This week, we were blessed to interview our Director of Campus Events and Patriot Experiences & Leadership Congress Specialist, Janessa Pogue. Janessa is such an amazing member of the team and brings life, joy, and laughter wherever she goes. Please enjoy this interview!
What is your role at Patriot Academy and how long have you been with us?
I was first introduced to Patriot Academy through the national Biblical Citizenship class in Fall of 2020. Through that class, I learned of the Leadership Congress program (ages 16-25). I decided to attend the Northwest Leadership Congress in June 2021. Because I was 25 at the time, and almost aged out, I “knew” that it was going to be the “only” time I would be able to participate in Leadership Congress, so I put my nervousness aside and threw myself 110% into the experience—which was absolutely incredible and life-changing—in more ways than I even knew at the time. Due to my enthusiasm with the experience, I was offered an age-exception to come back as a student to the 2022 National Leadership Congress the next year; which I gratefully accepted.
Attending in 2022 was again one of the most life-changing events of my life. I went back home grateful for the chance to have Patriot Academy in my life for 2 years in a row.
Well, God was not done yet. In March of 2023, the Leadership Congress staff absolutely shocked me when they called—out of the blue—and asked me to become a volunteer Leadership Congress Mentor Coordinator for that summer, which meant working with LC students both before and during the Leadership Congress experiences while attending them.
Lo and behold, the story doesn’t end there! In December of 2023, I got a call from the staff again, this time asking me to accept a paid position as a remote part-time intern. Well, you can imagine my surprise and joy! In August of 2024, I was asked by the executive board to accept a full time position by moving from Idaho and living on the Patriot Academy Campus. It would mean leaving a vibrant community in Idaho, the political position I held there, my beloved jobs as a delivery manager at a coffee shop I had helped to build, and my private music teacher business and students. However, after much prayer and council, I realized it was the door that God had been opening for me for the last 4 years. In January of 2025, I moved to the Patriot Academy Campus.
I now work as our Director of Campus Events, Director of the Patriot Experience, and as a Leadership Congress Specialist. I am also very involved in local politics for myself and community outreach for Patriot Academy. I love working closely with all the branches of the Patriot Academy network, and now—6 years from when I first heard of Patriot Academy—I realize that you’re never too old for God to work in your life according to His perfect timing. I am truly living the “prayer I once prayed”.
Can you share about your professional background and career path leading to this role?
My “career path” has been so varied with unrelated skills in my lifetime that it really doesn’t deserve so lofty a phrase! I can tell you that every skill I’ve ever learned or used in my life has directly impacted and led to the roles at Patriot Academy I now serve.
In my childhood, we travelled to many historic places where I first learned to love history, and we became involved in several campaigns of principled statesmen, which gave me an early interest in political activism. In my teens, while still in highschool, I was very involved in multiple homeschool groups & church, and led two young girls’ discipleship groups, which gave me skills in public speaking,event planning, & coordination.
In my mid-twenties, God revealed the spiritual gift and love of teaching that He gave me when I became a public school music teacher and I later started my own business of private music teaching. I also became more involved in local politics, holding several elected positions, and engaging in political activism and recruitment of young people through teaching my own Biblical Citizenship class.
So through a crazy variety of skills and occupations, I have learned to become a hard working, focused leader and manager that is passionate about educating and activating the next generation of Americans.
Why is what you do important? What is your mission?
My passion is empowering the next generation of American leaders for the glory of God. My calling is educating & activating informed American citizens to fight for Constitutional and Biblical principles. And my mission is to strongly support local leaders and organizations who are achieving that benchmark of Biblical & Constitutional education and activism.
What does Patriot Academy’s mission mean to you?
The Patriot Academy mission to me, is to inspire patriotism in the next generation and to raise them up to be the best leaders of our beloved nation. The thing I love most about that is that we achieve that mission with stellar quality through advocating & teaching Biblical civics and our Constitutional duties as American citizens.
Describe a typical week for you.
As has been said by other Staff Highlights on this Patriot Press, my typical day rarely follows a routine.
As Director of Campus Events, my typical week is either planning upcoming events, or coordinating current ongoing events, and giving campus tours. This involves almost constant communication, including emails, calls, texts, social media, meetings, prayers, encouragements, and group chats with our campus team, our remote team, students/customers/attendees, and with the groups/organizations with whom we work.
There is at least one public event on average every 2 weeks on campus, and there are private team events that happen 1–3 times a week. Running a Patriot Experience program takes place about every other month, and traveling to the Leadership Congress events around the nation happen all summer.
As a Leadership Congress Specialist, a typical week is spent building or strengthening current background systems, marketing the program, preparing presentations, communicating with students and mentors, and training our mentors.
I hold an elected position in the local political sphere of influence, so I usually attend a local political event/meeting once a week.
In my free time, I absolutely love chatting with my family in Idaho, and hanging out and enjoying fellowship with the vibrant community on campus—the PA Staff and the Patriot Institute Scholars!
What has been a memorable experience during your time with PA?
Oooh… that’s hard! When you love what you do, all moments become memorable!
I will say, filling a HESCO on the Constitutional Defense rifle range was a very memorable moment! A HESCO is basically a huge burlap bag, in a wire cage, filled and tamped down with clay/dirt called caliche that we use as firing barriers between the ranges. I learned very quickly on campus that filling one was a rite of passage to live on campus, so I eagerly volunteered for the job as soon as the opportunity arose, and it was a very fun day!Plus, I was an accepted member on campus when I was done. 😂
What would you say to someone interested in doing what you do?
That is one of the most rewarding endeavors you can pursue in life. My PA roles can be boiled down to the skills we call “Event Coordination and Logistics”. If a person is willing to work hard and is self-motivated and organized, they can absolutely achieve anything with this skillset and have a chance to impact and change lives while doing it.
As for Leadership Congress and the events we do on Campus, absolutely, I recommend those experiences to nearly everyone! The events and programs we host at Patriot Academy are tailored for the aspiring leaders and influencers in our country, and especially for those who want to make a positive difference in their own community!
What are your hidden talents? 🙂 What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?
I can teach 7 musical instruments (piano, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, violin, recorder/penny whistle, & voice) and play a few others. I can dance and teach many different types of swing dancing, contra dancing, English country dancing, waltz & two step, and line dancing. I can bake a pie, decorate a cake, drive a tractor, butcher an elk, build a fence, and brand a calf. 😁
I love travelling—specifically to other countries to learn their history and culture.
What’s your favorite coffee at the Patriot Brew?
I love the Shot in the Dark! A dirty chai latte with our unique blend of chai and whole milk with a shot of espresso. Yum!
What motivates you to do your best work?
What motivates you to do your best work?
Three things motivate me to do my best work:
1) Jesus gave me skills & passions and has charged me to use them to my best ability for His glory.
2) I perform to my utmost excellence when I know my time, talents, or treasure are truly needed.
3) My family is counting on me and my parents have passed the torch of the generational vision to me—I cannot let them down.
What is something God has been teaching you this past year?
God has taught me that through His divine faithfulness, I can trust Him to guide me into the paths that He chooses; the paths that fit His plan for my life and for the course of history. Even when the path is dark, or to my view, completely obstructed. Even when that path makes no sense on paper or by any other metric.
A long time ago, Jesus gave me Psalms 32:8 as my life verse – I will teach and instruct thee in the way thou shalt go; I will guide thee with mine eye.” To me, that verse means He is guiding and teaching me in the present moment—using skills that He guided and taught me to do in the past—so that He can guide and teach me the way to the future.
And therefore I trust Him.
