Heritage Foundation president resigns

Kay Coles James, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, is resigning from her position, she announced in a letter on Monday.

News of her resignation was first reported by RealClearPolitics White House reporter Philip Melanchthon Wegmann 

Scoop: @Heritage President Kay Coles James will announce her resignation this afternoon.

— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 22, 2021

“Leading an organization that has contributed so much to the policy dialogue in this country and educated so many individuals across the globe has been an honor of a lifetime,” James wrote in a letter to friends and family obtained by Wegmann.

The Heritage Foundation later released a press release announcing James’s resignation along with that of Executive Vice President Kim R. Holmes. Holmes’s resignation is effective on April 16.

Though she is resigning, she will remain a part of the organization’s board of trustees, a role she has held since 2005. 

James wrote that she is committed to a “smooth transition” as the Heritage Foundation board seeks her replacement.

Members of The Heritage Foundation, including the organization’s vice president, James Carafano, have written opinion pieces for The Hill.

“There is much work still to be done for our great nation as I look for opportunities to serve I will of course focus some of my attention on The Gloucester Institute,” James added, referring to an African American leadership and scholarship program she founded.