Fast Facts
- Founder and CEO of Civic
- Vice chairman of the Service Year Alliance
- Former director, White House Domestic Policy Council
- Expertise on domestic policy, volunteerism, education, environment
Areas Of Expertise
- Domestic Affairs
- Education
- Law and Justice
- Social Issues
- Leadership
John Bridgeland, practitioner senior fellow, is founder & CEO of Civic, a social enterprise firm in Washington, DC. He is also co-founder and CEO of the COVID Collaborative, a national platform that marshals top leaders and institutions in health, education, and the economy to work with state and local leaders to combat COVID. He is the co-founder of ACT NOW, a ground-up effort to re-envision policing and public safety across 14 communities representing the diversity of the United States. As well, Bridgeland is vice chairman of UNITE, a national platform that brings together leaders across sectors and political parties to tackle public challenges.
Bridgeland is vice chair of Service Year Alliance at The Aspen Institute, to make a service year a common expectation and opportunity for all 18-28 year-olds; co-convener of GradNation, to reach a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020; and vice chairman of Malaria No More, a nonprofit working to end malaria deaths in Africa.
Previously, Bridgeland was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the White House Council for Community Solutions. He also served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, assistant to the president, and first director of the USA Freedom Corps after 9/11 under President George W. Bush. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law and has given commencement addresses at the College of William & Mary, Johns Hopkins University, Saint Anselm College, Averett University, Hamline University, and Ripon College. In addition, he founded Tennis for America in 2020 with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, which awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Wimbledon Champion Stan Smith.