Who has served on Turning Point USA’s board since its founding and what official titles did they hold?
Executive summary
Turning Point USA’s public materials and contemporary reporting identify a small number of named figures who have served on or led its board since the organization’s 2012 founding — most prominently founder Charlie Kirk (founder and president) and, after his death, Erika Kirk (CEO and board chair) — with several other named trustees and signatories appearing in organizational statements and staff bios; available sources do not provide a comprehensive, year-by-year roster of every board member since 2012 [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Charlie Kirk — founder and president; de facto early board leader
Charlie Kirk is identified across organizational profiles and historical reporting as Turning Point USA’s founder and president, the movement’s public face from its founding in 2012 through his death, and therefore the central figure around whom early governance and leadership revolved [1] [5]. Primary TPUSA pages explicitly call him the Founder and President and describe his role building the organization into a national youth movement [1] [4], and journalistic retrospectives likewise anchor TPUSA’s origin story to Kirk [6]. The sources do not, however, publish a formal 2012-era board roster that names all initial trustees, so assertions about other specific early board members cannot be made from the provided reporting [4] [7].
2. Erika Kirk — CEO and chair of the board (post-2025 transition)
TPUSA’s own “Team” page and reporting after Charlie Kirk’s death identify Erika Kirk as TPUSA’s CEO and chair of the board, a role she assumed in the organization’s announced leadership transition; press coverage says the statement appointing her was signed by several board members [2] [3]. TPUSA’s site repeats that Erika was appointed CEO and Board Chair following Charlie Kirk’s death and that she also leads Turning Point Action, the organization’s affiliated 501(c) [2]. Public reporting from The Hill lists the board signatories who supported and announced her leadership: Doug De Groote, Mike Miller, Tom Sodeika and David Engelhardt [3].
3. Doug De Groote — board member and finance professional
TPUSA’s “About” and related bios identify Doug De Groote as a member of the TPUSA board and profile him as a certified financial planner with business credentials, and he is named among the board signatories in reporting about Erika Kirk’s elevation to CEO and chair [4] [3]. The available material links his board membership to the organization’s governance statements but does not provide start or end dates for his service in the sources provided [4] [3].
4. David (surname not fully specified in available snippet) — joined board in 2020
TPUSA’s “About” content states simply that “David joined the TPUSA board of directors in 2020,” noting his residence and family in a short biographical line; the snippet in the supplied reporting does not include his last name or additional formal title beyond board membership [4]. Because the provided excerpt omits his full name, the reporting here is constrained to acknowledging that a board member named David joined in 2020 and that TPUSA’s site treats him as part of its governing directors [4].
5. Mike Miller, Tom Sodeika, David Engelhardt — board signatories in 2025 statement
When TPUSA’s leadership transition was announced publicly after Charlie Kirk’s death, The Hill reported that the organizational statement was signed by board members Doug De Groote, Mike Miller, Tom Sodeika and David Engelhardt, identifying them as sitting board members who validated the change in leadership [3]. The sourced reporting names these individuals as board signatories to that specific organizational announcement; the sources do not attach further biographical detail or a full chronology of their board tenures in the provided excerpts [3].
6. Other named staff and governance references; limits of the public record in supplied sources
TPUSA’s governance and team pages frame the organization as a 501(c) with leadership structures and list senior staff across programs, but the excerpts provided do not include a complete, dated list of every board member since 2012 [7] [2]. External watchdog and profile sites note senior staff and affiliations — for example SourceWatch flags Charlie Kirk and senior development staff as politically notable — but do not substitute for an authoritative, historical board roster [8]. Because the supplied sources are fragmentary on full board membership across time, definitive claims about every individual who has served on TPUSA’s board since founding cannot be substantiated from these materials alone [4] [7].