WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Independent Women announced its 2025 class of visiting fellows.
For decades, Independent Women has offered fellowships to rising stars in the conservative and freedom movement that align with its mission and ideals to preserve and advance opportunity and well-being. Independent Women’s new class is no exception, featuring outstanding women from a variety of backgrounds, including those who have worked in education, cybersecurity, health care, and more.
“We are proud to welcome such a diverse and impressive cohort of visiting fellows to Independent Women in 2025. Throughout the course of the 12-month program, fellows will receive invaluable media and writing experience. They will have the opportunity to utilize their extensive expertise to help advance pro-woman, pro-liberty policies,” said Heather Madden, Independent Women’s policy staff director.
These fellows will be working on a wide range of policy priorities, including removing barriers to worker flexibility; ensuring safe and secure communities; delivering patients upfront, transparent healthcare prices; restoring U.S. energy independence; funding students, not systems; and making the cost of living and child and elder care more in reach for all Americans. Our fellows will also contribute to IW Features, Independent Women’s Forum’s grassroots storytelling and original journalism program, to demonstrate how policies impact real people.
The 2025 Independent Women’s Forum Fellows Class:
Dr. Chloe Carmichael is a clinical psychologist, internationally known speaker, and USA Today bestselling author. She is a leading expert on anxiety and stress management. Her book, Nervous Energy: Harness the Power of Your Anxiety, was endorsed by Deepak Chopra and Jim McCann, founder of 1-800-Flowers. As a clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Chloe highly prizes freedom of speech and freedom of thought. She has given psychologist’s commentaries and opinions related to independent thinking, and has previously guested on shows like Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham, Tim Pool’s TimCast IRL, and interviews with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit, covering subjects like free speech, gender issues, and toxic culture. Dr. Chloe was also recently featured in the PragerU documentary on (the myth of) toxic masculinity. She also appears regularly in national media including ABC Nightline, Inside Edition, VH1, Vanity Fair, New York Times and many others. Dr. Chloe joins Independent Women’s Forum as a visiting fellow.
Reagan Reese is the White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller. She previously served as an education reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation. Before that, she graduated from Hillsdale College with a degree in Rhetoric and Public Address as well as Journalism. Reese captained Hillsdale’s Division II softball team where she won multiple conference championships. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a visiting fellow.
Jennifer Galardi has been a leading voice and influencer in the health and wellness industry for over 20 years with both a B.A. (Washington and Lee University) and Master’s degree (Pepperdine) in Public Policy. By bringing together her knowledge and experience across multiple disciplines including fitness, yoga, meditation and nutrition, Ms. Galardi has helped thousands of people find their path to good health and radiant, purposeful living. She produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, and policy to bring more common sense to listeners to help them make informed decisions and arrive at a cohesive and ordered worldview. Jennifer is committed to sharing her knowledge and experience in the policy arena to affect healthcare change and help America return to first principles and the natural rights of human flourishing. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a visiting fellow.
Kylee Griswold is the managing editor of The Federalist. She previously worked as the copy editor for the Washington Examiner magazine and as an editor and producer at National Geographic. She holds a B.S. in communication arts/speech and an A.S. in criminal justice and writes on topics including feminism and gender issues, religion, and the media. Kylee joins Independent Women as an IW Features contributor.
Kelly Garcia has spent her career in education, beginning in 2009 as a Teach for America Corps member in Houston, Texas. She went on to teach for another 8 years in charter, public and private schools in Florida with a deep interest in at-risk youth. In 2023, Kelly founded a new nonprofit organization, GuidEd, based in Tampa, Florida with the support of the Garcia Family Foundation to help families find and enroll in a school that works for them. Currently, Kelly serves as the Board Chair. In 2023, Kelly was appointed to the State Board of Education by Governor DeSantis after serving as a Trustee on the Board of Florida Virtual School. She also sits on the Board of Directors of Frameworks of Tampa Bay, a local nonprofit that trains teachers and adult stakeholders on emotional intelligence skills. Kelly holds her B.A. in Politics from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and her MBA from The University of Florida. Kelly joins Independent Women’s Forum as an Education Freedom Center visiting fellow.
Tiffany Polifko is a licensed behavior analyst and specializes in the development of treatment plans targeting the cognitive, social, and behavioral development of children with autism. She has extensive experience advocating for special needs children and their families as a former behavior technician and special education teacher. Tiffany served on the Loudoun County School Board from 2022-2023 after winning a special election for a one-year term. She worked passionately to defend parents’ rights, rid schools of curriculum that indoctrinates children instead of educating them, and fought back against special interest groups benefiting at the expense of students and teachers. Tiffany has made media appearances on Steve Bannon’s War Room, Newsmax, Larry O’Connor, Vince Coglianese, Fox 5 D.C., WJLA, and the New American podcast. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a visiting fellow.
Krysia Lenzo is the Executive Director of Harvard in Technology. She is a former NASDAQ reporter with prior experience in journalism at CNBC, Fox Business, Cheddar and Conde Nast. She has previously reported on IPOs, earnings and national security issues at those outlets. Krysia is a J.D. graduate from Fordham University School of Law where she specialized in cyber crime and intellectual property law. At FNC, she contributed to the reporting at the Northeast Bureau of court cases which included El Chapo, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. She holds degrees in Business and Economic reporting from New York University, a law degree from Fordham University and Harvard University with a concentration in Government. Krysia joins Independent Women’s Forum as an Independent Women’s Law Center visiting fellow.
Nicole Kiprilov is a New Yorker who graduated in 2019 from Duke with a double B.A. in Political Science and French, a specialization in political theory, a minor in Philosophy, and a certification in Philosophy Politics and Economics (PPE). Nicole is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Military Excellence and leads several initiatives at The America Fund focused on fighting for the America-First movement. She worked at the NYS Senate as a Legislative Director and Communications Director, the NYC Council as a Chief of Staff, and also as the Press Secretary and Political Spokesperson to the House GOP Conference Chair. She has managed state and local races, and chaired the Campaigns Committee and Women’s Caucus at the New York Young Republican Club for 3.5 years. Nicole is a contributor on Newsmax and One America News, writes for several publications, and is a guest speaker on communications strategy and professional development. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a Center for American Safety and Security visiting fellow.
Taylor Hathorn has over 10 years of experience in cybersecurity, policy, public relations, and non-profit management. She has received awards including the University of Tennessee’s 40 under 40 and the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association’s (AFCEA) 40 under 40. Taylor has taught leadership courses as an undergraduate lecturer, and currently serves as a guest lecturer for college campuses, recruiting strategic communications and policy students to the cybersecurity space. As a Gold Star sister, Taylor is passionate about veteran services initiatives supporting organizations such as Gold Star Families, Mission 22, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Gold Star Teens, Wreaths Across America, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. Taylor has served as a TNAchieves mentor, a big sister in Big Brothers Big Sisters of East Tennessee, and as a member of Junior League of Washington, D.C./Knoxville where she advocated on Nashville’s Capitol Hill for more robust state policies focused on reducing domestic violence, providing resources, and removing roadblocks for survivors. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a Center for American Safety and Security visiting fellow.
Hannah Becker is the Vice President at Becker Digital – a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and Adjunct Professor of Cyberwarfare at Norwich University. She specializes in guiding public sector organizations as they navigate challenges at the intersection of people and technology. As a Professor of Practice, she has taught Computer Science, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Management, and Organizational Behavior courses at Virginia Military Institute, Ottawa University, and other colleges. In 2023, she was selected as a Non-Resident Fellow at Joint Special Operations University, where she researched Cyberwarfare and Strategic Influence capabilities. Additionally, she serves on the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA) Cyber Committee, publishing research on emerging cyber threats, cyber education, and digital transformation strategies across sectors. As a military spouse, Hannah has spent the past 15 years advocating for the needs of the modern military and veteran community. Hannah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Animal and Dairy Science from Mississippi State University, a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from American Public University, a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) from Florida Institute of Technology. She joins Independent Women as a Center for American Safety and Security visiting fellow.
Chloe Anagnos is a second-generation American wife, mother, digital strategist, and writer. Anagnos began her career in digital communications and fundraising for political campaigns in Indiana, Texas, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Nebraska. She is a 2016 Trump campaign digital alumna and worked on the team that made history by raising a quarter of a billion in small-dollar donations. Since then, she has worked with teams to develop marketing and communications strategies for small businesses, public figures, and think tanks. Currently, she is the director of marketing and communications at America’s Future. Anagnos writes extensively about free enterprise, policy, and culture. Her bylines include Entrepreneur, Epoch Times, Evie Magazine, the Foundation for Economic Education, the American Institute for Economic Research, among many others. She earned two degrees from Ball State University in journalism and telecommunications. She joins Independent Women’s Forum as a Center for Economic Opportunity visiting fellow.