Patrick Riccards

Patrick Riccards is the Chief Communications and Strategy Officer for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Patrick began his career on Capitol Hill, where he served in senior communications positions for members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. The former executive director for communications and public affairs at American Institutes for Research, he has also served CEO of one of the top state-based education reform organizations, as executive director of the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative, and de facto chief of staff for the National Reading Panel. Patrick is the author of the award-winning Dadprovement book, which chronicles the adoption of his two children from Guatemala. He is also the lead editor of Why Kids Can't Read: Continuing to Challenge the Status Quo in Education. He is widely known on social media for his blog and Twitter feed, @Eduflack, and is a widely sought speaker and presenter. Patrick holds a B.A. in Government and in Rhetoric and Communications Studies from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of the NonProfit Leaders Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.