Board of Advisors

Ambassador J. Kenneth "Ken" Blackwell has a record of distinguished service as a diplomat, politician, author, educator, and leader. In his prolific career as a public servant, Blackwell served as the Mayor of Cincinnati, Treasurer and Secretary of State for Ohio, Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. For his work in the field of human rights, he received the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award from two presidential administrations.

Blackwell was also a delegate to the White House Summit on Retirement Savings and was appointed by Congress to the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform. He also served on the board of the International Republican Institute and was Co-Chairman of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board. Additionally, he served as a senior transition official for President Donald J. Trump’s White House and was appointed to the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.

Blackwell is a former Xavier University football three-year letterman and lineman who signed as a free agent and was invited to the Dallas Cowboys camp after his time at Xavier. The university inducted him into its sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

He currently serves as the Senior Fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance on the Family Research Council. He is also a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration and is a visiting fellow at the American Civil Rights Union. In addition, he is a visiting professor at the Liberty University School of Law.

He remains involved with a variety of public issues serving on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Pension Fund Integrity, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the United States Air Force Academy Foundation, the National Rifle Association, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and many more. He is also Chairman of the Council for National Policy Action and on the Board of Advisors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).

He has received honorary doctoral degrees from 10 institutions of higher education, including Ashland University, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Lourdes College, Wilberforce University, Wilmington College, Urbana University, Indiana Wesleyan University and Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a Master of Education degree from Xavier University.

Blackwell is a national bestselling author of three books: Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People, and Ending Welfare; The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency; and Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America.

He is married to Dr. Rosa E. Blackwell, a retired Cincinnati Public School District Superintendent. The two have three children and are lifelong Cincinnati residents.