Heritage member John Amanchukwu, shown here with his wife, believes strongly in Heritage's conservative mission.

Heritage Patriots Club member John Amanchukwu is the 27-year-old executive director of the Upper Room Christian Academy, a private school in Raleigh, NC that serves students pre-K through 12th grade.

A Christian first and a conservative second, John says he came to conservatism because of his biblical principles. Now that he is a father, leader, minister and school leader, he shares these same principles with the people that he serves.

John loves sharing conservative answers to today’s issues. The Heritage Foundation, he says, contributes to this love by providing information that helps conservatives frame their arguments.

Conservative ideas offer solutions to today’s problems, he argues:

For so long, people in my community have seen conservatives as people who are at worst racist or apathetic to the concerns of the African Americans community at best. There are racist conservatives, there are racist liberals; racism is not a political issue it is a moral one. I encourage people to see beyond the celebrities and personalities on both sides and look at the facts. The fact is the liberal agenda has given us a failing education system, policies that perpetuate cycles of poverty and punish achievement. When we focus on the issues, we find sensible solutions.

John’s involvement in conservative causes is not limited to Heritage. His church, Upper Room Church God in Christ, recently led a rally under the leadership Dr. Patrick L. Wooden Sr., pastor and founder of Upper Room Christian Academy, in favor of amending the state constitution to protect marriage.  Their efforts were successful and the people of North Carolina will have the opportunity to vote next summer.

John Amanchukwu and his children.

John left the pharmaceutical sales industry to work in Christian education because he believes education is the defining issue of our time. As he puts it:

America used to be the educational leader of the world. Currently, our education system ranks lower than some third world countries. We all know that dropout rates are high, but many students who attend schools in America often find themselves in environments that are not optimal for facilitating learning. Many students sit in crowded classrooms where the teachers unable to maintain discipline, where they have to deal with the threat of gangs and violence. Although failing in the area of basic education, many schools are taking on the agenda of promoting promiscuity, abortion and experimentation often times without parental knowledge or consent. What’s most troubling is that most parents do not have the option to make decisions to do what is best to prepare their young people for a highly competitive job market and entrepreneurship.

Playing football at NC State under Coach Chuck Amato provided him the opportunity to get an education while playing the game he loves. During his college years, he dedicated his life to Jesus Christ. Since then, living and sharing the gospel has been his calling and passion. John spends several hours a week at his church working with the youth and college students. He enjoys fishing, reading, traveling, and most of all spending quality time with his wife and children. John is also an avid music lover, and everyone who knows him knows that he loves to sing.

His mother raised four children on an income of $22,000. Although his parents were not wealthy, they were both hard-working and passed the legacy of their Christian faith and their strong work ethic on to their children. John is proud to note that despite his family’s humble beginnings, he and his older siblings are all college educated, gainfully employed and significant contributors to society.

This year, he and his wife will celebrate four wonderful years of marriage. They have two lovely children: John Patrick, who is two years old; and Pamelyn Jewel, who will be one in December.