Cherylyn Harley LeBon and Horace Cooper Named New Project 21 Co-Chairmen

The National Center for Public Policy Research is pleased to announce the appointment of two new co-chairmen, Cherylyn Harley LeBon and Horace Cooper, to jointly lead Project 21, the black leadership group sponsored by the National Center.

This is our formal announcement, just released:

Legal Scholars Appointed to Lead Black Leadership GroupAs Important Public Policy Debates Shift to the Courts, Project 21 Selects Former Senate Judiciary Committee Counsel and a Former Law Professor as Co-Chairmen

MSNBC Hosts Expected to Become Even More Unhinged

(Washington, DC) – Two seasoned legal scholars, former Senate Judiciary Committee senior counsel Cherylyn Harley LeBon and former George Mason University assistant law professor Horace Cooper, have been tapped to be the new co-chairmen of Project 21, The National Center for Public Policy Research announced today.

Project 21 is a black leadership network founded 20 years ago to increase the diversity of black opinion by promoting black leaders who espouse views not represented by the nation’s liberal civil rights establishment.

“Horace Cooper and Cherylyn Harley LeBon are incredibly talented legal experts and commentators and we’re honored to have them lead Project 21,” said Amy Ridenour, Chairman of The National Center for Public Policy Research. “With so many of the nation’s most critical policy questions being answered by the courts, from health care reform to voter identification laws to affirmative action programs, Horace and Cherylyn are enormous assets not only to Project 21, but to the nation.”

Horace Cooper is a long-time member of Project 21, having served on its advisory committee since the group was launched in 1992. Cooper is also a member of The National Center’s governing board of directors and director of its new Voter Identification Task Force. Previously, Cooper served as an assistant law professor at George Mason University, as chief-of-staff at Voice of America, and as counsel to then-U.S. Representative Richard K. Armey when Mr. Armey served at the Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Cherylyn Harley LeBon is former senior counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a former appointee in the George W. Bush Administration, and a former deputy press secretary for the Republican National Committee. She appears frequently on television, including on CNN, PBS, MSNBC, and the Fox News Channel.

“Cherylyn and Horace are ideally suited to lead Project 21. Both are knowledgeable, passionate, and effective communicators and the big government left doesn’t like it,” said David Ridenour, President of The National Center for Public Policy Research. “MSNBC’s Al Sharpton and Rachel Maddow both recently launched vicious ad hominem attacks in response to their work on voter identification laws. This speaks volumes about their effectiveness and further validates their selection.”

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters. In 2011, it received about two percent of its revenue from corporate sources and the vast majority of its revenue from over 350,000 individual gifts. Contributions to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.



The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.