About

Preserving Virginia’s history and creating a more prosperous future for all Virginians.

Our History

The Virginia Council was formed in the winter of 2021 after two long years of ugly, divisive, and often physically destructive cultural conflict across Virginia.

A growing number of officials, students, and activists took their private support of savage iconoclasm public, leading to the widespread destruction of world class art installations and free speech in the public square.

Innocent citizens were harassed, threatened, and attacked on the streets and at home in the state’s capital city. Independent small businesses were destroyed by misguided activists, only to then be forcibly closed for months and hyper-regulated by an overzealous governor and mayors wielding “emergency” powers.

National landmarks that told the story of Richmond’s Civil War history were very symbolically attacked. The debate began with calls to move statues to museums and battlefields. Now, many of the historical markers that lined Monument Avenue for a century have been dismantled, melted, or dumped at the municipal sewage treatment plant. This history-erasing campaign is one final lie and insult to those who seek to study and understand the complexities of the past so they are not repeated.

The Virginia Council was formed to take legal and cultural action to save the state’s monuments, art, and historic sites. We educate the public on the significance of these historic resources and provide a space where Virginians can build a society that learns from the past while paving a way to the future.

Since 2021, hundreds of Virginians have joined our volunteer movement to take personal responsibility for their communities and neighborhoods while making their voices heard beyond partisan politics.

Our mission is ongoing—to preserve Virginia’s history and craft the most prosperous future for all of its citizens. Join The Virginia Council and help us build a better Virginia today!

Our Council Leadership

As proud citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, it is our duty to do the hard work of identifying opportunities to overcome partisan politics and build a more prosperous Virginia for all. Get to know our council leadership.

Officers

Mr. John Reid

is founding chairman of The Virginia Council, and in that role leads a team of educators and activists who are committed to preserving Virginia’s cultural heritage and best traditions. He is also an award-winning host of one of America’s longest running morning shows at NewsRadio WRVA in Richmond. He speaks across the Commonwealth and United States to audiences offering analysis of global politics and advocating for smart, proven, conservative public policy and effective communications messages that challenge stereotypes and forge new solutions to old problems. Reid previously served as the director of editorial communications for the U.S Chamber of Commerce and was senate communications director for U.S. Senator George Allen of Virginia. He was also elected and served as the president of the bi-partisan U.S. Senate Press Secretaries Association. Reid was also a Richmond television news anchor, an investigative reporter, and led communications seminars for the new parliament of Iraq in Baghdad during the war. During the turmoil of the so-called “Arab Spring,” Reid became a partner and director of international development in one of Washington, D.C.’s most influential global consulting firms and was based in the Middle East. Reid has successfully climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, scuba dived the Great Barrier Reef, camped on safari in the African Serengeti, and kayaked with humpback whales in Antarctica. He is a 1992 graduate of Baylor University and resides in Richmond.

Mr. William H. (Bill) Byrd

is Vice President of Operations at The Virginia Council. He has spent over forty years involved in Virginia’s political process, as a journalist, political and government affairs analyst, and activist. Bill is a Portsmouth native, who moved to Richmond in 1979 to cover government and politics for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star and spent twelve years reporting in the paper’s capitol bureau, where he won three Virginia Press Association awards. Bill later spent almost three decades as media relations coordinator, government affairs manager, senior executive writer, and director of corporate public policy with Richmond-based Dominion Energy. Bill earned his B.A. in English from Old Dominion University, an M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, and an Accreditation in Public Relations professional certification from the Public Relations Society of America. Bill is committed to protecting and preserving the Founding Fathers’ reputations and legacy and protecting and preserving the Commonwealth’s heritage sites and its priceless historic art.

Dr. Ann McLean

is Vice Chairman of Programs at The Virginia Council, where she draws on her experience as an art and architectural historian, an educator, and builder of a thriving classical educational program. Ann was born and raised in Charlottesville and Lynchburg, VA, and received her B.A. in English literature from Davidson College in North Carolina. During college she interned at the National Archives and studied at St. John’s College, Oxford. After graduation she worked for Sotheby’s Auction House in New York, and for a national newspaper in Washington, D.C., before returning to Charlottesville to earn a M.A. and Ph.D. in art and architectural history from the University of Virginia. She worked in the curatorial department of Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson researching and recording the provenance of Jefferson decorative arts and furniture. She moved to Richmond in 1993, where she served on the Council for Historic Richmond. In 2010, Ann co-founded Hunter Classical Christian School, and also helped establish St. Jude’s Anglican Church. She has served as HCCS’s fundraiser, board chair, head of school, and art teacher. After ten years as head of school, she left to serve on The Jefferson Council alumni free speech alliance of The University of Virginia, as the chair of the Student Liaison Committee. Ann loves oil painting, dogs, hiking, reading quality poetry and accurate history, and being a wife, mother and recent grandmother. She is excited to preserve Virginia’s history and artistic achievements and America where her family has lived since before the Revolutionary War.

Debra Arnold

is Secretary at The Virginia Council. Deb is retired from a long career as a Speech Pathologist in Goochland and Chesterfield Public Schools, and is now an active volunteer in the community, including serving on the Boards of the Jefferson Scholarship of The University of Virginia, The Speech and Hearing Foundation Association of Virginia, Goochland Republican Women, the Goochland Republican Committee, and the Crown Grant Garden Club. She is also active with her HOA, Goochland Cares and the Tuckahoe Women's Club.

Deb is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia. She lives in Goochland with her husband, Steve.

Steve Pugh

is Treasurer of The Virginia Council, where he brings his extensive leadership and financial expertise to support the organization’s mission of preserving Virginia’s heritage and advocating for conservative values. Steve spent 25 years in Information Technology at Capital One, most recently as Director of Software Engineering. In that role, he led large organizations, driving business and technical strategy, shaping organizational structure and culture, and overseeing the delivery of critical software products. Known for his ability to make high-impact decisions, Steve thrived for many years in an environment where accountability and sound judgment were essential.

Steve holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mathematics from Virginia Tech and has also founded two small businesses in Virginia that have operated successfully for over a decade. As a devoted husband, father, and Christian, Steve is deeply concerned about the future of the nation's youth and is passionate about combating the deception and woke indoctrination that is widespread in today’s culture. He is equally committed to challenging the corporate virtue signaling that stifles open dialogue and individual expression. Steve believes that by guiding the next generation toward truth, fact-based education, personal responsibility, and a deep respect for the principles and traditional values on which our country was founded, we can restore integrity in both our culture and institutions.

Riley Shaia

is the Executive Director of the Virginia Forum, a speaker series designed to amplify voices from the right of center. A former candidate for the House of Delegates in Western Henrico, Riley is dedicated to promoting conservative thought leaders and educating the community on important issues affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A native Virginian, Riley was born and raised in Ashland. She earned her B.S. in Education with a concentration in Sports Medicine from the University of Virginia and later obtained her Master's in Physical Therapy from Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently, she works in health and fitness education, where she enjoys teaching her students about the benefits of effective exercise and nutrition.

Riley is married to her husband, Wayne, and they have three grown children. She is passionate about improving her community and is honored to serve as the Executive Director of the Virginia Forum.

About

Our History

Our Council Leadership