ANDY PUZDER JOINS AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE AS SENIOR FELLOW

Washington, D.C. – Today, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) announced Andy Puzder will serve as a Senior Fellow and work closely with AFPI’s policy teams to advance economic policies that put American families, workers, and communities first.

“Andy is not only a brilliant lawyer, but he is also an incredibly successful businessman, and we are so grateful to have him join the AFPI family,” explained Brooke L. Rollins, AFPI’s President and CEO. “Andy hasn’t just talked about creating jobs. He’s done it for decades. He understands what it means to grow a business while investing in the communities and individuals surrounding it. He also understands that individual liberty and freedom are essential to creating opportunity for all Americans.”

Upon joining AFPI as a Senior Fellow, Andy Puzder noted, “It is an absolute honor to join this incredible team of patriots and work together to advance the transformative policies that put America first. As I’ve seen firsthand, America is at its best when Americans are working. And that doesn’t mean receiving checks from the government. That means living in a country where hard work is valued and rewarded. That’s what I want for my grandchildren, and that’s why the work we are doing at AFPI is so important, not only for policy battles today but also for our Nation’s future.”

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Andrew Puzder is from Brentwood, Tennessee, and serves as a Senior Fellow at AFPI. Previously, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of CKE Restaurants, where he helped turn Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. into the fast-food powerhouses that they are today. He started his journey with CKE as founder Carl Karcher’s personal attorney in 1986; Puzder became CEO in 2000 and led the company out of serious financial difficulties. Under his leadership, CKE expanded to more than 3,800 restaurants globally. Puzder is a frequent lecturer on economics and politics for various groups and associations as well as at colleges and universities. He is a Senior Fellow at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy, a Visiting Fellow for business and economic freedom at the Heritage Foundation, a member of the Reagan Institute’s National Leadership Council, and a director at the Job Creators Network. He is also a member of the Washington University Law School’s Board of Advisors, the State Financial Officers Foundation’s National Advisory Committee, and the Advisory Board at Prager University. In 2021 he was named Chairman of the Board at 2ndVote Advisers, an investment firm formed in response to the stakeholder capitalism and environmental and social governance movements. In 2010, he co-authored a book titled Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It. His second book, The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left’s Plot to Stop It, was published in April 2018. As a teenager, he was expelled from high school in 1967 for long hair and took a couple of years off from college in the 1970s to play in rock & roll bands.