Jim Lakely

Jim Lakely is the Interim President and Director of Communications of The Heartland Institute.

Reporters, editors, producers, and hosts can reach Jim to book a Heartland interview at jlakely@heartland.org or via text/call to his mobile: 312-731-9364.

 Backup contacts: Billy Aouste (email), Keely Drukala (email)

Heartland's Board of Directors elected Lakely Interim President in June 2019.

Prior to joining Heartland in 2008, Lakely spent 16 years in daily-deadline journalism. He covered Capitol Hill and was a member of the White House Press Corps from The Washington Times covering the George W. Bush administration. Lakely has appeared on C-SPAN, the Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNN, and many national and local television and radio news programs. He’s been an editorial writer and columnist for the Tribune-Review in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Virginia; and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.

He often serves as “master of ceremonies” at The Heartland Institute's public events, and manages the creation and production of Heartland's major conferences, such as the International Conferences on Climate Change, the America First Energy Conference, and Heartland's annual benefit dinners. Lakely also led Heartland's 2015 contingents to Rome to bring climate realism to Pope Francis, and the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP-21) in Paris. Lakely can speak with authority on environment and climate issues from a “climate realist” perspective, as he has to various audiences around the world.

Lakely's opinion pieces have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Washington Examiner, American Thinker, Breitbart, Daily Caller, and many other publications around the world. He has shared his insight on politics and policy on many nationally syndicated radio programs.

He is executive producer (and occasional host) of the Heartland Daily Podcast, which listeners downloaded 3.2 million times in 2018. He supervises the production of Heartland's public policy videos, including “Flashes of Freedom” and “In the Tank.” He is also the editor-in-chief of Heartland's blog, Freedom Pub, and a contributing author at Ricochet.

Born in New York City, Lakely spent his formative years in Dayton, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1992 with a degree in English Writing. Lakely is an avid fan of the Steelers, Penguins and his beloved Pitt Panthers.

Follow Jim's personal tweets on Twitter (@jlakely). Also follow @HeartlandInst on Twitter, as well as Heartland's Facebook page, YouTube Channel, and Instagram account to keep up with the organization.