Kevin Gentry | |
---|---|
Citizenship | United States |
Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
Employer | Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation Koch Industries |
Kevin Gentry is a conservative political activist and fundraiser who serves as vice president of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. [1] [2] [3] A top aide to Charles Koch and David H. Koch, [4] Gentry serves as vice president of special projects at Koch Industries. [5]
Gentry received a BA in economics[ citation needed ] from the College of William & Mary, where he served as chairman of the school's branch of the College Republicans. He is married to Anne Gentry, an attorney, who obtained a JD from the George Mason University School of Law, where she was the president of the school's branch of the Federalist Society. [6]
From 1991 to 1997, Gentry served as executive vice president of the Leadership Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Virginia. Gentry later served as the vice president of the Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies during which time the two organizations' combined annual revenue increased threefold, according to Philanthropy Magazine. [5] [7] He served as a fundraising consultant for Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore and U.S. Senator George Allen during their tenure in those offices. Gentry was the campaign manager for Morton Blackwell when Blackwell ran as the Republican National Committeeman of Virginia in 1988, 1992, and 1996. [6]
In 2003, Gentry was hired at the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation to improve the capacity of the foundation's grantees by mentoring them in fundraising best practices. [7] He also serves as vice president of special projects for Koch Industries. [8] According to Politico , Gentry is the primary fundraiser for the Koch family's political activities. [9] Gentry's responsibilities include leading fundraising efforts at the Koch's biannual free enterprise donor seminars. [2] The Koch fundraising summits, emceed by Gentry, were expected to spend $400 million on conservative causes ahead of the 2012 election. [10] According to The Washington Post , Gentry "raises money for the network of Koch-backed organizations, some of which are prominent conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation". [11]
Gentry leads an informal network of fundraisers for conservative think tanks and advocacy groups such as Americans for Prosperity. [9]
For contributions to the free market movement, Gentry was presented with the Roe Award in 2007 by the State Policy Network. The award is given to "recognize individuals who exhibit leadership, innovation and achievement in promoting free markets and less intrusive government at the state and local level. [8]
In December 2010, Gentry joined the board of the Cato Institute. [12] [13] Gentry was placed on the board by Charles Koch and David Koch. [10] Cato Institute chairman Robert Levy and president Edward Crane expressed concern that Gentry was a conservative rather than a libertarian, with Crane referring to Gentry as a "Republican activist" and "social conservative." [14] Crane also expressed disappointment that Gentry had not involved Crane or other Cato Institute employees with Koch-sponsored donor events. [12] In an opinion editorial posted on CNN.com, Gentry defended the Koch brothers against allegations that they wanted to compromise the political independence of the Cato Institute. [15] In June 2012, as part of a settlement over the ownership of the Cato Institute, Gentry was removed from the board due to a provision that bars Koch employees from serving on the institute's board. [10]
Gentry serves on the board of directors of Bethany Christian Services of Virginia and the Virginia Future Business Leaders Foundation. He is a member of the Council for National Policy, a networking group for social conservative activists. [6] Gentry served on Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's government reform advisory committee. [16]
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries. Cato was established to have a focus on public advocacy, media exposure and societal influence. According to the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, Cato is number 27 in the "Top Think Tanks Worldwide" and number 13 in the "Top Think Tanks in the United States".
The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C., primarily geared towards public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership.
Leonard P. Liggio was a classical liberal author, research professor of law at George Mason University and executive vice president of the Atlas Network in Fairfax, Virginia.
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and graduate students seeking careers in academia as well as various fellowships.
The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian economic think tank. Founded in 1948 in New York City, FEE is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a member of the State Policy Network.
Edward Harrison Crane is an American libertarian and co-founder of the Cato Institute. He served as its president until October 1, 2012.
Edwin John Feulner Jr. is an American academic who founded the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation and served as its president from 1977 to 2013 and again from 2017 to 2018. Feulner's positions have included advisor and chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, from which he received the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom in 2006.
FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representatives. It was widely associated with the Tea Party movement before firmly aligning with Donald Trump. The Koch brothers were once a source of the organization's funding.
William Arthur Niskanen was an American economist. He was one of the architects of President Ronald Reagan's economic program and contributed to public choice theory. He was also a long-time chairman of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank.
The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) is a non-profit research organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It aims at promoting economic liberalism through economic education of the general public and what it regards as efficient public policies in Quebec and Canada through studies and conferences. Its research areas include different topics such as health care, education, taxation, labour, agriculture and the environment. Its studies are often mentioned in the media.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States funded by David and Charles Koch. As the Koch brothers' primary political advocacy group, it is one of the most influential American conservative organizations.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that, according to itself, conducts research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that the free market provides the most "efficient and effective solutions" to "global energy and environmental challenges".
The Koch family is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities and their control of Koch Industries, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy crude oil into gasoline. Fred's four sons litigated against each other over their interests in the business during the 1980s and 1990s.
The State Policy Network (SPN) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a network for conservative and libertarian think tanks focusing on state-level policy in the United States. The network serves as a public policy clearinghouse and advises its member think tanks on fundraising, running a nonprofit, and communicating ideas. Founded in 1992, it is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with member groups located in all fifty states.
The political activities of the Koch brothers include the financial and political influence of Charles G. and David H. Koch (1940–2019) on United States politics. This influence is seen both directly and indirectly via various political and public policy organizations that were supported by the Koch brothers.
Charles de Ganahl Koch is an American billionaire businessman. As of August 2022, he was ranked as the 15th richest person in the world on Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $70 billion. Koch has been co-owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries since 1967, while his late brother David Koch served as executive vice president. Charles and David each owned 42% of the conglomerate. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, then expanded the business. Originally involved exclusively in oil refining and chemicals, Koch Industries now includes process and pollution control equipment and technologies, polymers and fibers, minerals, fertilizers, commodity trading and services, forest and consumer products, and ranching. The businesses produce a wide variety of well-known brands, such as Stainmaster carpet, the Lycra brand of spandex fiber, Quilted Northern tissue, and Dixie Cup.
Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the identity of its donors, and most of its donors remain anonymous. It distributes funds to various conservative and libertarian organizations, and has been characterized as the "dark money ATM" of the political right.
Kenneth Paul Vogel is an American journalist and author who currently reports for The New York Times. From 2007 to 2017, he was the founding chief investigative reporter at Politico. In June 2017, he joined the Washington Bureau of The New York Times as a reporter covering conflicts of interest, lobbying, and money in politics.
The Niskanen Center is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates environmentalism, immigration reform, civil liberties, and strengthening social insurance around market-oriented principles. The center is named after William A. Niskanen, an economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan. The Center states that its "main audience is Washington insiders," and characterizes itself as a moderate think tank.
The Charles Koch Institute is a libertarian-oriented public policy research, programming, grant-making, and fellowship-funding organization based in Virginia. Named after Charles Koch, its founder and primary financier, it pursues conservative economic policies and a non-interventionist foreign policy that has been characterized as anti-neoconservative.