Center for Constitutional Liberty Board of Advisors

Michael C. Maibach is a seasoned professional in global business diplomacy and civic engagement.  Today he is a Distinguished Fellow at Save Our States, giving talks across the country in defense of the Founders’ Federalism and the Electoral College design.  He serves on several non-profit Boards including the Witherspoon Institute and the James Wilson Institute, where he is Managing Director.

In 1983 he established the Intel Corporation’s Government Affairs Department. He built a global team of 150  professionals and was named Intel’s first Vice President of Global Government Affairs.  From 2003 to 2012 Mr. Maibach was the President & CEO of the European-American Business Council.

A believer in life-long education, Mr. Maibach has earned seven university degrees from Northern Illinois University, California State University, American University, Georgetown University, Ashland University, and the Institute of World Politics where he now serves on the Board of Trustees.    

While a college student Mr. Maibach was elected to the Dekalb County Board (Illinois), becoming the first person elected to public office under 21 years of age in US history.  He is available to speak to civic groups and universities.

Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., is the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author or co-author of five books, including the forthcoming Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing. Previous books include When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense, and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. He is the co-editor of A Liberalism Safe for Catholicism? Perspectives from “The Review of Politics.”

Anderson received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and he received his doctoral degree in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. His dissertation was titled: “Neither Liberal Nor Libertarian: A Natural Law Approach to Social Justice and Economic Rights.” His research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, in two Supreme Court cases. In addition to leading the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Anderson serves as the John Paul II Teaching Fellow in Social Thought at the University of Dallas, and the Founding Editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey.

Having served as Chief of Staff to two U.S. Senators, Bret Bernhardt is now a trustee of the Conservative Partnership Institute. Following his work in the Senate, he was the Executive Vice President of The Heritage Foundation.

Bernhardt learned his way around the Hill as an aide to Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) for more than 20 years — initially as a legislative assistant, then as legislative director and eventually as chief of staff until Nickles’ retirement in 2004.

Newly elected to the Senate, Jim DeMint found his chief of staff in Bernhardt, who identified with the issues DeMint championed in the House of Representatives. He served in this capacity from 2005 until January 2013, when the second-term senator from South Carolina stepped down to head the Heritage Foundation.

At the Conservative Partnership Institute Bernhardt has served as a founding trustee and treasurer. CPI was formed in 2017 to educate, train and equip the conservative movement. 

Born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma., Bernhardt received an accounting degree at Oklahoma State University, where he also honed his conservative perspective.

His private sector experience includes management of a small business, overseeing fund-raising as finance director of the Oklahoma Republican Party; and  as a staff accountant for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG).

Bernhardt and his wife, Ellie, currently reside in Arlington, Va. They have four children and four grandchildren.

William J. Haun is Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a Nonresident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). At Becket, Will litigates nationwide in defense of religious liberty for all faith traditions, particularly before the U.S. Supreme Court and in other federal and state appellate courts. His litigation includes being a member of the U.S. Supreme Court team that prevailed 9-0 for Catholic Social Services in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a successful argument for the Diocese of Lubbock before the Supreme Court of Texas, and helping author a Supreme Court amicus brief in Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta that multiple justices cited at oral argument and in their opinions. At AEI, Will writes and researches on constitutionalism and self-government’s prerequisites, especially the role of religion in securing and preserving freedom. 

Before joining Becket and AEI, Will practiced appellate and antitrust law at two international law firms—Shearman & Sterling and Hunton & Williams. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Will often writes on constitutional law issues, including in the Catholic University Law Review, National Affairs, Law & Liberty, National Review Online, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. He also speaks on these topics, including at the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School. He received his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, cum laude, where he was a published member of the Law Review. He received his B.A. from American University in political science, cum laude. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children, where they enjoy sailing, cheering on their favorite baseball teams, and discovering the great traditions of their Catholic faith. 

Garrett Snedeker is the Deputy Director of the James Wilson Institute on Natural Rights & the American Founding, where he has worked for over twelve years. He also litigates in the public interest at New Civil Liberties Alliance. He is a graduate of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, where he served on the George Mason Law Review as Articles Editor and in the Federalist Society as vice president of speakers. At Scalia Law, he was a student of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Judge Douglas Ginsburg, and Judge Jeffrey Sutton, among others. He graduated from Amherst College, where he was a student of the Natural Law scholar Hadley Arkes. He first worked in Washington, D.C. as editor of the congressional research website LegiStorm. His writing has been featured in Newsweek, The Federalist, The American Mind, The American Conservative, Starting Points Journal, and the Online Library of Law & Liberty.

Mark N. Strand has been the president of the Congressional Institute since 2007. Strand is a 2017 Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics Fellow. He has also been an adjunct professor of legislative affairs at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. He is the coauthor of the book Surviving Inside Congress. Strand spent nearly 24 years on Capitol Hill, most recently as chief of staff to Senator James M. Talent of Missouri (2003-07). From 2001-2002, Strand was vice president of government affairs for the American Water Works Company. In the House, Strand served as staff director of the House Committee on Small Business. He also served as chief of staff to Talent, Bill Lowery of California and Stan Parris of Virginia. He has also been a legislative director and a press secretary. Strand obtained a B.S. in political science and history from Excelsior College of the University of New York, an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Phoenix, and a Master’s in legislative affairs from George Washington University. He frequently speaks to groups about Congressional procedure, Congressional staff issues and how Congress works (or doesn’t, as the case may be).  He resides in Virginia, is married and has three daughters.