Washington, D.C. – Today, the Center for American Progress Action Fund announced that former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) will be joining the Center for American Progress Action Fund as President. In his new role, he will lead CAP Action, which includes ThinkProgress.org and the CAP Action War Room.
Strickland, who will also serve as Counselor to the Center for American Progress, will begin April 1.
Within his role at CAP Action, Strickland will focus on policies that build an economy and a country that work for everyone, including economic inequality, poverty, climate change, and health care. He will also work with CAP Action to raise awareness about policies being driven at the state level, such as voting rights, increasing the minimum wage, and protecting the rights of workers to organize and bargain for safe conditions, decent pay, and adequate benefits. He will be an important national voice on progressive policies.
“We are thrilled to have Gov. Strickland lead the work of the Center for American Progress Action Fund,” said Neera Tanden, Counselor to CAP Action and President of the Center for American Progress. “At a time when a growing number of Americans are struggling to move up the economic ladder, his experience at the center of domestic policy debates at the state level give him unique insights. As former governor of Ohio, Ted understands the economic challenges families face on a daily basis, and his work on these issues will be an important asset in the debates going forward.”
Elected Ohio’s 68th governor in November of 2006, Strickland led the state through the recession by focusing his efforts on policies that built a thriving, growing middle class. Balancing smart investments in job creation and education with responsible tax cuts, he passed two balanced budgets and helped Ohio secure one of the fastest growing economies in the country by 2010.
In order to ready the state for a 21st century economy, Strickland oversaw historic reforms to Ohio’s education funding structure, helping advance Ohio’s education system to the fifth most effective in the nation. Additionally, in order to address the crushing costs of growing tuition rates in postsecondary institutions and to make a college education more affordable and accessible to Ohio students, the former governor instated a two-year tuition freeze.
Strickland also recognized the importance of a clean energy economy, signing a $1.57 billion state stimulus to create tens of thousands of growth-sector jobs, including jobs in advanced energy.
Prior to his role as governor, Strickland served six terms in Congress representing Ohio’s 6th congressional district, where he established a strong record advocating for investments in economic development, technology, and health initiatives. A co-author of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Strickland also championed expanded access to health insurance for millions of children nationwide.
Strickland also served as an ordained Methodist minister and as a college professor. Strickland received a bachelor’s degree in history at Asbury College in Kentucky, a master of divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a doctoral degree in counseling psychology at the University of Kentucky.
ThinkProgress now attracts more than 6 million unique readers per month, and the accompanying social media program is one of the most influential in the country. The CAP Action War Room is an advocacy communications hub that integrates policy, politics, organizing, and smart communications to advance progressive policies and principles nationally and in the states.
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