Former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman dedicated more than three decades to public service. He was a student activist in the 1960s, Minnesota’s chief prosecutor and solicitor general in the 1970s and 1980s, and mayor of St. Paul in the 1990s. He represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2009. In 2011, Senator Coleman returned to his legal career, currently serving as senior counsel at Hogan Lovells. During his six years in the U.S. Senate, Senator Coleman served on the prestigious Foreign Relations Committee. He was chair of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee and ranking member of the Near East subcommittee, working to foster closer ties with U.S. hemispheric neighbors and protect America’s interests in the crucial Middle East region. Senator Coleman also chaired the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Under his leadership, the subcommittee identified more than $80 billion in waste, fraud, abuse, and potential taxpayer savings. He championed UN reform, investigating fraud and abuse in the Oil for Food program and in the North Korea UN Development Program. As mayor of St. Paul, he had zero tax increases in his 8 years in office, helped start 20 Charter schools, and led a revitalization of the Capitol City.
The concept of service is close to Senator Coleman’s heart; he is active in a variety of political organizations and nonprofits. In addition to serving as chairman of the American Action Network, he also sits on the Board of the Network’s sister organization, the American Action Forum, a forward-looking policy institute dedicated to keeping America strong, free, and prosperous. Senator Coleman serves as national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He is currently co-chair of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and served for nine years on the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy.