David Harmer is chief executive officer of Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. An attorney by training and teacher by temperament, he has litigated, published, and spoken in defense of personal and economic freedoms recognized by the U.S. Constitution.

A graduate of Brigham Young University, David was counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. After private practice at one of the nation’s largest law firms, he served as counsel to several major financial institutions.

Inspired by his father, who served as lieutenant governor of California under Ronald Reagan, David twice won nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives, turning previously uncompetitive districts into hotly contested battlegrounds.

David and his wife, Elayne, have four children and a brand-new granddaughter. Their daughter-in-law won the silver medal in vault at the Tokyo Olympics.

Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge was established in 1949 to create and build an understanding of America’s founding ideals, as elucidated in her founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. 

Under the leadership of founding chairman General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Foundation built a magnificent 72-acre campus bordering Valley Forge National Historical Park.

During the school year, Freedoms Foundation brings high-school students from around the nation to Valley Forge for intensive 4- to 6-day programs on the history, ideals, and continuing relevance of the American founding.

During the summer, the Foundation provides week-long, college-accredited, graduate-level, professional-development courses for K-12 teachers.

Participants explore the rights of citizenship—and the corresponding responsibilities. They emerge not merely informed, but transformed; not merely instructed, but inspired.