Leadership

Kristie De Peña is the President and Co-Founder of America’s Competitive Edge (ACE), a new Washington, D.C.-based think tank and advocacy firm dedicated to building an immigration system that is selective, enforceable, and designed to serve Americans.

A lifelong Republican and national security lawyer, De Peña brings more than 15 years of senior policy leadership to ACE. She served for a decade as Senior Vice President for Policy at the Niskanen Center,  where she helped transform the organization into what Time Magazine called “the most interesting think tank in American politics,” and continues her affiliation there as a Senior Fellow. She has volunteered on presidential campaigns for George W. Bush, Senator Mitt Romney, and Senator John McCain, and has spent her career working directly with Republican offices on Capitol Hill to turn complex policy into workable solutions.

De Peña is a prolific writer and commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, National Review, and theDispatch, and she is a frequent presence on panels, podcasts, and Congressional briefings, bringing the same policy fluency to public audiences that she brings to the Hill.

Washingtonian Magazine has named her to its “500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy” list in 2024, 2025, and 2026. She is also recognized among the 101 Most Influential Latinos in America and serves on the boards of Republican Women for Progress and Voice of the People.

De Peña holds an LL.M. in National Security and Foreign Policy from George Washington University Law School and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Matthew La Corte is the Vice President and Co-Founder of America’s Competitive Edge (ACE), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank and advocacy firm dedicated to building an immigration system that is selective, enforceable, and designed to serve Americans.

La Corte brings more than a decade of policy and advocacy experience to ACE, previously serving as a Deputy Director at the Niskanen Center, where he managed legislative and administrative outreach and coalition-building efforts. He has contributed to major bipartisan immigration efforts in both the Houseand the Senate and worked closely with officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to help design and launch new immigration initiatives.

His writing has appeared in outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and The Financial Times, and his commentary has been cited by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Politico, and many others. In 2025, Washingtonian named him to its list of ‘500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy.

Originally from New Jersey, La Corte earned degrees in Political Science and Economics from Hofstra University. He is also a graduate of the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute at American University. He currently resides near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Justin Gest is a Professor and the Director of the Public Policy Program at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He is the award-winning author of seven books on immigration, democracy, and demographic change, including Democratic Drain: Global Migration and the Struggle for Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2026).

He has published a wide variety of peer-reviewed articles on immigration and the politics of demographic change, and is a founding editor of the Oxford University Press book series, “Oxford Studies in Migration and Citizenship.”

Over the last two decades, he has published his reporting or commentary with news publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and served as a columnist for CNN Opinion and Newsweek.

From 2010 to 2014, Professor Gest was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in Harvard University’s Departments of Government and Sociology. In 2014 and 2020, Professor Gest received Harvard University’s Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize and George Mason University’s Teaching Excellence Award, respectively each university’s highest award for faculty teaching. In 2013, he received the Star Family Prize for Student Advising, Harvard’s highest award for student advising. From 2007 to 2010, he co-founded and served as the co-director of the Migration Studies Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Jorge Lima is vice president of strategic initiatives at Stand Together, a philanthropic community that partners with America’s boldest changemakers to scale solutions that empower more people. As VP, he leads the comprehensive strategy across all of the organization’s issue areas to tackle the country’s biggest problems.

During his more than thirteen years at Stand Together, he has served as vp of economic initiatives, vp of immigration, sr. vice president at AFP, executive director of The LIBRE Initiative, and board member of Yes. Every. Kid.

Previously, he advised Puerto Rico’s Governor Luis Fortuno and was an associate at the law firm of Holland & Knight. Jorge is an Aspen Global Leadership Network Fellow and a member of the Florida Bar.

Originally from Miami, he holds a juris doctor from Georgetown University, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami, and currently lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Margaux, and their two daughters.