The Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees reaffirmed its support for President Kevin Roberts at a recent meeting as the think tank continues to roil from an exodus of staff and senior leadership.
In this month alone, trustee John Coleman, senior policy analyst Daniel Flesch, director Diana Furchtgott-Roth, and donor relations director Max Morrison have departed Heritage.
Furchtgott-Roth, a renowned expert on transportation, had been Heritage's director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment.
As Newsmax recently reported, the number of senior staff members, fellows, and trustees who have departed exceeds 60. (Heritage disputes the number and says it is closer to 30.)
Five board members have quit Heritage since last October, when Roberts made an impassioned defense of Tucker Carlson's interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Roberts would later apologize for his video defending Carlson and Fuentes, but withheld criticism of the podcaster.
Coleman, a trustee since 2022, said in a statement posted on Heritage Chief Advancement Officer Andy Olivastro's X account: "My natural board term ended and given other growing commitments, I elected not to be renewed."
Heritage echoed Coleman's remarks, posting on X that his term "expired at the February meeting and he rolled off at that time, to focus on other expanding commitments ... We are grateful for his service."
Flesch, a former Israel Defense Forces paratrooper who spent two years at Heritage, did not respond to Newsmax's request for comment.
But according to his updated X profile, he is now executive director of the Defense Technology Alliance.
Morrison, who joined Heritage in 2018, announced on LinkedIn that he is "thrilled" to be joining the America First Policy Institute as the senior director of development.
"I'm grateful to be at the preeminent institution of its kind having an impact to put the American people first," he wrote. "It's good to be in the fight."
Meeting with staff in the ballroom of Heritage's Washington headquarters earlier this month, the board, led by Chairwoman Barb Van Andel-Gaby, addressed employees and confirmed that she and the remaining trustees were standing by Roberts, even as the organization continues to face internal upheaval.
Roberts has refused to criticize or condemn Carlson for his many antisemitic statements or dissociate Heritage from the podcaster. His stance has fueled months of unrest inside Heritage.
At the meeting, Van Andel-Gaby thanked remaining staff for weathering what she called ongoing "disruptions," language that angered many employees, according to the source.
She also made clear the board would continue backing Roberts.
A Heritage spokesperson told Newsmax, "It is true that our generous trustees offered to sponsor a lunch for Heritage staff while they were on site for board meetings. Any insinuation that staff are required to wear a 'big smile' ... is absurd."
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