Will Ragland is the vice president of research for the Advocacy department at American Progress, where he leads strategic and investigative research in support of the building’s communications and campaign efforts. He has worked in similar roles since 2014 at American Progress.
From 2009 to 2014, Ragland served in the U.S. Department of Education as a special assistant in Secretary Arne Duncan’s Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. While there, he helped manage the Obama administration’s budget, appropriations, and education policy priorities on the Hill.
Prior to this, Ragland was on President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign research staff, worked as a research assistant on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, served in Jamaica as a Peace Corps volunteer, and taught high school in rural Virginia.
He has his undergraduate degree in English and writing from the Virginia Military Institute.