Turning Point USA, Inc. (TPUSA) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses. It was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery. TPUSA's affiliate groups include Turning Point Endowment, Turning Point Action and TPUSA Faith. TPUSA has been described as the fastest growing organization of campus chapters in America and one of the most powerful conservative youth groups in the nation.
In 2016, the organization launched Professor Watchlist, a website that lists academic staff that, according to TPUSA, "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." TPUSA has attempted to influence student government elections in an effort to "combat modern liberalism on college and university campuses." In 2021, TPUSA started its School Board Watchlist website, which publishes names and photos of school board members who have adopted mask mandates or anti-racist curricula.
Though aligned with the Christian right, TPUSA has led its operations separate from traditional conservative organizations nationwide. TPUSA hosts several annual conferences, including the Student Action Summit, Young Women's Leadership Summit, Young Black Leadership Summit, and AmericaFest. The organization is funded by conservative donors and foundations, including Republican Party politicians.
History
In May 2012, 18-year-old Charlie Kirk gave a speech at Benedictine University's Youth Government Day. Impressed, retired marketing entrepreneur and Tea Party activist Bill Montgomery encouraged Kirk to postpone college and engage full-time in political activism. A month later, the day after Kirk graduated from high school, they launched Turning Point USA, a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Montgomery became Kirk's mentor, and worked behind the scenes handling the paperwork for the organization. Montgomery often described himself as the group's co-founder, although this was not officially recognized by the group or by Kirk.
At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a Republican donor, and persuaded him to make a "five-figure" donation to the organization. Friess also was on the organization's advisory council, alongside Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. Barry Russell, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), was a key advisor as of 2019.
Between July 2016 and June 2017, the organization raised in excess of US$8.2 million. The same year, leaked records found that the group had funneled "thousands of dollars" into student governments to elect conservatives. Donors include Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Richard Uihlein, and the Donors Trust on behalf of private donors.
In March 2023, it was announced via Twitter by Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens that the BLEXIT Foundation and TPUSA had partnered. BLEXIT would be incorporating their message through TPUSA's branding style and corporate structure, while retaining Candace Owens and Brandon Tatum in leadership roles.
On September 10, 2025, co-founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during what would have been a series of events planned by the organization. On September 18, 2025, Kirk's widow Erika was selected to succeed Kirk as CEO. In the immediate days after Kirk's death, TPUSA reported over 60,000 inquiries to start new campus chapters at high school and college campuses across the country. Thousands of American flags, balloons, letters, and drawings were placed outside the organization's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona by supporters.
Leadership and associates Charlie Kirk Kirk was CEO, chief fundraiser, and the public face of Turning Point USA from its founding until his assassination in September 2025. The New York Times credits him with turning the organization into a "well-funded media operation, backed by conservative megadonors like the Wyoming businessman Foster Friess." Michael Beckel, from the funding watchdog group Issue One, found that oftentimes these megadonors used "dark money vehicles to keep identities out of the limelight."
Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention. In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan", he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made his task more difficult. He spent the rest of the 2016 presidential campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements and running errands for Donald Trump Jr.
Several former employees and student volunteers for TPUSA claimed they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking TPUSA employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas – and the presidential campaigns of both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz super PAC to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in South Carolina, as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in Wisconsin. A former employee for TPUSA, who had been based in Florida, alleged that TPUSA had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio's presidential campaign.
In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone. A TPUSA staff member wrote on Facebook that students who attended the event would have their expenses covered. The event led tax experts to say the organization's conduct may have violated its tax-exempt status, a charge disputed by TPUSA. In 2019, Kirk became CEO of Students for Trump. In 2020, he was a keynote speaker on the first day of the Republican National Convention, calling President Donald Trump the "bodyguard of western civilization".
Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University for an event on the TPUSA-sponsored American Comeback Tour. An 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Kirk was installed outside Turning Point USA's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona in September 2026 by Utah-based artist Quintin McCann. The artist called the work the Charlie Kirk Monument. It depicts Kirk holding a baseball cap and wearing a cross necklace around his neck. On September 13, 2026, the statue was vandalized along with other memorials outside the headquarters.The Guardian, September 13, 2026 The vandalism was later cleaned up by Turning Point employees. Erika Kirk
Following Charlie Kirk's death, his widow, Erika, vowed that she would make Turning Point "the biggest thing this nation has ever seen." On September 18, 2025, Turning Point's board unanimously elected Erika as the organization's CEO.
Bill Montgomery
Bill Montgomery (1940–2020) was a marketing entrepreneur and onetime participant in the Tea Party movement. He launched Turning Point USA with Kirk in 2012 and was the organization's secretary and treasurer until April 2020. Montgomery died of complications resulting from contracting COVID-19 in July 2020.
Others Tyler Bowyer became the organization's chief operating officer (COO) in 2017. In 2022 Bowyer left TPUSA to become full time COO of Turning Point Action as well as start the Turning Point PAC with Kirk.
In February 2019, Turning Point USA hired Benny Johnson as chief creative officer. Johnson had been fired by BuzzFeed for plagiarism in 2014 and suspended by the Independent Journal Review in 2017 for publishing a conspiracy theory about Barack Obama. In May 2019, communications director Candace Owens resigned after controversial remarks she made in December 2018 were publicized and some TPUSA campus chapters called for her resignation. She had said in a speech at a conservative event in London that "if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay fine. The problem is ... he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize." She later stated that "leftist journalists" had mischaracterized her statement.
In 2019, Alex Clark became the host of POPlitics. In 2021, political activist Jack Posobiec joined TPUSA to host the show Human Events Daily.
Activities
The New York Times has referred to TPUSA as the nation's "pre-eminent conservative youth organization". The organization says its mission is "to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government". TPUSA has chapters at over 850 campuses that register students to vote. Each of TPUSA's paid workers is supposed to meet a quota to make at least 1,500 student contacts per semester. Student volunteers have several different themes for promoting conservative ideas, including "The Healthcare Games", "Game of Loans", and "iCapitalism". According to The Washington Post, TPUSA centers "group membership on making provocative claims and publicly inciting outrage".
Turning Point USA and Turning Point UK promote the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory and said they are working to "combat it" in universities. Kirk described universities as "islands of totalitarianism".
Annual summits Turning Point USA holds several annual national conferences, including the Student Action Summit and the Young Women's Leadership Summit (YWLS). Turning Point USA also hosts the Young Black Leadership Summit and the Young Latino Leadership Summit. TPUSA provided lodging and some meals for the attendees who could also apply for travel stipends.
Student Action Summit Student Action Summit (SAS) is one of TPUSA's signature annual events. It focuses on galvanizing conservative ideals and values towards high school/college students from all 50 states through networking, leadership workshops and guest speakers. 2025 Student Action Summit saw its largest ever turnout with 5,000 attendees at the Tampa convention center with guest speakers Border czar Tom Homan, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump Jr. and Tucker Carlson with Charlie Kirk also addressing the crowd.
AmericaFest
In December 2021, Turning Point USA also launched AmericaFest, a four-day conference that featured conservative speakers such as Donald Trump Jr., and Sarah Palin interspersed with country music acts. Kyle Rittenhouse, who recently had been acquitted of murder charges in the Kenosha unrest shooting, was introduced with a standing ovation and participated in a discussion about the incident.
Keynote speakers in 2023 included Glenn Beck, Roseanne Barr, Mike Lindell, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Tucker Carlson, and Charlie Kirk. The event was TPUSA's largest conference yet, with 13,000 attendees visiting over the course of the multi-day event. In December 2024, AmericaFest was held in Phoenix, Arizona. Keynote speakers included Donald Trump, Ben Shapiro, Kirk, Carlson, Patrick Bet-David, Matt Walsh, Riley Gaines, and Cenk Uygur.
In 2025, there were disagreements between Tucker Carlson (and to a lesser extent Nick Fuentes) and Ben Shapiro regarding Israel during the conference. Nicki Minaj was a surprise speaker on the fourth day of Americafest, who was then interviewed on stage by Erika Kirk. Minaj shared comments of support and admiration for president Donald Trump and vice president J.D. Vance and spoke about her stance on violence against Christians in Nigeria.
Women's Leadership Summit