Kristan was hired in 2006 to become Students for Life of America’s (SFLA) first Executive Director. Since launching SFLA’s full-time operation, Kristan has helped more than double the number of campus pro-life groups in the United States, from 181 to over 500, by launching SFLA’s Full-Time Field Program. In addition to managing SFLA’s staff and daily operations, Kristan serves as the organization’s official spokeswoman and has appeared multiple times on Fox News, CNN, and the Christian Broadcasting Network; she has also been quoted in numerous national and regional newspapers.
Kristan Hawkins Speaks to Buffalo Pro-Lifers from Kristan Hawkins on Vimeo.
Kristan currently hosts the radio show “On Campus with Students for Life” on National Pro-life Radio and writes a monthly column for The Church Report. Kristan also speaks to youth and adult pro-life organizations across the country training pro-life activists in how to end abortion in America. Most recently, Kristan is known for her work leading the successful Stop the Abortion Mandate Coalition which brought together over 70 pro-life and pro-family leaders in a national coalition dedicated to stopping government funding of abortion in healthcare reform. In addition, she launched HealthcareforGunner.com in June of 2009, a website dedicated to her son Gunner who suffers from cystic fibrosis, to raise the issue of healthcare rationing in a government healthcare systems.
Kristan came to SFLA after serving as a political appointee in the George W. Bush administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Previously, she also worked for the 2004 Bush/Cheney re-election campaign and at the Republican National Committee. Kristan founded and served as President of both her high school and college pro-life organizations. Kristan first became involved with the pro-life movement after volunteering for a Pregnancy Resource Center during her high school years.
Since working at SFLA, Kristan has been awarded the Susan B. Anthony Young Leader Award, the Dr. William Hogan Education Award for pro-life leadership, and the 2009 Weyrich Youth Leadership Award. In the fall of 2009, Kristan’s work and passion for the unborn was featured in the Washington Examiner’s Credo column as well as the Arlington Catholic Herald.
Kristan is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Bethany College in West Virginia. She resides in Martinsburg, West Virginia with her husband, Jonathan, and 1 year-old son Gunner. She is expecting her 2nd son in April of 2010.
For up-to-date information regarding Kristan, be sure to check out her website: www.KristanHawkins.com.