Constituting America is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that seeks to educate the American public about the U.S. Constitution, especially regarding individual rights and liberties. Constituting America encourages civic engagement through its Constitution-based educational programs in schools, promotion of student-created works about the Constitution, and continuing education for adults through its annual 90-day essay forum. ¹

Activities

Constituting America aims to teach the Constitution to encourage civic engagement among youth. Constituting America, along with Terry Cherry, the former president of the National Council for the Social Studies, provides free in-person and virtual presentations to schools nationwide, with current speeches focused on the relevancy of the Constitution and engaging in civil conversations about civics. ²

Constituting America sponsors its annual “We the Future” contest for students of all ages and awards the best U.S. Constitution-focused original works with scholarships and educational trips. Past winners have produced songs, poems, essays, speeches, public service announcements, and short films, which Constituting America promotes nationally via television, radio, magazines, and social media. ³

Constituting America supports adult education through its annual 90-day forum, which presents 90 essays written by constitutional scholars, historians, and elected officials based on that year’s theme. The forum’s first years included in-depth studies on the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Amendments. More recent years have included essays related to presidential elections, executive branch overreach, current challenges facing the Constitution, and the Supreme Court. ⁴

Funding

Constituting America is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. While Constituting America discloses some of its individual donors on its website, tax filings confirm donations from organizations like Donors Trust ($75,000 in 2018), ⁵ the Community Foundation of North Texas ($30,000 in 2019), ⁶ and the Deramus Foundation ($25,100 in 2019). ⁷

People

Leadership

Janine Turner is an actress and the founder and co-president of Constituting America. Turner was an appointee to former President George W. Bush’s Council for Service and Civic Participation and a speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2012. ⁸

Cathy Gillespie is the co-president of Constituting America and the former director of George W. Bush’s W Stands for Women effort. Gillespie is the wife of Ed Gillespie, a Virginia Republican politician and former chair of the Republican National Committee. ⁹

Governing Board

Juliette Turner is the daughter of founder Janine Turner. Turner formerly worked as the executive director and national youth director at Constituting America, and is the co-creator of the Constitutional Minute. ¹⁰

Jay McConville formerly served as chair of the Fairfax County Republican Committee. ¹¹

In addition to its Governing Board, Constituting America maintains a Leadership Board, a Youth Advisory Board, a National Advisory Board, a State Advisory Board, an Education Advisory Board, and a College Advisory Board. ¹²

1. “Book a Speech for Free!” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/book-a-speech/.
2. “Book a Speech for Free!” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/book-a-speech/.
3. “What We Do.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/what-we-do/.
4. “What We Do.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/what-we-do/.
5. Donors Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule I, Part II.
6. Community Foundation of North Texas Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.
7. ^[1] The Deramus Foundation Inc, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2019, Part XV, Line 3a.
8. “Janine Turner.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/janine-turner-bio/.
9. “Cathy Gillespie.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/cathy-gillespie-bio/.
10. “Juliette Turner.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/juliette-turner-2/.
11. “James ‘Jay’ McConville.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/james-jay-mcconville/.
12. “Governing Board.” Constituting America, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2022. https://constitutingamerica.org/governing-board/.