YCC Announces 4th Annual Young Conservative Leadership 'Buckley Award' Winners

Award ceremony will take place on Tues, Nov. 19th from 6:00-8:00pm at The Capitol Hill Club

Buckley Award Winner Biographies:

Yuval Levin – National Affairs, Editor & Author

Yuval Levin, at age 35, has served as the Editor of National Affairs magazine, an influential conservative policy journal founded in 2009. Levin has been the organizer of a group of devoted conservatives who are interested in creating a conservative reform agenda that is relevent to the challenges of today. He has been referred to as the “conservative movement’s greatest intellectual hope,” an “expert rhetorician,” and is even read by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who once said of Levin, “He does a very good job of articulating why these are good ideas and the right way to go and how they are philosophically connected with one another and consistent.” Levin is also a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a contributing editor to National Review and The Weekly Standard. He has been a member of the White House domestic policy staff (under President George W. Bush), executive director of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and a congressional staffer. His new book The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left will be published in December. He holds a BA from American University and a PhD from the U. of Chicago.

Will Weatherford - Florida House of Representatives, Speaker of the House

Will Weatherford, at age 34, is the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and is currently the youngest serving Speaker in the country. In this past legislative session in Florida, Speaker Weatherford led his caucus of 76 members in opposition to an expansion of Medicaid through Obamacare. In the face of calls to expand Medicaid, a total of 75 of 76 Republicans in the Florida House held firm and as a result, stopped this legislation. Through this process, Speaker Weatherford withstood well-funded media attacks from unions and special interest groups, thus earning the respect of his fellow peers by truly showing “courage under fire.” Speaker Weatherford is a citizen legislator, owns a small business and is involved in many charitable organizations such as Jobs for Americas Graduates and Florida’s Take Stock in Children program, where he serves as a mentor.

Ryan T. Anderson - The Heritage Foundation: DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society, Fellow & Author

Ryan T. Anderson, at age 32, researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and is editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute. Anderson’s recent work at Heritage focuses on constitutional questions surrounding same-sex marriage. He is the co-author with Princeton’s Robert P. George and Sherif Girgis of the acclaimed book What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense. Justice Samuel Alito cited the book twice in his dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case involving the Defense of Marriage Act. The three also co-wrote, “What is Marriage?” published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. His influence and “courage under fire” was displayed in a memorable 2013 debate on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live” as he articulated his defense for traditional marriage in a viscerally intimidating environment.

Alex Smith - College Republican National Committee, National Chair

Alex Smith, at age 24, is currently the National Chair of the College Republican National Committee. After the 2012 presidential election loss, especially among the youth demographic, Smith embarked on a nationwide effort to help rebrand the GOP, titled “Grand Old Party for a Brand New Generation.” Her efforts led to commissioning a comprehensive nationwide report, with The Winston Group, utilizing numerous youth surveys and focus groups detailing how the GOP could win back the youth vote. While the report was met with some disagreement on certain legislative positioning, the report was a first-of-its-kind and was widely acclaimed, and even landed Smith with an interview on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor and several other media outfits. Smith contributed significantly to advance youth activism and also has the distinction of being the first elected female National Chair of the CRNC.

Remy Munasifi - ReasonTV, Comedian, Musician & Video Artist

Remy Munasifi, at age 33, is an “intergalactic” web sensation with his smart parody videos garnering over 80 million views promoting liberty-themed ideas in a highly entertaining yet educational manner. Munasifi is an Arab-American stand-up comedian making a meaningful impact in news coverage and serves as an example of how conservatives and libertarians can fight the left using humor and social media outreach. While producing videos since 2006, most came to know Remy as the comedic entrepreneur who produced “The Arlington Rap,” detailing the “trials and tribulations” of those who live in Arlington, VA. In 2013, his timely videos received national acclaim with “Tap It: The NSA Slow Jam,” the “Healthcare Mash,” “Obamacare Video Contest Song,” “Jim Carrey’s Cold Dead Hand – A Rebuttal,” “Blurred Lines: The Anthony Weiner Version,” and has previously tackled other issues including, “Raise the Debt Ceiling Rap,” “Do the TSA Pokey Pokey,” and the “Occupy Wall Street Protest Song.” His videos have been watched by millions on ReasonTV, GoRemy.com, and his The Falafel Album is available from Comedy Central.

The Young Conservatives Coalition will award five young professional conservatives with their prestigious Young Conservative Leadership “Buckley Award.” The award ceremony will take place on Tuesday , November 19th from 6:00-8:00pm at The Capitol Hill Club, at 300 First Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003.

The awards will recognize individuals between the ages of 18-40 who’ve made a significant contribution to the conservative movement at large in the last year. The awards are in honor of the late William F. Buckley Jr. – a conservative movement leader/icon who founded National Review and wrote God & Man at Yale all before the age of 30.

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