Charles Mitchell

Charles Mitchell

President & CEO

Charles Mitchell is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Commonwealth Foundation.

Charles grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs in a family of railroaders, teachers, and small business owners. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania’s public schools, Bucknell University, the Koch Associate Program, and the Claremont Institute’s Publius Fellowship.

Charles first became associated with the Commonwealth Foundation when he was a college newspaper editor under attack for defending free speech. He became a Commonwealth Foundation investor in 2006, joined the staff as Chief Operations Officer in 2010, and became CEO in 2016. During that time, he has been honored with the State Policy Network’s Overton Award and the Heritage Foundation’s Distinguished Intern Alumni Award and recognized as one of City & State Pennsylvania Forty Under 40 Rising Stars.

In addition to his Commonwealth Foundation responsibilities, Charles serves as an elder of his family’s church, a founder of Threefold Schoolhouse: An Acton Academy, president of the Open Discourse Coalition, and a board member of Americans for Fair Treatment and the Franklin News Foundation.

Charles lives in the Harrisburg area with his wife and their four daughters.

Education

Handouts Hurting Poor, Help Up a Better Way

  • Charles Mitchell
  • December 12, 2012

The holidays are a great time to be grateful for the gifts we've received.  And, as we remember well, fallen Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney claimed that some Americans have…

Commentary

Read More: Handouts Hurting Poor, Help Up a Better Way

Public Union Democracy

New York? Fuhgeddaboudit. Lansing!

  • Charles Mitchell
  • December 7, 2012

As I write this, most of Pennsylvania’s political glitterati has its mind on New York City, where the annual Pennsylvania Society gathering is underway. But my mind is on…

Media

Read More: New York? Fuhgeddaboudit. Lansing!

State Budget

Lowe’s Shows Dignity of Work, Helps Disabled

  • Charles Mitchell
  • October 11, 2012

The Union Party never minces words:  They believe the best way to help people is to grow government.  That’s the message they’ve brought to bear throughout the Corbett Administration,…

Media

Read More: Lowe’s Shows Dignity of Work, Helps Disabled

Public Union Democracy

Taxpayer Tornado Sweeps Through Kansas, Union Party Swept Away

  • Charles Mitchell
  • August 8, 2012

What’s one of the few things stranger than a CF staffer reading the Huffington Post? Easy.  A CF staffer reading on the Huffington Post about a great victory for the…

Media

Read More: Taxpayer Tornado Sweeps Through Kansas, Union Party Swept Away

Taxes & Economy

This Independence Day, You and I Have No Right

  • Charles Mitchell
  • July 4, 2012

This morning, spurred by a blog post by Bill Kristol, I’ve been reading an Independence Day oration given by the famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass in 1852, during the run-up to…

Media

Read More: This Independence Day, You and I Have No Right

Education

Temple Tuition Tamp-Down Shows Wake-Up Calls Work

  • Charles Mitchell
  • June 29, 2012

During last year’s budget season, I was pretty critical of Temple University for raising tuition by ten percent while its administrators joined in the Chicken Little routine (“The sky…

Media

Read More: Temple Tuition Tamp-Down Shows Wake-Up Calls Work

Education

Would You Rather Kids Share Books, or Get Booked?

  • Charles Mitchell
  • June 26, 2012

I’m writing right now from the road, specifically from the poorest city in America:  Reading, Pennsylvania.  Reading is one of the cities mentioned in today’s CF news release pointing…

Media

Read More: Would You Rather Kids Share Books, or Get Booked?

Education

The Patriot Can Do Better Than This…

  • Charles Mitchell
  • May 2, 2012

Our friends at The Patriot-News here in Harrisburg just posted an online poll that asks the following question: The state Senate has passed a school voucher bill that…

Media

Read More: The Patriot Can Do Better Than This…

Taxes & Economy

What Does the Primary Earthquake Mean?

  • Charles Mitchell
  • April 25, 2012

I’m writing to you from Pittsburgh, which was, in a certain sense, ground zero of last night’s primary earthquake. Last night, I watched Tom Smith—who has made it a matter…

Media

Read More: What Does the Primary Earthquake Mean?

Education

I’m Bringing Some Gumbo to the State Capitol

  • Charles Mitchell
  • April 5, 2012

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal refused to let government unions push him around.  His reward?  A sweet victory not just for himself, but for the taxpayers, parents, and students of…

Media

Read More: I’m Bringing Some Gumbo to the State Capitol

Health Care

Not Why I’m Here

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 30, 2012

“Why am I here?”  That’s an excellent question to ask yourself if you work in Harrisburg.  This week, as I read a piece by Karen Langley in the Pittsburgh…

Media

Read More: Not Why I’m Here

Education

Violent, Failing Schools Will Lead to Unsafe, Ailing America

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 21, 2012

That’s the upshot of a story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal.  It begins: Flaws in U.S. schools are increasingly causing a national-security risk, producing adults without the…

Media

Read More: Violent, Failing Schools Will Lead to Unsafe, Ailing America

Education

Principled, Punchy Pols Are Popular Pols

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 15, 2012

I’ve written previously in this space about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has garnered enormous popularity while governing courageously.  Today, with a new Quinnipiac poll about Gov.

Media

Read More: Principled, Punchy Pols Are Popular Pols

Education

It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ Money

  • Charles Mitchell
  • February 10, 2012

Over at PA Independent, Stacy Brown has an important story on the ongoing fight over Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal.  There, Duquesne University professor Antony Davies, a member of CF’s…

Media

Read More: It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ Money

Education

Not a Joke: Learn from Louisiana

  • Charles Mitchell
  • January 31, 2012

Here in Pennsylvania, we like to think we’re better than states like Louisiana.  Those folks used to have slaves, but our founder was a Quaker.  They’re poor, but we’re rich. …

Media

Read More: Not a Joke: Learn from Louisiana

Education

A Word on Hellholes

  • Charles Mitchell
  • December 8, 2011

As I got in the car yesterday to begin a very long drive home from Pike County, I learned of a letter Sen. Vincent Hughes had sent requesting that I…

Media

Read More: A Word on Hellholes

Education

Dear Reluctant Rural Republican…

  • Charles Mitchell
  • December 6, 2011

A friend just forwarded me some objections offered by a Republican member of the House of Representatives from a rural area who’s reluctant to support a comprehensive school choice bill…

Media

Read More: Dear Reluctant Rural Republican…

Education

Radical Reform Required…Now!

  • Charles Mitchell
  • December 2, 2011

My friend Nick Pandelidis, a physician and entrepreneur in York, has published an excellent piece on school choice in the York Daily Record.  After recounting much data, he concludes:…

Media

Read More: Radical Reform Required…Now!

Education

The Right Questions for Penn State

  • Charles Mitchell
  • November 23, 2011

Stacy Brown of the Pennsylvania Independent—which, in the interests of full disclosure, CF launched but no longer controls in any way—is asking the right questions this morning in his…

Media

Read More: The Right Questions for Penn State

Government Accountability

Thank You, Friends of Freedom

  • Charles Mitchell
  • November 23, 2011

Less than two weeks ago, CF announced to our supporters a goal of raising $225,000 by year’s end.  They have already supplied $54,487.76.  Talk about Thanksgiving…I’m thankful!  And if you would…

Media

Read More: Thank You, Friends of Freedom