Liberty Fellowship kicks off 20th anniversary year, announces Legacy Partners

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Liberty Fellowship, a dynamic and diverse network of 350 leaders across South Carolina, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with special activities and initiatives over the next 12 months that will culminate in a celebration event April 24 – 27, 2025 in Greenville. To kick off the year, Liberty Fellowship has released a commemorative video and logomark in addition to an interactive timeline of the organization’s history.

Our History

Liberty Fellowship Over Time

2003

A deep love of South Carolina, steadfast faith in its leaders, and a conviction that change is possible led Anna Kate and Hayne Hipp to found Liberty Fellowship in collaboration with Wofford College and The Aspen Institute. Seasoned business executive Jennie Johnson, as Executive Director, and Wofford President Bernie Dunlap are instrumental in designing the Fellowship experience.

Did You Know

Hayne Hipp was CEO of Liberty Corporation, a publicly held organization that included insurance companies and television stations with additional investments in media, real estate and technology ventures. Hayne’s grandfather, W. Francis Hipp, started the company in 1919 with headquarters at 135 South Main Street, which remains part of the Greenville skyline. Liberty Fellowship, along with the iconic Liberty Bridge in Falls Park, were named in honor of the company and the Hipp family.

2004

The first-ever Liberty Fellowship Class is selected from a pool of 250 nominations. The first Class begins their seminar series modeled in the Aspen Institute style of moderated, text-based dialogue. Members for the founding Board of Directors are selected.

Did You Know

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the US and around the world. Liberty Fellowship is one of 13 Fellowships in the Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN), a growing worldwide community of 4,000 entrepreneurial leaders from over 60 countries.

2008

The 5th Class of Fellows is selected and begins their seminar series. Liberty Fellowship grows into a network of 100 leaders across the state and holds the first Multi-Class Reunion, a gathering for the full network of Fellows.

Did You Know

The Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network is a diverse Mosaic of established leaders with a wide range of professional affiliations. Currently, 76% of Fellows are from the business sector, 12% are from the public sector, and 12% are from the private sector.

2011

Bringing together Fellows, Mentors, and almost 1,000 other South Carolinians with a desire for change, the Liberty Fellowship Summit features speaker Walter Isaacson. Following his remarks on Transcending Tribalism, participants spend the afternoon forming action groups and delving into the details of confronting some of South Carolina’s most intractable problems in the areas of education, economic development, health, environment, and public policy.

2014

Liberty Fellowship celebrates 10 years! The second Multi-Class Reunion is held, and Liberty Fellow Luanne Runge (’09) is named the successor to the first Executive Director of Liberty Fellowship, Jennie Johnson.

2016

Multi-Class Reunions become Multi-Class Gatherings. These network gatherings continue biennially and give Fellows the opportunity to connect across Classes and participate in shorter seminar experiences.

The first all-Fellows Board begins leading the organization, marking the transition to a Fellows-led organization.

2018

The required seminar series for new Fellows is expanded to include the Call to Action seminar. Designed as the capstone of the 18-month experience, this 5th seminar brings Fellows together as a class specifically to make plans for generational impact in South Carolina.

2019

Liberty Fellowship celebrates fifteen years! The 15th Class of Fellows is selected and begins their seminar series. The Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network grows to 300 leaders throughout South Carolina.

Liberty Fellow Ann Marie Stieritz (’16) is named President & CEO of Liberty Fellowship.

Did You Know

Each new Liberty Fellow is required to create an individual impact venture. Liberty Fellows have worked individually and collectively through the network to confront some of the most difficult challenges in society. Together, they are working toward creating a better South Carolina for all—and their impact can be seen and felt statewide.

2020

As in-person gatherings pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network is convened virtually through Class check-ins and topic-specific webinars. Communication initiatives are launched to inform and inspire the Fellowship.

Three Liberty Fellows are added to the Fellowship’s Board of Directors, and committees are formed to grow the Fellowship through Governance, Fundraising and Fellow Engagement.

2021

Having grown into a robust network of more than 300 Fellows, the Fellowship creates new programming designed to connect and engage the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network.

The Continuing the Journey Seminar is created for the network to re-convene around the seminar table.

The Connected Conversations program is created for the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network to connect for one-on-one meetups and conversations.

Did You Know

Liberty Fellowship is a lifelong commitment, and the network remains engaged with one another long after the initial seminar series is complete. For example, new Fellows working on individual impact ventures are connected with Fellows in the network who help to refine the venture ideas and address any challenges. For the three most recent Classes of Fellows, 254 connections and consultancies were facilitated.

2024

Liberty Fellowship celebrates 20 years, and the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network grows to 350 Fellows!

The 17th Class of Fellows begins their seminar series.

“As a member of the first class of Fellows, I have witnessed the incredible growth of Liberty Fellowship since its founding. It is exciting that we are taking the next 12 months to recognize how the Fellowship has shaped South Carolina’s leaders and the positive impact it has created for communities across the state,” said Betsy Fleming, chair of the Liberty Fellowship Board of Directors. “Even more important than a celebration, we see this moment as an inflection point and an opportunity to explore how Liberty Fellowship will continue to evolve and have an impact in the state. We are just getting started.”

BlueCross® BlueShield® of South Carolina, Boeing, and SouthState Bank are supporting the yearlong celebration as 20th Anniversary Legacy Partners in recognition of the Fellowship’s impact in South Carolina since its founding.

“We are so grateful to our Legacy Partners for helping to make this milestone year possible,” said Kerri Forrest, vice-chair of the Liberty Fellowship Board of Directors. “Their support is an important recognition of the value of the Fellowship experience and the individual and collective impact Fellows continue to have in communities across the state.”

FAST FACTS

Liberty Fellowship was founded by South Carolina businessman Hayne Hipp and his wife Anna Kate in partnership with Aspen Institute and Wofford College to create a better future for all people in South Carolina.
The first class of Fellows was announced in 2004. The Fellowship has grown into a dynamic and diverse network of 350 leaders.
Each Liberty Fellow completes a rigorous, 18-month curriculum and an individual impact venture before joining the Liberty Fellowship South Carolina Network.
Liberty Fellowship is a lifelong commitment. Through the Fellowship’s affiliation with Aspen Institute, all Liberty Fellows are members of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
76% of Liberty Fellows are professionally affiliated with the business sector, 12% with the nonprofit sector, and 12% with the public sector.

WHAT LIBERTY FELLOWS ARE SAYING

No matter what your political background is or no matter what your past life experiences have been, it teaches you how you can use those and move society forward in a positive way.

J.E.B. Wilson (’20)

Managing Partner

Cotton Hills Farm

You have a brotherhood or sisterhood that is there for you at a moment’s notice. You become a part of this team that wants the best for the state and for the country.

Seema Shrivastava (’23)

Chairwoman

South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control

It’s given me more courage to make difficult decisions. It’s given me more courage to not always make the decision that makes the most people happy, but the decision that’s the right decision.

Leighton Lord (’08)

President and Chief Strategy Officer

Maynard Nexsen

When I came out of the seminars, I was so confident and I was enthusiastic, and I was ready, because my Fellows had given me that strength to understand that I can tackle problems, and I can resolve conflicts, and I can and be supported as I do that.

Bridget Laird (’16)

Chief Executive Officer

WINGS

Our moderators have found a way to encourage this type of discussion in this type of controlled environment to be able to have civil discourse and at the end, still find our commonality.

James Jordon (’23)

President

Jordon Construction Company and Jordon Development Company

We need leaders in this country, in this state, and in all of our communities that look at the world differently and understand it’s not just about me today, it’s about a long-term future.

Sam Erwin (’11)

Executive Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional President

First Horizon

What Liberty does is create an environment in which it is safe to both share and to disagree, which is not something I think we do well in modern American discourse.

Kacey Eichelberger (’18)

Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Prisma Health

I didn’t expect it. Nobody does, but it’s a really powerful experience, and it’s changed me permanently.

Jim Stritzinger (’06)

Director

South Carolina Broadband Office

ABOUT LIBERTY FELLOWSHIP

Liberty Fellowship is the only state-based Fellowship program of its kind in the United States. The Fellowship activates individual leaders through a deeper understanding of a just, free and equitable society; serves as a convener for bringing together diverse perspectives to advance civil discourse; and provides infrastructure for taking action. Through the Fellowship’s affiliation with Aspen Institute, Liberty Fellows also become members of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. There are 350 Liberty Fellows working individually and collaboratively across South Carolina.

ABOUT THE ASPEN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP NETWORK

The AGLN at Aspen Institute is a growing, worldwide community of nearly 4,000 high-integrity, entrepreneurial leaders from over 60 countries who share a commitment to values-based leadership and to using their creativity, energy and resources to tackle the foremost societal challenges of our times. Because of their demonstrated accomplishment and abilities, they have been selected to join one of 13 geographic or sector-specific AGLN Fellowships around the world. Fellows convene annually at the AGLN’s flagship event, the Resnick Aspen Action Forum. For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org/agln.