About Us

Joel is the President and Chairman of Project Pathfinder. He is a former executive for Home School Legal Defense Association and Executive Director of Generation Joshua. He has over two decades in non-profit leadership, national political and policy advocacy, and youth education. A former elected official in his town, Joel has led tens of thousands of volunteers nationally, assisted over 200 campaigns, and managed millions of dollars in budgets. He is a public speaker, published author and self-proclaimed nerd. He and his wife Christie and their three boys live in Northern Virginia where it doesn’t snow enough.

Glenn Bertsch has spent the last sixteen years as the Program Administrator at Generation Joshua, creating and running hands-on educational simulations for high school students. He graduated from Patrick Henry College with a degree in Government focused on American Politics and Policy and has worked on over 50 campaigns. Glenn loves digging into how Congress works and enjoys helping people make sense of their government. When he’s off the clock, you’ll probably find him reading, watching sports, or out on the field as a high school football official.

Jeremiah is a speaker, educator, international tour guide, and with developed expertise in international politics. In 18 years of service with Generation Joshua including serving as Director he took the lead on running projects, netting over 30,000 participants. He specializes in developing creative approaches to teaching and strategic messaging as well as overseeing nonprofit, educational, and political teams.

Cory Gibbons is the Director of Marketing and Events at the Leadership Institute (LI). Originally from Flint, Michigan, she moved to Northern Virginia in 2014 to pursue her bachelor’s degree. From 2015 to 2018, she interned with Generation Joshua, where she supported multiple political campaigns through the Student Action Team (SAT) program — including Senator Jim Banks’ — participated in their teen tracts, and helped develop and execute their iGovern camps.
Before joining LI in 2023, Cory worked in marketing for nonprofits such as ParentalRights.org and Care Net. She holds an A.A.S. in Dental Assisting from Mott Community College, a B.A. in History from Patrick Henry College, and an M.S. in Marketing Project Management from Liberty University

Parker Sorensen is a CPA, the Accounting Advisory Partner of Alvion, and a former Generation Joshua intern and student. He has a wide-ranging background in accounting, focusing on accelerating business efficiency with the right people, software, processes, and tax strategies to achieve their goals. He holds two bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration from Thomas Edison State University.

Charles “Chaz” Toplikar was involved in Generation Joshua first as a student in 2012, then a staff member, and as a guest teacher for iGovern. Charles is an Army veteran, a senior business development manager for Collins Aerospace, a member of his church’s pastoral council, a husband, and a father.

Christie has had the privilege of being married to Joel for the past twenty-one years and homeschools their three boys. She has served as a leader in MOPS (now The MomCo) and is currently the president of Friends Learning Together, a homeschool co-op in Northern Virginia. Christie enjoys serving in their homeschool and church communities, feeding people and reading.

Brandt Edmonston has worked in the advocacy non-profit sector for over a decade in a variety of roles. Brandt currently serves as Chief of Staff at the National Religious Broadcasters, the World’s largest association of Christian communicators. Before this, he spent 12 years with HSLDA and HSLDA Action, serving directly for, or very closely with Generation Joshua. In this capacity, he developed broad experience in a variety of fields, including marketing, fundraising, project management, campaign finance, and grassroots advocacy.

When not working, Brandt spends his days with his wife and three children, playing board games, watching TV shows, and listening to audio books in their Shenandoah Valley home.