State Leadership Initiative (SLI)

As of 2026, SLI’s board of directors included Ed Corrigan, the CEO of the Conservative Partnership Institute, and Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation. ²

Activities

The State Leadership Initiative aims to support conservative states that embody the principles of liberty, opportunity, and prosperity envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The SLI claims that while conservative states tend to have lower taxes and better business environments than blue states, they are still burdened by bureaucracy, regulations, and corporate welfare systems. The SLI intends to build coalitions that improve the existing right-of-center infrastructure in conservative states by leaning on the principles of federalism to effectively transform states and communities. ³

The State Leadership Initiative advocates for policy changes to support economic dynamism, which would return control of federal programs to the states to bolster deregulation, reform state bureaucracies, and reduce federal dependence; develop policies that weaken the foundations of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs; reduce federal regulatory obstructions; and establish digital sovereignty that would protect constitutional rights of Americans in the digital world. ⁴

As of 2026, the SLI claimed that although liberal states were losing companies to conservative states, those conservative states were failing to lead. The SLI stated that 158 companies left New York, 104 firms shifted operations to Florida, and that many California investment firms moved to Texas. The SLI pointed out that at the time, conservative states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Ohio had regulations that nearly matched or surpassed regulations in blue states like Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts; North Carolina, Texas, and Utah had larger government bureaucracies per capita than Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey; Texas spent about $20 billion a year on corporate welfare; and red states like Indiana were participating in the so-called “green energy scam.”

Financials

In 2024, tax filings confirm that DonorsTrust made a $250,000 contribution to the Conservative Partnership Institute earmarked for the State Leadership Initiative.  ⁵

The SLI solicits and accepts donations on its website. ⁶

Leadership

As of 2026, Noah Wall was the president of the State Leadership Initiative and was a state central committee member of the Republican Party of Virginia. Wall previously worked as executive vice president for policy and government affairs at the State Financial Officers Foundation, executive vice president of FreedomWorks, and executive director of the Liberty Now PAC. ⁷

As of 2026, Thomas Murray was the vice president of policy at the SLI and sat on the advisory board of American Education Solutions. Murray previously worked as a researcher at the Institute for Family Studies. ⁸

As of 2026, Alex Acosta was the chair of the board of the SLI. Acosta previously served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor in the first Trump administration. Acosta previously clerked for future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, practiced law at Kirkland and Ellis, and served as a Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board. ⁹

As of 2026, other members of the board of directors include Ed Corrigan, the CEO of the Conservative Partnership Institute, and Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation. ²