FSP Biographies

• Jean Alexander

  Jean Alexander was raised a Democrat, became a Republican as an adult, then realized neither was quite right for her. Now a small l libertarian, she moved to the Free State of New Hampshire in 2005. Valuing personal responsibility and personal choice she is particularly interested in freedom of choice in education and empowering parents to take charge of teaching their children, whether via home teaching or private schooling.

  When not with her children Jean develops Filemaker projects and websites and blogs about freedom and education and the Free State of New Hampshire.

• Stephen Cobb

  Soon after finishing a master's degree in engineering, Steve left his native southern California for more interesting weather in Leningrad (where he studied for a year), Udmurtia (where for three years he unsuccessfully searched for nuclear missiles prohibited under the INF Treaty), and later Kiev, Ukraine. Five years of socialism not being enough, he then spent six years in Germany. Freedom is invisible, like air--you only miss it when it is gone. Steve is a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party.

• Irena Goddard

  Irena was born in communist Czechoslovakia, and emigrated to the United States with her mother in 1982. She grew up in upstate New York, where she received a BA in Mathematics and Computer Science. After receiving her degree, she lived and worked as software implantation project manager in Europe, Australia and the United States. The Goddards relocated from San Francisco to Concord, New Hampshire in 2005. Irena likes to play basketball and loves to play chess.

• Jon Maltz

  Jon grew up in southern Florida before joining the U.S. Air Force and spending three years in England. He spent 13 years living in Massachuetss before moving to New Hampshire.




• Jason Sorens

  Is the founder, chair, and former president of the Free State Project. He grew up in Houston, Texas, received his B.A. in economics and philosophy from Washington and Lee University, and his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University, where he has taught full-time for two years. His academic work has been published in Electoral Studies, Comparative Political Studies, and Critical Review, and he is currently working on a book entitled Secession and Democracy. In the fall he begins a tenure-track assistant professor appointment at SUNY-Buffalo, where he hopes the snow will make him appreciate New Hampshire's climate.
  

• Varrin Swearingen

  Has been a libertarian since grade school and is one of three graduates of Pioneer Christian Academy, a school started and operated by Marshall Fritz (founder of the Advocates for Self-Government and the Alliance for the Separation of School and State). Varrin ran for Congress in 2002 for the LP and has served as chair and vice-chair for the LP of Fresno County. Varrin is a 2002 Lights of Liberty award winner, has been the subject of local and national news articles, and has been published online and in print. Varrin is a Christian, has been married to Edi for over 10 years and they have a 3 year-old son, Edison, and a 2 year-old daughter, Erin. He works as an airline pilot, is a musician, has traveled to 45 states and 36 territories and countries, and is currently enrolled as a student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University working on his BS in Professional Aeronautics.

• Andrew Del Vecchio

The current Local Groups coordinator. His duties include helping new members get in touch with their local FSP group, and to help motivated activists to start local groups in their area for the purposes of having fun, acting as a support network, and recruiting new movers to the "free state." Andrew has been involved with many pro liberty organizations, including the Libertarian Party, DownsizeDC.org, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He's also involved in other organizations such as the Rotaract Club, giving them a much needed freedom oriented perspective. Like hundreds of other Free Staters, he is involved with the technology sphere. Though that may be unoriginal, he has been working on a career in marketing, something that is both unique and useful to the movement. Andrew will earn a BA in Political Science in May 2008. To contact him, send an e-mail to localgroups@freestateproject.org.

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