Brought To You By
Russell Smith (Russell S.)
Russell currently serves as the head of Chiefist, an equity research partner to institutional investors. Before his foray into entrepreneurship, Russell worked in a variety of operational, executive education, communications and research roles in the private and public sectors.
He mentors with BUILD, a high school entrepreneurship and college preparation non-profit. He is an avid reader of biographies, military history, Shakespeare, great fiction, Westerns, theology, philosophy and history. He has been an Amateur Radio operator since 1991, plays tennis and enjoys fly fishing. Despite the many seasons of disappointment, he remains a Redskins fan. He frequently responds to questions with quotes from the Fletch movies, Blazing Saddles or Trading Places.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he came to Washington to attend Georgetown University, where he graduated with a degree in political philosophy in 1998. While there, he edited one of the campus journals, and his passion for writing prompted him to start Capitolism in 2009. He resides on Capitol Hill with his wife, Kathleen, and dog, Teddy.
Ryan Berg (ryancberg)
Ryan graduated from Georgetown University in 2010, where he majored in Government and Theology; he is currently a graduate student at Oxford University. Ryan’s academic and intellectual interests include American Government, International Relations, and especially Political Theory, and the tension, perceived or otherwise, between faith and reason in Theology.
When not pretending to think profound thoughts, Ryan can be found enjoying arenas beyond “the life of the mind” by playing hockey, running, writing speeches for various political candidates, or just generally being “a kaleidoscopic man, a man of many different humors, fair and colorful as the city itself” (Plato’s Republic, Book VIII). Ryan is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Go Packers.
