The Founder & CEO of Johnny’s Ambassadors is Laura Stack, Johnny’s mom. Before losing Johnny, she was a successful 30-year businesswoman, professional speaker, and published author with two for-profit organizations.

In Laura’s Words: If you’re a regular visitor to Johnny’s Ambassadors blog, you no doubt know Johnny’s story, and the stimulus for my fight against marijuana use by young people. For those who may read this in other venues and don’t know me, I’m a concerned, grieving mother, who is active in the movement to discourage young people from using marijuana in any form until their brains are formed—and hopefully never. My family and I live in Colorado, one of the first states in America to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. This released a flood of pot onto our streets, and our government regulation failed to limit it to adult users. It soon spread like a plague into our adolescent population. Any high schooler can get high-potency dabs in five minutes here in Colorado.

Johnny had a 4.0 GPA and a perfect 800/800 score on the SAT math portion. He attended church and youth group and did regular family things. At 14, Johnny began smoking marijuana when he attended a high school party and wanted to try getting high with his friends. At 16, he moved on to dabbing high-THC products like wax and shatter. At 18, he experienced psychosis and delusional episodes, a suicide attempt, and by 19, full-blown schizophrenia (the psychosis didn’t resolve when the marijuana was withdrawn). Tragically, despite our repeated efforts at rehab and support, he refused to take the antipsychotic medication he now needed, and he died by suicide on November 20, 2019, convinced the mob was after him and “everyone knew everything about him.”

As Johnny said in his college essay describing his most important value, “To me, altruism means being selfless or giving to other people, even when there may be nothing to gain and something to lose. Altruistic people do things for the collective interest instead of their own.” Johnny’s Ambassadors are joined in altruistic solidarity to save the lives of our youth from the harms of marijuana.

“Forge ahead despite your pain and give meaning to your loss.” – Laura Stack

To learn more visit: johnnysambassadors.org

Luci Willits is an Idaho native and has called Boise "home" for almost two decades. She cares deeply about our Capital City and maintaining our Idaho lifestyle and amenities. 

She grew up in rural Idaho where her parents owned a small agricultural business. A graduate of Idaho State University, Luci has worked in both the public and private sectors and knows how to get things done. She currently works for an education research company where she is a senior vice president.

She is the mother of two grown daughters and has been married to Mike Willits for 25 years. She loves reading, watching witty media, traveling, and enjoying our Boise weather. 

To Learn More about Luci Willits visit:
https://www.luciwillits.com/

This conversation still has me reflecting on so many good points! David Bobb joined the Bill of Rights Institute as president in 2013 and has worked for twenty years at the intersection of civic engagement and education reform. Having taught courses in American politics and public policy in the history and political science departments of Boston College and Hillsdale College, he was also founding director of a national civic education program for high school teachers at Hillsdale College, as well as the Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Studies, in Washington, D.C. David has designed online educational programs used by more than half a million participants and is a nationally-recognized proponent of civic education that engages the hearts and minds of students. Author of Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America’s Greatest Virtue (HarperCollins, 2013), David has written for the Wall Street Journal and Fast Company, among many other publications. He earned his Ph.D. in political science from Boston College, where he received fellowships from the Pew, Earhart, and Bradley Foundations. 

Bill of Rights Institute
mybri.org