the Lord calling me distinctly to run for this office, I can’t imagine deciding to do it on my own.  It was a step of faith to run.”

Jacob Turk ran for U.S. Congress in Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District in 2012 and again in 2014.

“We are not wealthy nor do we have powerful political connections,” Jacob said.  “One of the biggest obstacles was...