Helen Roy is a mother and writer, focusing on family policy, women’s issues, and culture. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Chinese Language from Wofford College as a Phi Beta Kappa.

Helen earned a Masters in Statecraft and National Security at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC, where she focused on communism and postcommunism while working under the Directorate of Analysis at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Helen is a fellow at the Claremont Institute for Political Philosophy, a featured author for Fairer Disputations, and a lifestyle editor at Blaze Media.

Currently, she hosts the podcast The Female of the Species (formerly Girlboss, Interrupted) and runs her Substack Roy House in Budapest (formerly Ladies’ Late Rome Journal).

Helen believes that family policy, aesthetics, as well as cultural narratives around marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, and friendship are foundational to national thriving, and hopes to play some part in revitalizing positive attitudes toward these things — building a more family-friendly America — through her work.

The Danube Institute was established by the Batthyány Lajos Foundation in 2013 in Budapest, with the aim of encouraging the transmission of ideas and people within the countries of Central Europe and between Central Europe, other parts of Europe, and the English-speaking world.

The Institute itself has been committed from its foundation to three philosophical loyalties: a respectful conservatism in cultural, religious, and social life, the broad classical liberal tradition in economics, and a realistic Atlanticism in national security policy. These ideals remain our lodestars.

Daniel Whitehead is a former Assistant General Counsel to Governor Ron DeSantis. He clerked for two federal appellate courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for Judge Daniel Manion and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for Judge Joseph Leo Toth. Daniel also worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

He is a John Marshall Fellow of the Claremont Institute and a Fellow of the James Wilson Institute.

Evelyn Whitehead grew up traveling the United States as the oldest of six in a proud Navy family. Evelyn’s parents sacrificed to provide their children with a wonderful Catholic education through Seton Home Study School.

Evelyn attended Franciscan University of Steubenville where she majored in Philosophy and participated in the Great Books Honors Program and the Dietrich von Hildebrand Project student fellowship. Some of the highlights of college included a semester-long study abroad spent in Gaming, Austria—one of the most beautiful places in the world. Her academic focus at Franciscan was personalism and phenomenology through the lens of John Paul II’s spirituality.

After a two-year academic hiatus, Evelyn accepted a scholarship to attend Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida. During law school, Evelyn served on the Ave Maria Law Review Executive Board, worked as a research assistant to Dean Emeritus Eugene Milhizer and Professor Stephen Mikochik, received the St. Raymond of Penyafort Commencement Award for Excellence in Writing, and graduated summa cum laude. Most importantly, Evelyn met her husband, Daniel, during the first week.

Before moving to Budapest with her husband, Evelyn clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for Judge Scott Laurer. Prior to that, she was the Associate Director for the Freedom of Thought Project and for Practice Groups at the Federalist Society. Evelyn is a Fellow of the Good Counselor Project with Napa Legal Institute, Americans United for Life, and the Dietrich von Hildebrand Project student fellowship program.

Axioma Center is a christian think tank that strivers to impact society through research, education and media that are grounded in faith and reason.

Their goal is to contribute to individual and social fulfillment, protect human dignity and promote the common good.

Charles Yockey is a policy analyst within the Manhattan Institute’s Centers for Legal Affairs and Constitutional Studies. In Budapest, he is a visiting researcher within Mathias Corvinus Collegium’s Center for International Law.

In the past, Yockey has worked in both the public and private sectors—he has held public policy fellowships, worked in investment banks, aided a federal prosecutor, and interned as a speechwriter for a U.S. Senator. In the future, he intends to attend law school in the United States. He aspires to promote greater transatlantic understanding by facilitating collaboration between the public and private sectors as a diplomat, financier, or policymaker.

The legacy of Roman law is understanding law as the “ the art of goodness and equity.” Accordingly, a lawyer not only examines past and interprets the present but ultimately shapes the future through the decisions and rules they make. Being a lawyer is a vocation with unique vision and a structured way of thinking. Thus, the primary goal of the MCC School of Law is to transmit the knowledge, ethos, culture, and practice necessary to excel in this profession.

MCC’s diverse range of courses provides knowledge and a way of thinking which cannot be obtained in a traditional university, giving our students a competitive edge on a national and international level.

András Cunningham is a Hungarian American who grew up in Bucharest, Romania, and attended the Ady Endre Preschool. Currently, he is a high school senior enrolled in the Visual and Performing Arts Program at Albert Einstein High School, Kensington, MD. Additionally, he is a member of the National Honors Society and has studied digital and studio art throughout high school. Moreover, he will begin his studies at the University of Maryland in the College Park Scholars program his major in Immersive Media and Design.

András’ passion for the digital arts developed when he first opened Adobe Photoshop and began to experiment with the tools within the program.

András speaks Hungarian, English, and Spanish. He has been spending his summers in Central and Eastern Europe to visit family and friends.

In his spare time, he enjoys fishkeeping, fishing, and skateboarding. He is interested in developing a career in digital art and design.

The Hungary Foundation is a solely charitable 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The Foundation pursues its mission and goals by supporting Hungarian-American organizations and by supporting programs that strengthen interaction and cooperation between Hungarian and American citizens and institutions. In particular, the Foundation is focused on supporting cultural, educational and scholarly activities. The Foundation does not participate in political activities, political or election campaigns.

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.