Born in London to an American father and an Australian mother, James has a multicultural background that is defined strongly by his mother’s Hungarian roots. James’s maternal grandparents met en route to Australia in a Hungarian refugee camp in 1952/1953. Their story has inspired James’s interest in the strong presence of Hungarian communities in the English-speaking world, including the impressive rate of representation that people of Hungarian origin enjoy at the highest levels of international industry, academia, and the performing arts.

James completed his undergraduate degree at Yale University, where he double-majored in Global Affairs and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations. He also studied Piano Performance at the Yale School of Music. James has a particular interest in American foreign policy and international law, and while at Yale he spent summers interning at embassies and think tanks in Washington D.C. In his final year at Yale, he completed a project on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which ignited his desire to study the politics of Central Europe more closely. It was through his participation in the “War Studies Program,” hosted jointly by the Hertog Foundation and the Institute for the Study of War in Washington D.C., that James was introduced to the Budapest Fellowship Program.

Born to a family on the move, Meg grew up in Dallas, Texas, and the Middle East. Raised with a deep appreciation for knowledge and American tradition, she has had the fortune of living many lives. She began her professional career by training as a medical doctor (in an M.B.B.S. program) only to realize that she was called to serve with the pen – not the scalpel.

After graduating with an M.A. in the humanities from Dartmouth College, Meg actively engaged with New England politics. She has held progressively responsible leadership positions in the center-right public policy sphere, most recently serving as president of the Ethan Allen Institute in Vermont.

Meg created a politics-focused local television program called “Dialogues with Meg Hansen,” and has been a frequent columnist in regional newspapers. She owns a communications firm, which promotes civic engagement through multimedia initiatives and innovative art. Her love of aesthetics led her to earn a Master’s degree in material culture studies from the Polimoda Institute of Design in Florence, Italy along with work experience in the European sustainable fashion industry. She is a published poet and Romantic at heart.

John Wesley Reid is a native of Southern California who never took interest in a political career as a youth. But after studying political science at Biola University and theology at Liberty University just south of Washington D.C., he realized the imperative need for Christians in the political sphere.

In 2017, John moved to Washington D.C., as a producer with the Christian Broadcasting Network. In this capacity, he focused on the Supreme Court, free speech, and the intersection of faith values in legislation. In his journalism career, John has covered landmark Supreme Court cases such as Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado, Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health, 303 Creative v. Elenis, and several more. John has interviewed many members of Congress and political influencers such as Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Megan Basham, Andrew Klavan, and Kristen Waggoner, among many others.

As a community of law students and lawyers who are open to the world and ready to take action, the MCC School of Law strives to prepare students with extensive social connections and social commitments for a successful career in law. They operate a multi-year, comprehensive professional training and talent development system that delivers a meaningful and exciting academic experience.

Paul’s education includes a bachelor’s in English at Liberty University, an experience which deeply changed his life for the better and brought him on the path to the Fellowship in the coming years. While at Liberty, he was a part of several mission trips to Romania, which eventually led him to develop an interest in Eastern and Central Europe. He later went to the Czech Republic for several months to obtain a TEFL degree.

The Youth Research Institute was established in 2021 in cooperation between Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) and Nézőpont Institute. MCC is committed to the mission of community building, and understanding generations, especially young people, is a key element to this. As a 25-year-old institution for talent development, MCC has always been involved in social research, but the focus on youth research has been brought even more into focus. The newly created institute has been involved in the educational activities of MCC, and it also intends to have an impact on the professional community through publications, the development of professional partnerships and well-planned, regular media appearances. They also plan to regularly publish research outcomes in peer-reviewed international journals and to build international relations with institutes with a similar profile. The Youth Research Institute seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the mindset of the young generation that is in the focus of the activities of MCC.
The Institute currently has six staff members, led by Levente Székely, a sociologist who also directs the work at the MCC Center for Sociology.

Lilla Nóra Kiss is a Post-Graduate Visiting Research Fellow at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University. Lilla completed her JD in 2015 at the University of Miskolc, Hungary. During her doctoral studies, she undertook the General and Juridical Mediator course and immersed herself in several international law programs (the Regional Academy on the United Nations (RAUN); the Academy of European Law (AEL) summer schools at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Lilla completed her doctorate in 2018 and defended her thesis on the legal issues of Brexit in 2019. In 2020, she completed her third degree in European and International Business Law LLM at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary. In addition to her academic studies, Lilla conducted lectures and seminars on European law, in both English and Hungarian.

She also served as a senior counselor specializing in EU law at the Ministry of Justice, State Secretariat for European Union Affairs in Budapest. As such, she has provided legal advice on institutional matters between the EU and the Member States, on the Future of Europe Conference, and some special topics including social media, which inspired her to apply to the Hungary Foundation’s Liberty Bridge Program. During her one-year post-doctoral research she will undertake a comparative analysis on how the US and the EU approach regulating social media.

The Antonin Scalia Law School is located just a few miles from downtown Washington, D.C., the nexus for the creation of the world’s most important legislation and jurisprudence.

During the past decade, the law school has been in the forefront of curricular innovation. Recognizing the rapid changes that are occurring in legal practice and the legal profession, Scalia Law School has been a pioneer in providing its students with an unique curriculum that gives students correspondingly unique advantages in today’s competitive employment market.