During a meeting in December, Young America’s Foundation’s board of directors voted unanimously to add two new members to the board: frequent Foundation speaker and alumna Kate Obenshain Keeler and recent Foundation spokeswoman and alumna Emily Jashinsky.
Kate Obenshain Keeler has been involved with Young America’s Foundation since her days as a student at the University of Virginia. While at UVA, she edited the campus conservative newspaper and organized a state-wide rally in support of America’s troops.
She has served on the Foundation’s staff in several key capacities, including director of program development, director of lectures, and vice president. She previously served on the Foundation’s board of directors from 2004 to 2008.
Kate is the author of Divider in Chief: The Fraud of Hope and Change. A popular speaker and commentator on national television and radio shows, Kate has spent her career championing expanded liberty in America and impressing upon young people an understanding of the blessings of freedom.
Kate has been speaking on college campuses for 24 years, has appeared on Fox News, CNBC, and MSNBC, has written for numerous publications, and has been on hundreds of radio shows. She has appeared regularly on Fox News’s Hannity.
Kate served as chairman of the Virginia GOP from 2003 to 2006 when she led the fight against tax increases and the expanding role of government; as advisor to former governor George Allen and as his Senate chief of staff; and as vice chairman of the Virginia State Council for Higher Education.
In 2004, she founded the Jennifer Byler Institute, a leadership training program for women in Virginia. She is currently a member of the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute’s Board of Directors and Young America’s Foundation’s Alumni Board, having formerly served on the Steamship Institute’s Advisory Board and the NRA’s National School Shield Advisory Board.
Kate is a regular speaker for gatherings–civic, corporate, educational, and religious–all across the country and is known for her inspirational style.
She is also a writer, blogger, and small business owner. Her most treasured role, however, is that of mother to six children. Currently, she resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband and children.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer at the Washington Examiner where she covers politics and culture.
She served previously as the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation, where she spearheaded media initiatives to push back against bias on college campuses.
Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Real Clear Politics, the Hill, the New York Post, and elsewhere. She is a regular guest on Fox News and Fox Business. In 2016, Red Alert Politics named Emily to its “30 Under 30 List” of leading young conservatives. Jashinsky also serves on the National Journalism Center’s Board of Governors.
A native of Delafield, Wisconsin, Emily is a 2015 graduate of the George Washington University where she was chairman of her campus YAF chapter.
