Darcy Olsen is President of the Goldwater Institute, a public policy research and legal center. Her leadership has been critical to the Institute’s success, including the development and enactment of nearly 200 reforms and the protection of multiple constitutional rights in state and federal courts.
When Ms. Olsen took the helm of the Goldwater Institute, she reorganized the Institute’s structure to parallel a private company focused on results. Her vision has made the Goldwater Institute a national leader in restoring America as a compound republic, where states exercise their constitutional authority to check and limit federal power. An authority on education reform, economic policy, and government reform, Ms. Olsen is a regular guest on national public affairs programs. Her opinions have been widely published in news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and National Review.
Ms. Olsen has received numerous honors, including the State Policy Network’s Roe Award for achievement in public policy. One of her most unexpected awards occurred when Hockey Magazine named her the “64th most powerful person in hockey” for her leading role in blocking a multi-million subsidy to a National Hockey League team.
Ms. Olsen unofficially began her public policy career at 11 years old, when she went door-to-door gathering signatures on a homemade petition to stop animal abuse. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and New York University. She is a foster mother and an adoptive mother of two, and counting.