Bruce Reed

Bruce Reed is the CEO and Co-Founder of Civic. Reed served as a top White House policy adviser in both the Clinton and Obama administrations. As President Clinton’s chief domestic policy advisor, he oversaw a host of domestic and social policies, including the landmark 1996 welfare reform law, the 1994 crime bill, and the Clinton education agenda. In the Obama White House, he served as assistant to the President and chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, working on economic and tax policy, education, youth smoking, food safety, and reducing gun violence. He previously served as executive director of the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction commission and lead author of its report, The Moment of Truth. After leaving the Obama administration, he spent two years as the first president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, where he led nationwide efforts to strengthen public education in urban areas. The son of a former Idaho state senator, Reed has a long record of public service. He began his career as chief speechwriter for then-Senator Al Gore, policy director for then-Governor Bill Clinton at the Democratic Leadership Council, and deputy campaign manager for policy of the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign.

Reed was a longtime contributor to Slate and the New Republic and co-authored The Plan: Big Ideas for Change in America with Rahm Emanuel. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and earned a Master of Philosophy degree in English studies as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University.