Kahlil Byrd

Kahlil Byrd
Born	Kahlil Julian Byrd
Residence	New York, New York
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Morehouse College, B.A. Harvard Kennedy School, MPA
Spouse(s)	Sarah Haacke Byrd (2011–present)

Kahlil Byrd is the founder and CEO of Forward Progress in Politics (FPPCO).^[1] He formerly served as president of StudentsFirst,^[2] a political advocacy group focused on education reform. He served less than a year in that role, leaving in July 2013.^[3] Prior to that he served as CEO of Americans Elect. During the 2012 presidential election cycle, Americans Elect was a national organization that unsuccessfully sought to nominate and elect a third-party candidate for president^[4] by attempting to put a bipartisan presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states.^[5]

Early life and Education

Byrd holds a B.A. in Political Science from Morehouse College, and a masters from the Harvard Kennedy School.^[6]

Career

Byrd started his career as a journalist, working for National Public Radio in Washington.^[7]

He began his political career as spokesman and communications director for Deval Patrick’s 2006 campaign for governor. He left the campaign in April of 2006 to "return to business interests."^[8] In 2007, Byrd joined the Patrick administration as Director of Gubernatorial Appointments. ^[9]

Byrd was also a Term Member and an International Affairs Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations.^[10]

Byrd is the founder and CEO of Forward Progress in Politics (FPPCO).^[11]

Americans Elect

From 2009 through the 2012 election cycle, Byrd was chief executive of Americans Elect, a national organization that aimed to reshape the U.S. presidential primary system and place a bipartisan presidential ticket on all 50 state ballots.^[12] During his tenure, the organization raised over $40 million and established a fully functioning start-up with over 150 paid staff, 4,000 contractors and 3,000 volunteers nationwide. Over two years, Americans Elect had 3.5 million unique visitors to its website and acquired more than 450,000 members. No candidate emerged for president and the organization made the decision in the spring of 2012 to suspend the online convention.^[13] AmericansElect.org was the winner of the 2012 People’s Choice Award at South by Southwest,^[14] the Campaigns & Elections 2012 CampaignTech Innovator Award,^[15] and two 2012 CLIO Awards for content and interactive excellence.^[16]

StudentsFirst

Byrd served as the first president of StudentsFirst,^[17] the grassroots education reform advocacy organization founded by Michelle Rhee. StudentsFirst is currently a multi-million dollar effort to change the nation’s legislative and policy education landscape and drive a national movement of teachers, parents, and students dedicated to reform. He was hired in 2012 to manage the organization’s long-term strategy, operations budget and growth.^[17]^[18] In announcing his departure, Rhee credited him with helping the organization, saying “Kahlil has successfully seen StudentsFirst through a critical growth phase,” said Rhee. “He leaves the organization stronger and more prepared to challenge the status quo on behalf of kids.” ^[19]

Writing

Byrd writes about political entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. His has blogged on HuffingtonPost.com. ^[20]

Personal life

Byrd is married to Sarah Haacke Byrd ^[21] a non-profit professional^[22] living and working in New York City.

References

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