Events

The John Locke Foundation hosts a policy forum or event somewhere in North Carolina at least once a week. Even though JLF makes significant use of print, broadcast, and web resources to communicate its message and stimulate political and public-policy debate, there is often no substitute for face-to-face, personal conservation about the ideas and issues that matter most to North Carolinians.

The organization’s main events program is its Headliner series of luncheons, held about once a month in Raleigh and occasionally in other cities around the state. Headliner addresses are filmed for broadcast on JLF’s statewide network of cable-television outlets, and provide content for “Carolina Journal Radio,” JLF’s weekly syndicated newsmagazine. The luncheons draw large and diverse crowds, including state and local policymakers and members of the news media.

Headliners have featured elected officials such as Vice President Dick Cheney, former Gov. Jim Hunt, former Gov. Jim Martin, former N.C. House Speakers Dan Blue and Harold Brubaker, N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, and several members of Congress. They have also included policy experts such as Cato Institute President Ed Crane and social policy scholar Linda Chavez; Washington journalists such as Robert Novak, Michael Barone, Christopher Hitchens, John Fund, Fred Barnes, Morton Kondracke, Larry Kudlow, and Rich Lowry; and other national figures such as Ken Starr, Dick Morris, Newt Gingrich, Jack Kemp, Elizabeth Dole, and P.J. O’Rourke.

In addition to Headliners, JLF also hosts or co-hosts several annual events. These include an Anniversary and Awards Banquet, an Innovate! conference for local government officials and activists, and an Academic Issues Forum each fall (in conjunction with the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy).

Each fall and spring, JLF holds a series of Regional Meetings to provide analysis of key issues such as education and taxes. These tours have visited dozens of different North Carolina communities, including Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Hickory, Greenville, New Bern, Elizabeth City, Southern Pines, Asheboro, and Burlington.

Another events program is the Shaftesbury Society, a weekly luncheon and discussion club at JLF’s main offices in downtown Raleigh. It provides participants with the opportunity to discuss new ideas and meet other people interested in public policy. Shaftesbury speakers cover a wide variety of topics: politics, government, philosophy, history, journalism, science, and the arts.

« A complete list of upcoming events is available online.