Meet Chase Sackett, America Forward’s New Policy Director
In November 2021, Chase Sackett joined the America Forward team as Policy Director. We sat down with Chase to talk a bit more about his new role, his experience in government and policy, and his favorite things to do in D.C.
America Forward: Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from? What brought you to Washington, DC?
Chase Sackett: I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and went to college in St. Louis. After college, I stayed in St. Louis to serve as a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, supporting groups like a national early education nonprofit and a local coalition of children’s services orgs. After law school, I came to D.C. for a job working on research and policy at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). I later joined the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED), focused on evidence-based policy and social support programs. Then I joined the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (now known as Arnold Ventures), where I spent the past four years. At Arnold, I served as a program officer managing policy and research grantmaking and policy engagement around evidence and higher education policy.
AF: What drew you to America Forward?
CS: It really felt like a natural fit. In and out of government, I’ve seen firsthand how social entrepreneurship is so vital to creating and delivering effective programs that enable people to, for instance, complete college or earn a sustainable wage.
To help scale up those programs, we also need government to support innovation, evaluation, continuous improvement, and program delivery. For instance, when I was in government, I worked alongside practitioners and researchers to lift up and study some of the most promising models to address basic needs insecurity among college students. Just seven years ago, these efforts were very nascent. But today, colleges around the country have partnered with innovative providers to offer programs addressing needs like housing and food insecurity, and the federal government has provided billions of dollars of emergency aid to help students amidst COVID.
We need to do more to accelerate this development process across policy domains, and to do so with a focus on equity. I’m so excited to work at a place where I can work with incredible social entrepreneurs to drive policy change to achieve this goal.
AF: What are some critical policies/policy inflection points that you are focused on, as potential opportunities to advance America Forward’s mission and achieve progress for students, workers, and communities?
CS: There are so many opportunities right now. On the implementation side, there is a tremendous need to support federal agencies, state, and localities to make the most effective use of all the new dollars and programs that have been introduced over the past couple years. We need to make sure governments are maximizing those dollars’ impact, while clearing a path for the most effective, equity-focused organizations to participate. And despite everything going on right now, I see strong continued prospects for bipartisan policymaking in Congress around America Forward’s key priorities.
AF: How do you hope to engage with the members of the America Forward Coalition?
CS: The opportunity to work with the Coalition was one of the top reasons I was so thrilled to join the America Forward team. I’ve seen how social entrepreneurs’ voices are uniquely powerful to inform the development of good policy, to make the case to policymakers, and ultimately implement programs in a way that makes sense in local context. So I’m looking forward to partnering closely with our Coalition members through that entire process, and to doing what I can to help elevate their perspectives and ideas. And, personally, I’m excited to get to know and learn more about all of the Coalition members’ work and perspectives.
AF: What’s your favorite thing to do (or eat or see) in Washington, and why?
CS: My wife and I love going to the annual Citi Open tennis tournament. In the past the tickets have been surprisingly affordable, the tournament benefits a great local non-profit serving DC youth, and the field typically includes a mix of rising stars and big names. This year we were really lucky to see both Rafael Nadal and Coco Gauff play. That said, the tournament’s in early August, one of the swampiest times in DC — bring lots of water and a towel.