Civic Enterprises
President & CEO
John Bridgeland
John Bridgeland is President & CEO of Civic Enterprises, a public policy development firm in Washington, D.C. He also is Vice Chairman of Malaria No More and Senior Advisor to the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria, which together are mobilizing the public and private sectors to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015.
Formerly, Bridgeland served as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he coordinated policy on more than 100 issues, and then as Assistant to the President of the United States and first Director of the USA Freedom Corps, where he coordinated policy on international, national, community and faith-based service in the aftermath of 9/11. Bridgeland co-led the Policy Transition for the President in 2000-2001.
His work on the high school dropout crisis helped bring national attention to the issue, with the TIME cover story "Dropout Nation" and two Oprah Winfrey shows prompted by his report, The Silent Epidemic. Bridgeland led the National Summit on America's Silent Epidemic with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association, TIME Magazine and MTV that prompted action at the federal, state and local levels around a 10-point plan of action to boost high school graduation rates and college and workforce readiness. He is the author or co-author of ten reports related to the dropout epidemic.
Bridgeland also was a co-convener of ServiceNation, a Presidential forum with Senators Barack Obama and John McCain on September 11, 2008, and a national summit that showcased a 10-point plan to increase community, national and international service opportunities. The plan was included in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which was signed into law within the first 100 days of the Obama Administration. For his work in promoting the national service agenda, Bridgeland was selected a NonProfit Times Executive of the Year. Bridgeland also worked to build Malaria No More into a global movement, an effort he helped launch at the White House Summit on Malaria. Bridgeland also worked with the National Parks Conservation Association to help develop the Centennial Initiative and Challenge to strengthen our National Parks; helped the National Conference on Citizenship develop America's Civic Health Index; worked with national energy labs; co-leads Opportunity Nation to increase social mobility and reduce poverty; co-authored a report, More to Give, with Robert Putnam and Harris Wofford on the Greatest, Silent and Baby Boomer Generations for the 50th anniversary of the AARP; and briefed the Presidential campaigns on domestic issues during 2008.
Bridgeland also was a Teaching Fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he offered a class on Presidential Decision Making. Bridgeland began his professional career by practicing law in the New York and Paris, France offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell. He also served as Chief of Staff and Counsel to former U.S. Congressman Rob Portman. Bridgeland graduated with honors in government from Harvard University, studied at the College of Europe and Universite Libre de Bruxelles as a Rotary International Fellow, and received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. He has honorary degrees from Saint Anselm College and Ripon College, where he delivered the commencement addresses. He currently serves on 12 non-profit boards, including City Year, Earth Conservation Corps, EARTH University in Costa Rica, Malaria No More, the National Conference on Citizenship and the Partnership for Public Service. Bridgeland has an interest in American history, our earliest settlers and the Founding. He is a direct descendant of six passengers of the Mayflower, veterans of the American Revolution and Civil Wars, and is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He lives with his wife, Maureen, and their three children, Caily, Fallon and Regis in McLean, Virginia.
