Candi Cushman, Vice President of Grassroots and Communications Strategies

Candi comes to us after nearly 19 years of service at Focus on the Family, where she served as a national expert on education issues affecting public and private education, including school choice initiatives, sexual agendas in public schools, and parental rights issues. Her interest in equipping parents and students inspired her to launch several initiatives and create unique web tools—including the annual Bring Your Bible to School Day, which grew from 8,000 participants to more than 650,000 within the last five years.

Cushman has also represented the viewpoints of students and families in national media outlets and radio shows, including CNN’s “Anderson Cooper,” HLN’s “Dr. Drew,” and MSNBC.

She also served for several years as an editor for Focus on the Family’s Citizen magazine. Prior to joining Focus, she was an investigative reporter for WORLD, a weekly national news magazine. Cushman also served six years at a Texas state organization associated with Focus on the Family as the media liaison and program director for the 700-member physicians’ grassroots coalition.

In her role, Candi focuses on amplifying and empowering your voice—the voices of concerned Virginia citizens, including moms, dads, pastors and business leaders through the Speak Up! Virginia movement. A key part of her job involves developing grassroots networks that give families the tools they need to express their concerns in a loving, winsome—and yet powerful—manner, whether it’s at local school board meetings or hearings at the Capitol. She also hosts and directs production of our Speak Up! Virginia show for radio and podcast.

“I’m thrilled that God has given me this unique opportunity to help empower families during this ‘such a time as this’ moment in the state’s history,” she said.