Our Speakers
Senator Vickie Sawyer (R- Iredell, Mecklenburg)
Vickie Sawyer represents NC's 37th district, which includes Iredell County, the Town of Cornelius, and northern Huntersville. Her mission as a senator is to craft legislation that allows the citizens of her district the opportunity to realize the American Dream -- as she has. Vickie has taken the lead on a variety of issues important to her district, including transportation infrastructure, raising the age of child marriage in NC, and protecting schools and parents from the financial fleecing of high school athletics by its governing organization. Senator Sawyer is an honor graduate of UNC Charlotte and a NC Teaching Fellow. She serves on a number of committees in the NC Senate, most notably as chair of both the Senate Committee on Appropriations for the Department of Transportation and the Senate Transportation Committee.
John Drake
John Drake is vice president for transportation, infrastructure, supply chain policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business advocacy organization. Drake is responsible for representing the business community on transportation, infrastructure, and supply chain issues before Congress, the administration, the media, the business community, and other stakeholders.
Prior to joining the US Chamber, Drake served as Senior manager for public policy at Amazon and was Deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, at USDOT. He also spent nearly 10 years on Capitol Hill, including as a professional staff member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Transportation and Infrastructure committees. Earlier, he was the American Trucking Associations’ top representative to the Senate. Drake holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. David McLennan
David McLennan, Ph.D., is a professor of political science at Meredith College and the director of the Meredith Poll.
McLennan frequently serves as an expert analyst about politics for a variety of news outlets. He's been featured on C-SPAN’sWashington Journal, FOX News, Politico, Reuters, and Bloomberg. He frequently appears on WRAL-TV, Spectrum News, CBS North Carolina, and ABC 11 to discuss North Carolina and national politics. His op-eds have been published in U.S. News & World Report, The Hill,Congressional Quarterly Researcher, the News & Observer, and the Charlotte Observer.
In 2015, McLennan founded the Meredith Poll, a statewide survey of public opinion of North Carolina voters. He is a sought after guest speaker for corporations and organizations such as the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters, and Duke Energy.
Dr. McLennan holds a B.A. in Economics and Rhetoric and Communication Studies and an M.A. in Rhetoric and Communication Studies from the University of Virginia, as well as a Ph.D. in Communication Studies (Politics) from the University of Texas at Austin.
