SPN recently welcomed Collin Roth to the program team as the Director of Strategy Development. We sat down with Collin to learn more about his background, policy interests, and advice for those looking for a career in public policy.

SPN: How you wind up at State Policy Network?

Collin: I grew up in Michigan and attended Hillsdale College with the goal of getting involved in public policy. I took a job opportunity in 2010 and moved to Wisconsin, where I currently reside, and had a front row seat to the consequential reforms enacted during Governor Scott Walker’s tenure. This was a real education in the possibilities and importance of state government and the value of pursuing state-based reforms at a time when our federal government is slow and unresponsive.

After some years working in media, I took an opportunity to pivot to policy and communications at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a law and policy center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was at WILL that I was first exposed to the services of State Policy Network. I attended Annual Meetings in Nashville, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, and Orlando, and had the opportunity to meet and make relationships with peers across the Network. And it was really the combination of a sincere appreciation for federalism and state-based reform along with think tank experience that made SPN a great fit where I could grow and continue to serve those who are on the frontlines pursuing policy in the states.

SPN: What are you looking forward to most in this role at SPN?

Collin: As Director of Strategy Development at SPN I have the privilege to partner with member organizations and guide them through the big questions that allow them to chart a path forward for their state and organization. Our strategy process allows staff and board members to step out of the daily news cycle and legislative drama to consider how their organization can achieve meaningful change in their state. We take stock of the reality on the ground and big driver trends. We cast a vision for change and analyze what policy goals will improve lives and reach the finish line. And finally, we examine how the organization can work together to achieve these goals. It’s a really rewarding and important service that SPN offers—and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with our members to ensure they have a strategy that matches their vision.

SPN: Based on your observations, what do you think is the next big opportunity for the freedom movement? 

Collin: I think we have an opportunity to be a movement that can push for greater innovation. Our efforts to expand education choice are reaching a critical mass because the old model is no longer the only model. What started as vouchers and charter schools is now an ecosystem of microschools and individualized learning models. Where else does this apply? And what are the barriers that stand in the way?

I’m so encouraged by SPN’s LaunchPad—a program that elevates and invests in entrepreneurs who are solving problems in education and poverty. And I’m hopeful that the freedom movement can unlock innovation and empower entrepreneurs who will address a myriad of issues from the rising cost of healthcare, to the energy sources that will power our economy, to the mental health challenges and addictions that are plaguing so many in our communities. Just because a problem doesn’t have a clear policy solution doesn’t mean that our movement can’t work to address it.

SPN: If you had one piece of advice for others considering a career like yours, what would it be?

Collin: Read and read widely. And that also goes for listening. Careers in politics and public policy tend to encourage a level of certainty about the world and how it works. But that certainty can breed blind spots and hubris. Read to engage with new ideas. Read to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Read to engage with ideas you disagree with. Read to develop empathy. Read to test your assumptions. Read to understand how the world we live in came to be the way it is. You won’t regret it.