We recently caught up with Francisco Gonzalez. Francisco is the Director of Philanthropy of National Review Institute, the host of the Agents of Innovation podcast, and recently named among the “Central Florida 100 Voices” by the Orlando Sentinel. The founding directors of Lone Star Policy Institute are alumni of the National Review Institute regional fellows program in Dallas. So, we enjoyed asking Francisco about NRI’s vision for Texas.

Q: Introduce yourself. Tell us about National Review Institute and your role there.

I am the Director of Philanthropy at National Review Institute, which is a “journalistic think tank” that supports the talent and complements the mission of National Review magazine. We also continue to educate people about our founder, and the founder of the conservative movement, William F. Buckley, Jr., through the Buckley Legacy Project. Everything we do at NRI is focused around the NRI Fellows – the best talent at National Review – as well as continuing to further the legacy of William F. Buckley, Jr. As for me, my main role is to work with our many contributors across the country (and find new ones!) and raise funding. The support from our donors makes everything we do possible. Luckily, I’m part of a great development team that includes our President Lindsay Craig, the Director of NRI’s 1955 Society, Meredith Bogacz, and our regional development officers Jason Wise (who is based in Seattle) and Chris Ciancimino (who just joined the team and is based just south of Milwaukee), not to mention our events manager Alexandra Rosenberg.  NRI’s main headquarters is in the heart of New York City, with additional offices in Washington, DC. However, we have staff across the country. I’m fortunate to be located in Orlando, in my native state of Florida, and I’m perhaps even more fortunate to cover Texas. It has made me more alert to my exercise routine – as I am starting to eat too much Texas bbq!*

Q: National Review Institute launched a regional fellowship program. Dallas was one of the original cities. Now NRI has expanded into other cities. What does NRI see in Texas? Any ongoing plan in Dallas and Texas?

The regional fellowship program is a really dynamic program for what we call “midcareer professionals.” There are many programs for high school and college students, and even some for “young professionals.” But we’re focused on those who are “midcareer,” roughly between the ages of 30 and 50, who have likely started families, and want a little more intellectual nourishment, as well as opportunities to network with other National Review followers and subscribers. There is an application process to get into the program. About 20-25 people are selected in each city, and there is a new “class” each year. Once accepted, they take part in an 8-session course in conservative philosophy that we like to say goes “From Burke to Buckley.” About half of the sessions are led by an NRI Fellow – such as Victor Davis Hanson, Kathryn Jean Lopez, Kevin Williamson, Reihan Salam, or one of the other 8 NRI Fellows. The other sessions are led by conservative academics, mostly local. Participants quickly become part of the National Review family. We hope they will stay involved, engaged, and of course, continue to help support the programs throughout their life. But most of all we hope they will become examples to people in their community – of intellectually honest, heartily engaged individuals. That’s the best thing we conservatives can do to persuade others to our way of thinking – lead by example. Through the regional fellowship program, NRI is enabling leaders to be more educated on their conservative principles and more thoughtfully engaged in their communities.

Dallas was one of the four original cities where we started this program. We also have programs in San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York City. In January, we started our first regional fellowship program in Philadelphia, and hope to expand to Chicago, Florida, and other places in future years.  Texas is not only the second largest state in our country, but has a great conservative tradition. The action happens in the states and we want to help the next generation of Texas leaders be fully prepared to help lead the Lone Star State in a principled, thoughtful direction. Other states are always watching Texas, as it has overall been a leader in conservative policymaking. We hope that NRI can fulfill an important role here, in the Buckley tradition.

Q: In your spare time, you have a podcast called “Agents of Innovation.” Tell us a little about that. What are you learning through it?

A little over two years ago I started the Agents of Innovation podcast, mostly because I constantly found myself – through my work and social activities – meeting some really amazing people who tend to fall into one (or more) of three categories: entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and artists. Time and again, after listening to so many of these amazing people’s stories, I came away thinking: I wish more people could hear their story. At the same time, I was starting to listen to podcasts. I put the two ideas together: why not start a podcast and bring these inspiring stories to more people? I am now 38 episodes in. It’s totally a hobby I do on the side, but I’m always looking for sponsors! I have learned so much. There are many common themes from all these stories and the one that sticks out most to me is: if you want to succeed at anything, it takes hard work. We see and hear so many success stories, but there are many hours, weeks, and years of hard work behind each of those success stories – as well as many challenges they each had to overcome along the way. The podcast can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud, and all the episodes (and accompanying blog posts) can be found at: agentsofinnovation.org.

Q: What innovative trends do you see on the horizon?

This is a broad question. I’ll start with the obvious: technology is being “disruptive” to everything in the economy. How we consume things (and to some extent, what we consume) is constantly changing. I do think we’re starting to see radical changes to how people are getting educated and I think this disruption will continue. There will still be thousands of people to fill our major colleges and universities, but I think you’ll start seeing people take other avenues (especially when the cost is considered) towards education. Perhaps apprenticeships and trade schools will make a comeback as people find that experience and technical skills will be the most important assets they can have to make themselves more valuable.

Q: Do you think conservatives (and libertarians) tend to be technophilic or technophobic?  How do you think conservatives should think about innovation? What role, if any, does the regulation of artificial intelligence play in this discussion?

I think conservatives, in general, are more wary of technology. I remember reading how Russell Kirk described the automobile as a “mechanical Jacobin,” in that it brought more disruption to society and American communities than any French revolutionary could ever imagine. But, in some ways, conservatives are also technophiles – think of all the young conservatives who are revolting against the status quo of statism and the legacy media. Young liberty leaders like James O’Keefe and Charlie Kirk are using the mediums of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, to get around the established media and academic circles to deliver their messages right to the people. Our current President possibly followed the same path to get himself to the White House. With that said, all the top young techies tend to lean to the Left, so conservatives are lagging in this category from a pure business standpoint. Google, Facebook, Twitter – they were all created by and led by people who are pretty far from being conservative – and now we all have to fight for space on their platforms.

Q: Tell us about your 50-book challenge for 2018. How did that come about? What are you reading? What do you most highly recommend?

While at the NRI Buckley Prize Dinner in New York City in October, I ran into my good friend Grant Starrett, who lives outside Nashville, Tennessee. He told me that in 2017 he had made himself a 50-book challenge. “50 books?,” I said to him. He answered, “I’ve already read 60.” It was only October. He actually completed more than 70 by the end of the year. I thought, after I heard 60, that I would try to do half of his “marathon.” I also just generally wanted to get back to reading more. I’m reading a mix of fiction and nonfiction, and a variety of subjects – history, biography, policy, self-help, you name it. I’m completing them with a mix of print books, iBooks on my iPad, and Audible ones (which helps with all my business and personal travels). One friend recommended I read Gone With The Wind.  That’s a colossal story – but I already completed it (50 hours on Audible!) and it was well worth it. Perhaps one of the best books of all time. The other great one I recently completed was Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. Published in 2016, it is a memoir for our time  – his personal story of upward mobility in rural, white working-class America.

Q: Drawing from either NRI or Agents of Innovation experience, are there any state or local issues (not Texas specific) that you are concerned/passionate about?

I’m a conservative through and through, so I’m passionate about a lot of issues. I am very passionate about school choice, criminal justice reform, and ending abortion. The common theme between all those issues is putting kids first. We have to respect life in all its stages. We should also have policies that help families find the best education that works for their kids – whether that is public, charter, private, or virtual school – or some combination. And, when kids make mistakes, we can’t just throw them into jail. We need to focus on rehabilitation first and give them a second chance at life. I believe strong families and good, early childhood education helps eliminates so many problems – and ultimately the investment there will help reduce the government’s role overall.  While every issue has (unfortunately) had federal involvement, there are many policies on all these issues that can be confronted by state and local governments. I would love to see Texas open the door to more school choice, like my home state of Florida has. Conversely, Texas is getting so much “right on crime” and I’d love to see Florida adopt some of the Lone Star State’s examples on criminal justice reform.

Kristina Kiik and Doug McCullough– Directors of Lone Star Policy Institute

*There is no such thing as too much Texas barbecue.