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Selected Skills

Social Entrepreneurship

  • Founded First Freedom Foundation to incubate and accelerate a global movement for freedom of expression and belief (2018-present)
  • Started Smart Social Impact, LLC to increase both the amount and the effectiveness of resources spent on conservative and humanitarian causes (2010-present)
  • Founded and ran for ten years the Family Caucus International to identify, network, and train pro-family lawmakers in national governments, at the UN, and at other international treaty bodies (1999-2009)
  • Co-founded Sustain Haiti to respond to the 2010 earthquake; Identified achievable projects with high impact, such as square-foot gardening, hygiene/sanitation education, and water-filtration micro franchising (2010-2011)
  • Founded Get to know Mitt to improve Mitt Romney’s likability by producing video shorts and distributing them via social media channels (2012)

Strategic Planning

  • Produced detailed plans with a budget, timeline, and assigned roles and responsibilities for The Family Caucus International, World Congress of Families IX, Yeah Samake for President of Mali, and Michel Martelly for President of Haiti (1999, 2015, 2012, 2010-11)
  • Helped develop strategic plans on the boards of the World Family Policy Center, United Families International, and the International Campaign for the Family (1999-2004)
  • Trained in the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) planning system; Developed a PERT chart for Family Foundations International (2004)
  • Proficient in the Asana project management system

Facilitation

  • Led a large-group discussion about new strategies for the conservative movement on the main stage at CPAC (The Conservative Political Action Conference) which was covered live by CSPAN (2015)
  • Adapted Open Space technology to facilitate an exchange of legislative ideas and strategies between 80 members of parliament from around the world at a meeting of the Political Network for Values at the UN (2014) (pic)
  • Facilitated two different Open Space sessions at Utah Eagle Forum conventions to encourage members to engage more with the leadership and direction of the organization (2015, 2016)
  • Facilitated an emotionally-charged discussion between LGBTQI activists and conservative Latter-day Saints to jointly craft strategies for cooperation at Circling the Wagons (2016)

Program Evaluation

  • Facilitated focus groups and interviewed top executives to evaluate the effectiveness of a quality management program at the Western Regional Headquarters of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service (2013)
  • Conducted interviews and designed a stakeholder survey for CHOICE Humanitarian after a plane crash forced an organizational self-assessment (2010)
  • Performed site evaluations throughout Ghana to determine the effectiveness of Reach the Children’s “Stay Alive” HIV/AIDS prevention program (2009)

Capacity Building

Social Enterprise / Impact Investing

  • Developed clean energy projects in Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, and Zambia as VP of Business Development for Creation Capital Partners (2015-present)
  • Advised the Costa Rica United States of America Foundation on developing a clean energy PRI for their $98 million fund (2013)
  • Consulted for multiple different governments and social enterprises on housing developments for refugees and internally displaced persons, including a safe zone inside of Syria but under the protection of the UK government, an aquaculture plant with living facilities in Southern Utah, and a community redevelopment initiative for Ogden City (2015-present)
  • Founded “Mitt’s the Bomb Dot Com” merchandise company to fund Get to Know Mitt (2012) 
  • Helped multiple different non-profits develop revenue streams
  • Participate as an active Member of the Purpose Investing Network (2016-present)

Lobbying

  • Extensive lobbying experience at the United Nations, European Union, Organization of American States, African Union, Human Rights Council, U.S. Congress, Mexican Congress, and New York & Utah State Legislatures (1999-2015)
  • Helped facilitate the Doha Declaration, the only pro-family document recognized by the UN General Assembly (2004)
  • Persuaded the U.S. and Mexican governments to replace their UN delegations when they were supporting policies contrary to sovereign national laws (1999, 2004)
  • Successfully lobbied to defund the UNFPA for supporting China’s coercive one-child policy, and helped decrease funding to USAID for violating the Mexico City Policy which prohibits abortion advocacy (1999-2008)
  • Inserted language into the Disabilities Treaty recognizing “the inherent dignity and worth and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world” (2006)
  • Added abstinence education to the outcome document of the to the International Conference on Population and Development +5 (1999)
  • Persuaded governments to add pro-life and pro-family reservations to several international agreements, including the Maputo Protocol (1999-2009)
  • ~99% of the successes were in blocking anti-family legislation

Campaigns

  • Managed Yeah Samake’s campaign for president of Mali; Designed and executed campaign strategy, messaging, branding, fundraising, and media relations (2012) 
  • Developed strategy for Michel Martelly’s successful campaign for president of Haiti, built plan to attract youth voters, recruit volunteers, organize neighborhood canvassing, and secure voting boxes on election day (2010-2011)
  • Worked for over 20 campaigns on five continents, ranging from state school board elections to presidential campaigns
  • Specialize in grassroots organizing, coalition building, strategic planning, and public relations

Communications

  • Excel at message crafting, branding, and design. Chris Tyrrell, founder of Right Internet, said Samake2012.com was “the best campaign website I have ever seen” [pic]
  • Wrote press releases for many organizations and placed stories in local, national, and international media
  • Helped to produce content, publish, and distribute an independent pro-family newspaper at the International Conference on Population and Development +5 (1999) 
  • Produced 30+ video shorts for Samake2012, Utah Eagle Forum, and Get to Know Mitt (see example video).
  • Designed more than two dozen persuasive memes for Utah Eagle Forum 
  • Manage social media profiles for several groups including “For Religious Freedom,” Utah Eagle Forum, and Get to Know Mitt

Event Planning

  • Designed and organized a global gathering of pro-family activists, academics, lawmakers, and religious leaders as Executive Director of the World Congress of Families IX (2014-2015)
  • Helped plan World Family Policy Forums at Brigham Young University to educate lawmakers and UN delegates from around the world on family policy research (2001-2009)
  • Convened the annual John Adams Center Symposium to teach graduate students how to articulate a defense of the natural family (2010-2011)
  • Produced an eight-day program for the Leadership Institute’s Candidate Development School (1997)
  • Helped facilitate the Doha International Conference for the Family under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Consort of His Highness the Emir of Qatar, including helping to organize preparatory meetings in Mexico City, Stockholm, Geneva, and Kuala Lumpur (2004)

Other skills searchable throughout “Organizations” page include: 

Branding, Capacity Building, Coalition Building (see Collaboration), Corporate Social Responsibility, Fundraising, Government Relations (see Lobbying), Grassroots Mobilization, Innovation, International Development, International Relations, Leadership, Leadership Development, Management, Messaging (see Communications), Philanthropic Advising, Project Management, Public Relations (see Communications), Public/Private Partnerships, Putting Academic Research Into Practice, Social Media (see Communications), Team building, Training, Volunteer Recruiting & Management