Liberty Concepts was founded in 1999 by Jonathan Karush to meet the growing technological needs of America's civic organizations. Liberty Concepts provides complete Internet solutions to nonprofits, campaigns, public officials, advocacy organizations, unions, PAC's, and academia. Liberty specializes in advanced content management, database application development, online fundraising, and strategy.

 

In 2006, Liberty was instrumental in bringing control of the House of Representative back to the Democratic Party.  Liberty had over thirty-five House victories in 2006, more than any other web consulting firm.  

 

Liberty raised over eight million dollars online in 2006, and recruited more than 100,000 volunteers.  

 

Liberty Concepts projects have been featured in Campaigns & Elections magazine, CNN, National Public Radio, the New York Times, ABC News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Royal Italian Television (RAI). In 2003, Liberty Concepts received the Golden Dot Award for best campaign site in the nation for Congressman Michael Michaud (ME-02).

 

The Liberty Concepts team is the fusion of Internet & programming experts, graphic designers, and political consultants dedicated to the improving the future of the Internet in the civic arena.

 

Principals:

 

Jonathan Karush, President and Founder

 

Jonathan Karush, Founder and President of Liberty Concepts, the nation’s leading provider of civic and campaign web sites, consults to high profile nonprofits including: the Open Mind Project, the Digital Promise Project, the Second Amendment Research Center, and Be the Change.

 

As a former editor at the NetElection project, Jonathan has written extensively on the role of the Internet in American elections, and online voting. His article on the ‘Internet and the Future of Democracy’ awarded him first prize from Ohio State University’s national public policy essay competition.

 

He is a Sagner Fellow, a frequent speaker and correspondent on the Internet in civic life, and a former political correspondent to RAI (Royal Italian Television).

 

In 2000, Jonathan co-founded letnaderdebate.org, one of the infamous ‘nader-trader’ vote swapping web sites.

In 2003 he received the Golden Dot Award for best congressional campaign site, for Congressman Mike Michaud (ME-02).

 

Since Liberty’s inception, Jonathan has consulted to over 100 campaigns.

 

Jonathan has a B.A. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with distinction in political science and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University.

 

Edith Bjornson, Senior Consultant

 

Ms. Bjornson currently is a senior consultant to Liberty Concepts. She is the Executive Producer of Access The Open Mind Online Digital Project, which comprises a searchable Internet digital archive of the nearly 1,500 half-hour programs of this award-wining public affairs program. Uniquely this interview program, which she produced for many years, has been on American television since the 1950’s. She is a Principal of Recorded Oral Histories, (LLC) a media company specializing in digitizing the histories of not for profit organizations, in the words of their own leaders. Ms. Bjornson served as Project Director to “A Digital Gift to the Nation, Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital and Internet Age,” the published report of the foundation funded Digital Promise Project, and was the editor of the original Web Site.

 

Recent consulting assignments are: Duke University, New York University, Public Agenda, the Lasker Foundation, the American Museum of Natural History, the Soros Open Society Institute, and Fathom.Com, Columbia University’s Internet project, to which she was Senior Consultant. Ms. Bjornson is the former Vice President and Senior Program Officer of the Markle Foundation, which specialized in communications and new media, and was also Vice President for Programming at Westinghouse Broadcasting and Cable. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Connecticut Public Television and sits on its Strategic Planning Committee and the advisory board of “Culture Connect,” an Internet guide to tri-state cultural activities. She was a Trustee of the New York New Media Association, and was elected Chairman. Ms Bjornson was a member of the advisory committee for the “21st Century Learner,” an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and is a former Trustee of Pro-Natura USA. She is a Life Trustee of The HealthCare Chaplaincy in New York.

 

Ms. Bjornson holds a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Florida at Gainesville.