Robert Gordon is a visiting fellow at the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and an adjunct lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also executive vice president at Recoding America, an initiative to build state capacity.
Robert has led major government reform efforts from senior positions at the federal, state, and local levels. In recent years he served as Deputy Assistant to the President at the White House Domestic Policy Council, Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Director of the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services. Earlier in his career he served in key roles at the federal Office of Management & Budget and the New York City Department of Education, as a top aide to a U.S. Senator and vice-presidential candidate, and as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Outside government, he has been the chief strategy and financial officer at the College Board, a consultant to large philanthropies and nonprofit organizations, and a law guardian for children in abuse and neglect proceedings.
The throughline of Robert's government work has been improving outcomes and reducing burdens: simplifying and increasing the use of evidence in federal grants, streamlining public benefits, overhauling education financing, and modernizing civil service rules. Robert lives with his family in Washington, D.C.