As a vice president with Young America’s Foundation, Raj Kannappan works with the leadership team, staff, and key stakeholders to execute the organization’s mission of educating and inspiring young people to advance the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.
In his role, Raj leads YAF’s planned giving program to advise individuals and families how to best establish their philanthropic legacy, pass on their values to future generations, and ensure their intent is protected and honored. He directs YAF’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise, which trains students to champion free market principles through conferences, campus activities, and digital and print educational content. He also edits YAF’s magazine, Libertas, and is a member of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise Board of Advisors and the Young Americans for Freedom Board of Governors.
Prior to YAF, Raj held roles in management consulting and industrial distribution. He advised corporate leaders how to communicate business strategy and organizational change and executed internal business initiatives to improve customer retention, inventory management, and warehouse operations.
Like the majority of YAF’s staff, Raj is an alumnus of YAF. He first got involved as an undergraduate at Cornell University, where he studied economics and government, was president of the Cornell Republicans, wrote for the Cornell Review, hosted several YAF campus speakers, and participated in YAF’s West Coast Leadership Conference at the Reagan Ranch.