Ohio Christian to Host Fifth Annual Forge Leadership Summit

Ohio Christian University will host the fifth annual Forge Leadership Summit on July 23-27. The five-day conference is the Forge Leadership Network’s foundational event that on-ramps students into their yearlong mentorship academy to develop the next generation of conservative leaders. Forge will welcome 75-80 young adults to the summit where they will participate in dynamic trainings, professional development programs and listen to over two dozen renowned speakers on current issues.

“Forge is raising up a farm system for the conservative movement in the state [of Ohio],” said Co-Founder and Executive Director of Forge Adam Josefczyk. “We’re raising up the next generation of conservative leaders by mentoring, training, and launching 18 to 27-year-olds who want to be servant leaders in politics, business and culture.”

Summit attendees will participate in activities on the university campus on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to the Ohio State House for two days to learn legislative processes. Students will then return to the Ohio Christian campus on Saturday for closing sessions and a keynote address from Joseph Backholm, the Director of The Embassy at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

“[Backholm] talks about what is gospel centered, thoughtful cultural engagement look like. Christians have been engaging culture, or not engaging culture, for 2,000 years now,” Josefczyk said. “What are some ways of applying practical wisdom to do that in the 21st century American context?”

Josefczyk also expressed gratefulness to Ohio Christian for its partnership over the years and the impact Forge has had since its inception.

“We’re excited to be back, in the first four years we’ve had 240 alumni, and 120 of them have gone through the academy,” Josefczyk said. “It’s amazing to see the impact of how many who are working in public policy, the business marketplace, the legal realm, and the creative arts and multimedia.”