Fifteen years turning complex, contested ideas into national coverage and durable credibility. I co-founded the College Free Speech Rankings, now administered by FIRE, and the higher-education free-expression debate is the landscape I have worked inside for years, not one I would need to learn. I have scaled audiences, built earned-media relationships with national and higher-education press, and operated credibly with people who do not share a single worldview. Published author. Builder of things from zero.
Forget the job titles. Here is how I think and operate when it actually matters.
I co-founded the College Free Speech Rankings, now administered by FIRE and the largest survey of student expression in the country, drawing 55,000 to 68,000 respondents a year across more than 250 campuses and cited wherever the higher-education conversation happens, including in Manhattan Institute's City Journal. I also co-founded the Samizdat Prize, honoring writers who defend free expression across the ideological spectrum, and I have built and led communications for audiences that do not share a single worldview. Turning rigorous research into media-ready narratives that earn coverage and build credibility is exactly what CDI needs, and knowing when not to engage is a discipline I have practiced under scrutiny. Nonpartisan restraint is not a constraint on this work. It is the work.
As Editor-in-Chief of the Student Free Press Association, I rebuilt the operation. I recruited and mentored more than fifty writers, set editorial standards, and built a multi-platform distribution strategy before most organizations in our space were thinking about it.
Mountain States Legal Foundation was a public-interest law firm in active federal litigation against the EPA and the Bureau of Land Management. When the president departed abruptly under intense scrutiny, I was the lead communications professional for the organization. I built a rapid-response strategy with the board, including a member who now serves in the U.S. House. Every message was calibrated: press statements that defused speculation without compromising the litigation, donor communications that acknowledged disruption without projecting weakness, and internal messaging that kept a small team steady while the ground shifted.
He owns every aspect of his work, from strategic vision down to execution, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. Any organization would be fortunate to have him on their team.
Every one of these from concept to reality.
Homeschooled kid. Professional musician. GED. Then Yale, studying literature with Harold Bloom and history with Donald Kagan. The unconventional path is the only one I know.
Co-founded a national survey of student expression, now administered by FIRE. It draws 55,000 to 68,000 respondents a year across more than 250 campuses and is cited across the higher-education conversation, including in City Journal.
Took the Student Free Press Association from 45,000 to 1.5 million readers in three years. Built a team of fifty-plus contributors and integrated digital strategy before most orgs knew what that meant.
Published book, St. Martin's Press. New York Times Editor's Choice. NYT Book Review cover feature. Audie Award nominee. Proof I can take a complex, contested subject and turn it into a narrative people cannot put down.
Co-founded an annual award honoring writers and public figures who defend free expression, across the ideological spectrum. Recipients include Matt Taibbi and Abigail Shrier.
Built and direct a national policy forum in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Convene senior officials, executives, and researchers, and prepare principals for broadcast and live audience Q&A.
Organize invitation-only dinners in Washington, New York, and Chicago, fifteen to twenty top-tier reporters per event. Wall Street Journal, Politico, Washington Post, and more. High-trust rooms where the real conversations happen.
The End of the University as We Know It (The American Interest), adopted as required reading at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Also in National Review, New York Post, Newsweek, and USA Today. Quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post.
CNBC, CBN, and C-SPAN live broadcasts with viewer Q&A. SXSW EDU, Yale, Purdue, Hillsdale. I can hold a room.
We worked together on multiple media events involving thousands of viewers. Everything I have ever written for Real Clear — more than 30 articles spanning markets, politics, religion and energy — was made better by Nathan without his ever asking for credit or attribution.
A short memo on why constructive dialogue matters to me right now, and why I think I am built for this work. About sixty seconds.
A briefing on the ranking system I co-created. Straight to camera, with the data.
Watch → Writing · Higher EducationAn essay on the future of higher education, adopted as required reading at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Read → ProductionThe annual gala I co-founded and produced, honoring editorial courage and free expression across the spectrum.
Watch → Writing · Free ExpressionAn essay on AI, reputation, and free expression for RealClearPolitics.
Read →Yale University, B.A. in Humanities, 2009