John Schachter joined ACS in September 2011 and currently serves as the Vice President of Public Education and Outreach, bringing nearly 25 years of political, governmental, journalism and public relations experience. In this capacity, he manages ACS's strategic communications, media relations and marketing as well as relationships with policymakers and other strategic partners. He is responsible for raising the organization’s visibility as a key player in the progressive legal community.
Before joining ACS, John managed campaigns for Hewlett Packard, the Retirement Made Simpler coalition, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, NASA’s Science Directorate and Abundant Forests Alliance at the public relations firm Porter Novelli. Previously, he served for five years as communications director at the National Association of Attorneys General. John has also handled communications for the Business Roundtable and Fannie Mae, and been a congressional campaign manager, Capitol Hill press secretary, and editor and writer at Congressional Quarterly.
John graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics in 1986.
John is also an accomplished political satirist, humor columnist, comedy speechwriter and stand-up comedian. In addition to creating humorous speeches for many political figures, John has collaborated with Saturday Night Live’s Al Franken and written for Comedy Central’s “InDecision ‘92” coverage of the Democratic National Convention. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and 12-year-old son/baseball player.