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A history of family service led in time to Julie Ferguson coming to the Mackinac Center.
“My father was a U.S. Army colonel, and patriotism was a big focus in my family,” Julie says. “It was really central to my upbringing.”
Due to her family’s many Army-related moves, Julie went to various grade schools and high schools before heading to the University of Georgia on a music scholarship. She played the double bass, which now sits in her living room, largely unused. “After some time in college, I decided that I contributed to the arts better as an audience member and a patron than a musician,” she says with a laugh.
Julie switched her major to English, thinking she might work as a teacher or librarian. But for the first decade of her career, she worked in business-to-business sales.
Eventually, she had a daughter and wanted to work part-time. She became a campaign manager for the local United Way, which led to many years in the world of nonprofit service. She worked for the United Way, the Boys and Girls Club, and a foundation that helps burn victims, as well as a food bank.
“I loved the work of being on the ground, helping people who really do need the help,” Julie says. “But I also began to see that many groups in the nonprofit world are reliant on and entangled with the government and bureaucracy.”
Julie saw up close how hard the government and many of its regulations made it for people to advance. A long-time conservative and believer in free markets, she looked for a job with a group trying to do something about it.
Enter the Mackinac Center.
“It was important to me to see that the Mackinac Center neither seeks nor accepts government funding, and I was highly impressed by the quality of the work the team delivers,” Julie says. “It was also fascinating
to meet the group and people responsible for the concept of the ‘Overton Window,’ which I had heard about listening to Rush Limbaugh years earlier. It really explains how public policy works.”
As senior director of strategic partnerships, Julie helps those who love liberty preserve our freedoms for the next generation through giving and collaboration.
In her free time, Julie loves to swim for fun and fitness. She also takes in the arts and culture in cities around the Southeast with her daughter, an art student.
