AMERICAN EDGE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Chairman and Founder, Institute for Free Speech
• FEC Commissioner

Brad is one of the nation's foremost experts on campaign finance law. He served as a Commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, concluding his service on Aug. 21, 2005. Smith was elected as Vice Chairman of the Commission in 2003 and Chairman of the Commission in 2004. A recent New York Times story referred to Smith as the "intellectual powerhouse" of the movement to roll back campaign finance restrictions. His 2001 book, Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform, was lauded by George Will as the year's "most important book on governance." Once called "the most sought after witness in Congress" on campaign finance issues, Smith has authored over 40 articles on campaign finance reform, appearing in academic publications such as the Yale Law Journal and Georgetown Law Journal, and popular publications such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Review. He has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Bill Moyers Journal, the Lehrer News Hour, Fox News Special Report, ABC News, Washington Journal, and numerous other national and local television and radio programs. As an FEC Commissioner, Smith won plaudits for his integrity and refusal to put partisan interests ahead of his duties, as well as his steadfast support for free speech. For his honesty and integrity, the Wall Street Journal dubbed him, "the only honorable man in this bordello." Smith now serves as the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Designated Professor of Law at Capital University Law School. He has won numerous awards for his scholarship and teaching, and is a past member of the Advisory Committee to the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Election Law. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Election Law Journal, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Smith is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and Kalamazoo College and holds an honorary doctorate from Augustana College.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Commissioner to the Military Compensation
• Intelligence Officer
• Member of the Homeland Security Committee

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, Chris served as the Chairman of the Management, Investigations, and Oversight Subcommittee. As a member of the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment Chris had the opportunity to work with DHS and NCTC to develop policies pertaining to international as well as domestic terrorism. Following his time in Congress, Chris was appointed a Commissioner to the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission by President Obama. Commissioned as an Ensign in 1995, Chris has served as an intelligence officer for over 15 years. Currently, holding the rank of Commander, he is a combat Mission Operation Commander (MOC) for the MQ-1 Predator, the MQ-9 Reaper, and RQ-4 Global Hawk ISR platforms. Chris has earned many personal awards including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. Prior to running for Congress, Chris worked at the Pentagon for four years on strategic analysis of the global terrorist threat. Having worked directly with the most senior decision-makers of the Bush administration, Chris provided Red Cell analysis of the threat posed to the United States by al-Qaida, its network, and its affiliated groups. Chris ran DoD's Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG), and was the "Special Projects" intelligence officer for two tours during Operation Southern Watch. Chris was also a tenured professor of political science specializing in international relations at Penn State University. Chris earned his BSS from Cornell College, a Master's degree from the University of Wyoming, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Job Titles:

• CEO
• AEP As Chief Executive Officer

Concerned that lawmakers were making the same mistake with the U.S. technology industry, Doug joined AEP as Chief Executive Officer in September 2021 to spearhead AEP's effort to protect America's technology innovation edge. An accomplished, values-driven executive, Doug has spent his entire career as a relentless force for good in transforming lives at the national, state, and local levels. He brings to AEP a deep background in politics, advocacy, technology, and organization building. For 20 years, he served in senior leadership roles in the political sector, deeply engaged in Presidential, Gubernatorial, and other statewide campaigns. Over his career, Doug has successfully led three separate large-scale transformation efforts in technology, organization building, and fundraising. Doug also served as President & CEO of Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky, & Indiana, the largest chapter of Make-A-Wish in the country and also founded a strategic consulting firm, Big Change Strategies, which coached executives to higher performance and developed growth and impact strategies for advocacy and nonprofit organizations. Doug lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife, Linda. He has two college-aged children and a faithful pound dog named Tony, who has an endless appetite for chew toys and trail running.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team

Susana Martinez was the first female Governor of New Mexico and first Hispanic female governor in the history of the United States. In 2014, Martinez earned substantial support from Democratic and Independent voters in rural and urban areas alike to win re-election by the largest margin of any Republican gubernatorial candidate in modern history. With the exception of a two-year period of Republican control of one chamber, Martinez served alongside a Democratically-controlled Legislature throughout her time in office. During her tenure as governor, Martinez worked across party lines to turn New Mexico's largest budget deficit into a record surplus, slash the unemployment rate, and usher in a true economic turnaround. The bold economic reforms Martinez achieved on a bipartisan basis made New Mexico more competitive for jobs and new investment. When she left office, the state's job growth had reached a 12-year high and household companies made New Mexico home for major operations. Martinez also worked closely with counterparts from both political parties to implement critical education reforms to increase the high school graduation rate to an all-time high, raise academic standards, improve student learning and school performance, and close persistent achievement gaps. Martinez raised the salaries of starting teachers, significantly increased funding for - and participation in - Pre-K programs and other early childhood education initiatives, expanded literacy programs and tutoring for at-risk students, and launched new teacher and principal mentoring programs that improved classroom instruction and student performance. Meanwhile, fewer graduating students needed to take remedial courses in college on her watch, and the four-year college graduation rate at the state's flagship university doubled. In 2013, Martinez was recognized as one of TIME Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People in the World. She served as chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) from 2015 to 2016. Following the conclusion of her governorship, Martinez joined the board of ExcelinEd and advisory board of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation (GWOTMF).