Newt Gingrich & Valerie Jarrett

Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, engaged in a dialogue on stage at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts in New Albany, Ohio on January 28, 2020, before students from 29 local schools from Columbus and Central Ohio. Organized with the New Albany Center for Civil Discourse and Debate, the program offered “A surprising level of civility between the woman who helped shape the Obama agenda and the man… credited with leading the Republican Revolution in 1994,” according to NBC news anchor Colleen Marshall.

The Jefferson Series is an annual lecture and educational event series in New Albany, Ohio, featuring nationally and internationally prominent speakers. Organized by the New Albany Community Foundation since 2014, the series has brought leaders in public affairs, international affairs, health, history and the arts to Central Ohio.

Intended to stimulate a lifelong learning, The Jefferson Series is named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, who founded the University of Virginia and believed that education and the free exchange of ideas were essential to the progress of democracy. Jefferson wrote in 1813, “Ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe.” The Jefferson Series programs are open to students from local school districts as well as the general public. Students have said that the experience of attending Jefferson Series events has changed their worldview, sparked their desire to learn, and inspired them to pursue ambitious career goals. Guest speakers also meet with students in smaller groups as part of a student lecture program in which more than 13,000 students have participated.

Valerie June Jarrett (née Bowman) is an American businesswoman and former government official. She served as the senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obamaand assistant to the president for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs from 2009 to 2017. Before that, she served as a co-chair of the Obama–Biden Transition Project.

Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich is an American politician and author who served as the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 6th congressional district serving north Atlanta and nearby areas from 1979 until his resignation in 1999. In 2012, Gingrich unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.