About Young America’s Foundation

Young America’s Foundation is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.

As the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement, the Foundation introduces thousands of American youth to these principles by providing essential conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships, and speakers to young people across the country.

Young America’s Foundation has a deep relationship with President Reagan. The foundation stepped forward to save President Reagan’s Western White House, Rancho del Cielo, in the spring of 1998 to preserve it as a living monument to Ronald Reagan to pass on his ideas to future generations. President Reagan committed himself to reach young people with his ideas—a goal that is also central to the Foundation’s mission.

The Foundation has several important centers and departments, including Rancho Del Cielo, The Reagan Ranch Center, Reagan’s Boyhood Home, the National Journalism Center, Young Americans for Freedom, and Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise, etc.

About the YAF National Journalism Center

Since 1977, the National Journalism Center has trained aspiring conservative journalists in the values of responsible, balanced, and accurate reporting. Weekly seminars and on-the-job experience provide participants with the tools to become leaders in combating bias in the mainstream media.

Seminars include talks with prominent journalists and public policy experts, writing exercises, training in investigative reporting, audio and video training, and current events and policy discussions. Scholars also participate in investigative team, or “I-team,” a six-week program designed to teach the ins and outs of writing an investigative piece. Staff writer for the Washington Free Beacon Bill McMorris takes students from finding a story idea, to cultivating sources and publishing a piece.

NJC scholars are provided a $1200 monthly stipend to put towards rent and transportation to their internship. The balance between hands-on experience and academic training gives scholars a competitive edge in the workplace after graduation.

About The Dao Prize

The Dao Prize, funded by the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation and launched in conjunction with Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center (NJC), is an annual award founded to recognize excellence in investigative journalism. Dao Prize-winning journalism stands out for accuracy and courage.

In 2023, the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation partnered with Young America’s Foundation’s prestigious National Journalism Center to honor truth-seeking journalists. As trust in media hovers near record lows, DAF and NJC believe it is essential to celebrate reporters advancing the public interest through robust investigative work. Too often, the media establishment celebrates work that protects power rather than challenging it. The Dao Prize will honor truth above all else.

Dao Feng He and Angela He started Dao Feng and Angela Foundation with a passion for freedom. As immigrants from China, Dao Feng and Angela know firsthand the importance of a free press and hope to revive the American media’s spirit of curiosity, skepticism, and vigor. Dao Feng observed that in the United States, investigative journalists face increasing constraints around political correctness, and because of this, are discouraged from tackling certain investigations and reporting the truth. This caused him to think of a way in which a group could come alongside his foundation to award the bravery so needed in today’s journalism landscape. 

The Dao Feng and Angela Foundation is passionate about this prize, and firmly believes that for America to preserve her founding principles and hold elected officials accountable, courageous journalists are essential. The Dao Prize will award these courageous journalists and give them the recognition often ignored by other organizations and media outlets.

The Inaugural Winner of the Dao Prize

On November 2, 2023, Young America’s Foundation’s prestigious National Journalism Center in partnership with the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation is proud to announce the inaugural winner of the Dao Prize – the Twitter Files.

Through their tireless, truth-seeking reporting, Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, and Michael Shellenberger have demonstrated the power and importance of courageous journalism.

Finalists for the Dao Prize also included Aaron Sibarium of the Washington Free Beacon and Joseph Simonson and Andrew Kerr of the Washington Free Beacon.

“The inaugural Dao Prize was a roaring success and a giant step forward for America’s broken media. NJC is so eager to bring the values of good old-fashioned investigative reporting back to an industry that desperately needs it,” said Emily Jashinsky, Director of the National Journalism Center.

“I could not be more grateful that you’ve chosen to create such a significant new prize for old-school, fact-based reporting,” Matt Taibi said during his acceptance speech, which can be read here or watched on YAF’s YouTube channel.

How It Works in 2024

The second annual Dao Prize will be awarded on Nov. 13, 2024 in Washington, D.C. It is available to all American media outlets. Journalists and publications are welcome to submit as many applications for consideration as they like. The full rules for entry are located on the application. Applications are available at njc.yaf.org/DaoPrize, and all applications must be signed and approved by an editor from the publication. All mediums will be considered, including print, broadcast, podcast, Substack, etc. The deadline for submissions is September 2,2024.

The Dao Prize will be judged by an independent prize committee and a guest judge, which will cast secret ballots after a round of debate and discussion. Entries will be evaluated on five key criteria: investigative depth, public interest, fairness and accuracy, style, and impact.

This year, the Dao Prize is excited to welcome Miranda Devine as a guest judge alongside the other committee members. Devine is an Australian journalist whose work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Telegraph, Sky News, and Fox News. Most recently she conducted reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop for the NY Post and authored a best-selling book on the topic, Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide.

Forms will be signed and preserved. Judges will have no subsequent interaction with applicants in regard to their submissions outside the form itself, with the exception of logistical questions. A judge cannot vote for a story from their own news outlet, or for a story they worked on personally.

Winners will then be announced at a celebratory dinner held in Washington, D.C. The first-prize winners will be awarded $100,000, two finalists will receive $10,000 each, and two new $10,000 awards for multimedia and local journalism will be awarded as well.

“NJC is honored to expand on the successful Dao Prize by recognizing tireless local and multimedia journalists whose truth-seeking work too often goes unrewarded. This is a transformational addition, not only for the Dao Prize, but for the media at large,” said Emily Jashinsky, director of the National Journalism Center. “Reporters around the country can now take comfort in knowing the Dao Prize is eager to support their bold pursuit of local and multimedia journalism that challenges power.”

The Application

Please visit The Dao Prize Website to download the form or submit application online.