John Tillman

How to Prevent Wisconsin from Becoming Illinois

John Tillman is one of the nation’s most prominent leaders in the free-market, public-policy arena. He is CEO of the American Culture Project, an organization that attracts, educates and mobilizes independent voters around the ideas of freedom and opportunity. Tillman is best known for building the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), which he currently chairs, into one of the most influential state-based think tanks in the country while he was CEO from 2007 to 2021. IPI was a key part of the coalition that defeated Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s progressive income tax in 2020. As Politico noted, “IPI has shown an ability to drive the debate and influence action in the Illinois Legislature, including whipping opposition to key votes.” While leading IPI, he co-founded and served as chairman of Liberty Justice Center, which won the precedent-setting Janus v. AFSCME case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018.

Tillman has founded and chairs numerous other enterprises within the liberty space. As chairman of the Franklin News Foundation beginning in 2017, he turned a near-insolvent operation into a media powerhouse that has news bureaus in every state and Washington, D.C. Their newswire service, The Center Square, is republished in hundreds of newspapers throughout the country has a daily readership of 2.2 million. Tillman is also the co-founder and chairman of Iron Light, a full-service, for-profit digital marketing agency, which does work for more than 75 nonprofits across the conservative public policy space.

With a career dedicated to advancing free-market reforms and reshaping state-level policy, Tillman brings a wealth of experience and insight into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Wisconsin. Drawing on lessons from Illinois—where out-migration, institutional decline, and burdensome regulations have taken a heavy toll—Tillman will highlight how Wisconsin can chart a different course. He will share actionable strategies to strengthen civic resilience, expand economic opportunity, and ensure long-term prosperity for future generations. This presentation will not only diagnose the risks but also inspire practical solutions rooted in freedom, innovation, and sound policy.

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