Zayna Resley is a graduate of the spring 2024 contributor cohort and recently became the Coalitions Manager with the Pacific Legal Foundation.
Zayna Resley’s Success Story Interview:
Since your time in the Contributor Program, you've graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science and started a new role at the Pacific Legal Foundation. How has your writing during the Contributor Program impacted your career?
The Contributor Program played a formative role in my career. When I first began working in Washington, D.C. in government affairs, I learned how to communicate an organization’s ideas clearly and persuasively to external audiences whether it be lawmakers, staff, or coalition partners. The Contributor Program was the first time I had the opportunity to write publicly in my own voice and taught me how to formulate independent ideas, take a clear position, and articulate it concisely for a broad audience. I had written extensively for professors, policymakers, and academic audiences before, but writing op-eds forced me to think differently—how to make complex policy issues engaging and digestible to everyday readers who may have no previous exposure to the topic. That skill has been invaluable in my master's as well as my newest role at PLF.
You have a background writing about housing policy and local reforms from a free market perspective. Why these issues? And what would you say is the biggest thing people should better understand about them?
My interest in housing policy is deeply personal. Like many in Gen Z, I’m concerned about the growing difficulty of homeownership and the shrinking housing supply in many places across the US. My mom is an entrepreneur in the real estate sector in Scottsdale, Arizona, and watching housing costs skyrocket there made the crisis feel very real. I don’t believe it should be as difficult as it is for working young people to purchase a home, and that pushed me to explore free-market solutions to the housing shortage.
My interest in local reforms comes from my background in state government affairs and my time at the Cato Institute. I saw firsthand how much state and local governments shape people’s everyday freedoms. Zoning laws, permitting rules, and local regulations can determine whether housing gets built at all. The biggest thing people should understand is just how much local policy affects daily life and why paying attention to city councils, state legislatures, and local elections really matters.
Which media placement that the Young Voices content team helped you place are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my writing on alcohol excise tax legislation in New Mexico. It was a relatively niche issue, and I received strong feedback from both the outlet and readers, which meant a lot. Many people weren’t aware of these proposed taxes or the rationale behind them, and I really enjoyed immersing myself into the issue through reading legislation, research, and the state budget to argue that these taxes are not an effective way to monitor and decrease consumption at all. It was rewarding to contribute meaningfully to a policy debate that was not getting much attention and to develop a well-researched perspective on an issue that directly affected residents and local businesses.
You recently started a new role as Coalitions Manager for the Pacific Legal Foundation. What are you most excited about in this role?
I am most excited about working in the legal space. Much of my background has been in state policy and government affairs, so learning how constitutional principles are applied through litigation and then translated into federal and state policy has been especially engaging. What I admire about the Pacific Legal Foundation is how tangible the work is. You can clearly see the real people being helped and the concrete impact of the organization’s efforts. I am excited to support both the practice groups and policy work, and to be part of a mission that connects legal victories directly to lasting policy change.
What advice would you give to young professionals looking to build up the liberty movement?
Get involved early and build relationships broadly. Programs like Young Voices were foundational for me, and I also benefited greatly from fellowships like the Woodhouse Public Policy fellowship at the Fund for American Studies. Meeting people across organizations helped me explore different paths within the movement and identify where my interests truly aligned.
If you’re in D.C., ask people for coffee. Be curious, be proactive, and don’t be afraid to learn from a wide range of perspectives. Two years ago, I never would have predicted that I’d become a Coalitions Manager at Pacific Legal Foundation. That path was shaped by the network I built, the skills I developed, and the opportunities programs like Young Voices provided and I’m incredibly grateful for that support.
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