Brad Rourke is the Kettering Foundation’s chief external affairs officer and director of DC operations. As a member of the senior management team, he leads the foundation’s Washington, DC, office, heading efforts to amplify the foundation’s impact and reputation across key audiences. He also regularly posts video interviews with newsmakers on issues of the day.

Rourke has extensive experience working to advance democracy, including in government, politics, public affairs, ethics, journalism, and democratic participation. Before joining Kettering in 2013, he was president of a public issues firm serving the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, founder and publisher of the local online news source Rockville Central, director of external initiatives at the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, and vice president for public policy at the Institute for Global Ethics. He also served on the staffs of California’s Controller Gray Davis and US Representative Jane Harman of California during their terms in office.

Rourke serves on the board of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement as vice chair, on the board of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation as treasurer, and as a member of the Key Executive Leadership Capstone Review Committee at American University.

Rourke’s essays and op-ed pieces have appeared in publications such as the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor, and he blogs regularly.

Rourke holds a BA in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MPA from American University in Washington, DC.

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