The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy is a think tank formed in 2018 in Washington, D.C. The organization is named after Reconstruction-era U.S. Rep. Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC), the first Black man to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. The group has described itself as a “post-partisan” think tank, and its leadership has decades of experience in organizations ranging in affiliation from libertarian, to Republican, to center-left. ^{1 2 3}

The group also has received funding from left-of-center organizations. Notably, the center received a $275,000 grant from the environmentalist Energy Foundation in 2019. The Energy Foundation also granted the Rainey Center $275,000 in 2020. ^{4 5}

The Rainey Center focuses on the issue areas of energy, healthcare, inclusive governance, national security, and innovation and tech. The Rainey Center has expressed support for government involvement in the energy sector to promote “clean energy.” ^{6 7}

The Rainey Center also runs a leadership development program called the Leadership Alliance for a More Perfect Union (LAMP). The stated goal of LAMP is to connect policymakers with a “diverse group of experts.” LAMP hosts an annual LAMP National Summit in Washington, D.C. ^{8 9}

Background

The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, also known simply as the Rainey Center, is a think tank founded in 2018 based in Washington, D.C. The organization is named after Reconstruction-era U.S. Rep. Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC), the first Black man to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. The group has described itself as a “post-partisan” think tank, but its leadership has decades of experience in organizations ranging in affiliation from libertarian, to Republican, to center-left. ^{10 2 3}

Advocacy

The issues the Rainey Center focuses on include energy, healthcare, inclusive governance, national security, and innovation and tech. ⁷

On energy, the Rainey Center has called for a “wide portfolio of energy resources.” Sarah Hunt has written in opposition to the Green New Deal, and she has written favorably of nuclear energy, carbon capture technologies, as well as wind and solar power. She has also written favorably of tax incentives for private “clean energy” investment, government-supported research into new energy sources, and transparency in environmental regulations. Hunt has also stated that American “clean energy” is the “best way to address the problem of global climate change.” ^{7 11 6 12}

On inclusive governance, the center runs the Leadership Alliance for a More Perfect Union (LAMP). The stated goal of Lamp is to connect policymakers with a “diverse group of experts.” LAMP hosts its annual LAMP National Summit in Washington, D.C. ^{8 9}

Shortly after the 2020 election, the Rainey Center published a paper expressing support for the idea of a new Federal Elections Agency, despite concerns about the unconstitutionality of such an agency. ¹³

The Rainey Center has also called on the U.S. military to make efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in its ranks part of a new U.S. national security strategy. In a 2020 report titled “How the Next U.S. National Security Strategy Should Include Diversity,” the Rainey Center claims that the United States national security sector has a “diversity problem,” as “the majority of government national security executives” are white males. The report continues by calling for the next national security strategy to “rewrite this script,” by “citing diversity in U.S. national security as a problem.” The report also calls for the consideration of “alternative career paths” that would “generate executive diversity.” ¹⁴

On tech issues, the Rainey Center has published reports in favor of data privacy. The Rainey Center has also published reports critical of China’s policy of “internet sovereignty.” ^{15 16}

Affiliated Organizations

The Rainey Center Freedom Project is the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy. ¹⁷

The executive director of the Rainey Center Freedom Project, Russell Walker, has worked as a senior advisor to presidential candidates and United States Senators and has advised organizations such as the State Policy Network, a network of 167 conservative and libertarian think tanks throughout the United States and Canada; FreedomWorks, a now-defunct right-of-center advocacy organization that promoted limited government and low taxes; and Club for Growth, an economically conservative advocacy group that advocates for policies that support principles of free enterprise and limited government. Walker also sat on the Oregon Advisory Board for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. ^{18 19}

People

Sarah Hunt founded the Rainey Center with Bishop Garrison in 2018. Prior to 2018, Hunt worked as the director of the Center for Innovation and Technology for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where she launched a “clean energy” program. Prior to that, Hunt worked as general counsel for the Niskanen Center, a nominally libertarian think tank that supports a carbon tax, where she launched a “climate change” program. Hunt also worked as a policy analyst at the Rio Grande Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy think tank that advocates for policies supporting a free market economy, individual liberties, and limited government in New Mexico. Hunt became the director of policy and strategy at the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service at Arizona State University in 2022, a position she holds as of June 2025. ^{20 21 22 23}

According to available tax documents, in 2019, Hunt was compensated $228,169 for her work as CEO of the Rainey Center and received another $217,258 in compensation in 2020, and another $94,187 in compensation for her work as the Rainey Center’s president in 2023. ^{24 25}

Bishop Garrison previously worked in the Obama administration and then as a foreign policy adviser for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. Garrison also worked as an interim executive director for the Truman National Security Project, a left-leaning national security think tank. In 2020, Garrison worked on the Biden-Harris transition team, and in 2021, Garrison left the Rainey Center to work as a senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the Biden administration. ^{26 27}

Garrison also worked as the director of national security outreach for Human Rights First, a left-of-center activist group that seeks to influence, through lobbying and litigation, the United States government to make changes to the immigration system to accept more refugees. ^{26 28}

The Board of Directors of the Rainey Center has decades of experience working in public policy. Their experience spans work in libertarian, conservative, and center-left groups. ³

Joseph Bishop-Henchman works as the executive vice president of tax policy and litigation for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a right-of-center group that advocates lower taxes and decreased economic regulation. In 2020, Bishop-Henchman was elected chair of the Libertarian Party, although he resigned from the position in June 2021. Bishop-Henchman is also a former executive vice president of the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan think tank that advocates for principled state, federal, and global tax reform, from September 2005 until July 2019. ^{29 30 31}

Sharon Jackson, vice president of the Rainey Center, served as a Republican member of the Alaska State Legislature. ^{32 33}

Chet Love has worked as counsel for multiple companies in the tech and financial sectors. Love also served as a member of the board of PACENation, an environmentalist energy trade group supported by the left-of-center New Venture Fund. Love, along with Sarah Hunt and Charles Moran, was a founding partner of the consulting firm Cornerstone Group. ^{34 35 36}

Catrina Rorke previously worked as the Director of Energy Policy for the R Street Institute. Rorke also previously worked as a legislative assistant to environmentalist-aligned former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC). As of 2021, Rorke also works as the vice president for the Climate Leadership Council, an organization that supports a carbon tax. ^{37 38 39}

Mia Heck became the vice president of external affairs for the Rainey Center in March 2021 and served until April 2022 and became a member of the Rainey Center board of directors in June 2022, a position she held as of June 2025. ⁴⁰

Prior to working at the Rainey Center, Heck worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services within the Office of the Secretary in multiple roles, was a surrogate coordinator and victory center director at the Republican National Committee, worked on multiple political campaigns, and was the health and human services task force director at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-of-center nonprofit think tank that also functions as the nation’s largest voluntary membership association for state legislators. ⁴⁰

Financials

The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy receives most of its revenue from contributions and grants, but also a substantial amount from program services. ²⁵

The organization had a total revenue of around $1.24 million in 2022, $807,500 of which came from contributions and grants, while $215,000 came from program services with the rest coming from rental property income and other revenue. Its expenses amounted to $1.85 million, $550,741 of which was spent on salaries and wages. ²⁵

The Rainey Center had just under $1.8 million in revenue in 2023, around $1.23 of which came from contributions and grants, while $416,761 came from program services, and the rest from other revenue and rental property income. The organization’s expenses amounted to around $1.96 million, $355,881 of which was spent on salaries and wages. The Rainey Center’s net assets amounted to -$581,073 in 2023. ²⁵

Funding

In 2019, the Rainey Center received $20,000 from Arnold Ventures, a for-profit philanthropy that has funded many left-leaning organizations. ^{41 42}

The Rainey Center also received a $275,000 grant in 2019 from the Energy Foundation, a left-of-center “pass through” charitable foundation founded by and supported by a network of left-wing organizations. The Energy Foundation also granted the Rainey Center $275,000 in 2020. ^{4 5}

The J. M. Kaplan Fund, a private foundation that provides financial support to various environmental and left-of-center social causes, granted the Rainey Center $50,000 in 2022. ⁴³

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