Art Pope Named Chairman of Bradley Foundation | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was created by the staff for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    John Locke Foundation founder and former chairman Art Pope today was elected chairman of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, one of the nation's largest conservative grantmaking charitable organizations.

    Pope is the owner and chairman of Variety Wholesalers Inc., which owns and operates a chain of discount retail stores with 7,000 employees in 17 states. He's also chairman of the John William Pope Foundation, a family grantmaking foundation he has led since its creation in 1986. He was a member of the North Carolina General Assembly and, most recently, was the state budget director from 2013-14.

    "It is an honor to serve as chairman of the Bradley Foundation, an organization which does so much to strengthen the fabric of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the entire country," Pope said in a press release. "Dennis Kuester, the outgoing chairman, and Mike Grebe, our previous president, have done such excellent work and have left a fine example for me to follow. I look forward to continuing Dennis' valuable work."


Art Pope, newly elected chairman of the Bradley Foundation, pictured here at the John Locke Foundation's 25th anniversary celebration in 2015. (CJ file photo)

    The Bradley Foundation's vision "is for a nation invigorated by the principles and institutions that uphold our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Its mission is to restore, strengthen and protect the principles and institutions of American exceptionalism. The core principles which guide the Foundation's grant making include a commitment to free markets; fidelity to the Constitution with its principles of limited government, federalism, separation of powers and individual liberties; commitment to the fundamental institutions of civil society that cultivate individuals capable of self-governance; and dedication to the formation of informed and capable citizens."