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Next Gen Leaders: FLI Kicks Off 4th Annual Fellowship Program in D.C.

by Jorge Gomez • 4 min read

As we celebrate a historic year of legal victories, we’re also breaking records in the number of young, bright and driven millennials who are fast-rising to lead the next generation forward in the fight for religious liberty.

Now in its fourth year, the First Liberty Fellowship program continues to flourish, drawing exceptional participants from all across the country. This year, we will have 19 young advocates with us, making this yet another record-breaking and prestigious gathering of some of the brightest and most talented scholars.

Starting next week, First Liberty Institute will give a passionate group of millennials a real insider’s look into our nation’s capital and the history of religious liberty.

It’s a fun, action-packed week, where they’ll meet and network with the brightest minds defending our first freedom. We equip and empower them with the resources, tools and training to become top-class advocates for religious liberty wherever their future endeavors take them.

Be sure to like our Facebook Page to see live updates from D.C. during next week’s Fellowship.

As you can imagine, our Fellowship program is one of the most worthwhile and necessary investments for the future of America. It’s how First Liberty will continue winning not just in the courtroom…but also in our culture.

That’s what makes our Fellowship program so critical.

It’s how we can ensure that America’s future lawyers, teachers, CEOs, politicians and influencers have an opportunity to learn first-hand the value of religious freedom, and be equipped to defend it.

The next generation—your children or grandchildren—must be prepared to fight for our first freedom. Millennials will one day inherit the leadership of our country, and that means they will soon bear the great responsibility of preserving the heritage of religious liberty.

To show you the impact this has on the next generation, we want to share with you what a few of our former Fellows are up to nowadays, as many of have gone on to do incredible things in in their jobs, schools and local communities.

	Ashley Vaughan After completing the Fellowship, Ashley graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. She went on to be a part of The Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program and interned in their Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. She also worked as the office manager at a boutique, civil litigation firm. She was accepted and is now in her first year at Harvard Law School. “While I had studied religious liberty cases in school, I never had the chance to look at the varying topics in the same setting and get a full picture. The Fellowship gave me a fuller perspective on religious liberty and sparked my curiosity to build on what I learned.”
	Courtney Sosnowski After being a part of the Fellowship’s pilot program, Courtney returned to Washington D.C. to intern for Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center, where she continued to advocate for constitutional rights. Courtney graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University and returned to the nation’s capital to work for Congress as a staff member in the office of U.S. House of Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX). “The First Liberty Fellowship was one of the most memorable weeks of my life. It really opened my eyes to the religious history of our nation. To see how religion has inspired our founders, the present day leaders and everyday Americans through First Liberty clients was really inspiring for me.”
	Hannah Robertson After the First Liberty Fellowship, Hannah spent her next semester in Washington D.C. as a White House Intern in the Senior Advisor for Policy’s office. Upon completion of her internship, the White House offered Hannah a position and she is now a research assistant in a specialized executive office branch, where she is responsible for the development of policy reports, internal projects and briefs. “The First Liberty Fellowship was one of the most rewarding and eye-opening experiences I had during my college career. I now feel more equipped to defend religious freedom with my peers and coworkers.”

Learn More about the FLI Fellowship Program.