Author » Will Marshall
Will Marshall is president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a center for policy innovation in Washington, D.C. Established in 1989, PPI's mission is to modernize progressive politics and government for the 21st century.
In 1985, Marshall helped to found the Democratic Leadership Council, serving as its first Policy Director. In that capacity, he worked with Members of Congress and other elected officials around the country
Called "Bill Clinton's idea mill," PPI's policy analysis and proposals were the source for many of the "New Democrat" themes that figured prominently in national politics during the 1990s. The Institute also has been integral to the spread of "Third Way" thinking to center-left parties in Europe and elsewhere. Marshall serves on the board of Policy Network, an international think tank launched by Tony Blair to promote progressive policy ideas throughout the democratic world.
He is editor of many books, most recently With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006). Featuring leading Democratic experts on national security, this anthology presents a comprehensive, progressive alternative to the Bush administration's "war on terror."
Marshall also edited Building the Bridge: 10 Big Ideas to Transform America (Roman & Littlefield, 1997) and co-edited Mandate for Change (Berkley Books, 1992), PPI's best-selling policy blueprint for President Clinton's first term. He has written on a wide array of political subjects, including defense and foreign policy; civic enterprise and national service; welfare and family policy; new models for governing; and, race and affirmative action. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and many other newspapers, as well as The American Prospect and other policy-oriented journals.
Marshall also is a member of the Washington, D.C. Public Charter School Board, which oversees 34 innovative "public charter schools" serving nearly 15,000 students in the nation's capital.
Marshall's previous campaign and political experience includes posts as press secretary, spokesman and speechwriter for the 1984 United States Senate campaign of former North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, speechwriter and policy analyst for the late U.S. Representative Gillis Long of Louisiana, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus; and, spokesman and speechwriter in the 1982 U.S. Senate campaign of former Virginia Lt. Governor Dick Davis. In addition, Marshall was senior editor of the 1984 House Democratic Caucus policy blueprint, Renewing America's Promise.
Before becoming involved in politics and public policy, he was a journalist in Virginia, including a stint with the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1952, Marshall is a 1975 graduate of the University of Virginia, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History. Marshall and his wife, Katryn S. Nicolai, live in Arlington, VA. They have two children, Olivia and William.