Adam Petkun Policy Analyst
Adam Petkun has spent his professional career in politics, policy and non-profit management. Since joining Education First in July 2010, he has supported many of the firm’s teacher and leader effectiveness initiatives, synthesizing findings from empirical research and comparisons of promising practices nationwide, in order to assist several states in the design of new educator evaluation systems. Adam has provided research and planning support to a variety of non-profit strategy projects, including the National State Teachers of the Year organization and EdVestors. He has also participated in the construction of several applications for large grants, leading the development of the successful State of Hawai’i GEAR UP grant application in 2011 and providing technical assistance to a consortium of state community colleges developing applications for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (C3T) grant program.
Prior to joining Education First, Adam held a graduate student internship in the Workforce Development Division of New York City's Department of Small Business Services, where he helped to evaluate implementation of the city's workforce programming.
Previously, he staffed a congressional campaign and worked at The Bus Project, an innovative effort in Oregon to build public engagement in the political process and advance a policy agenda with the Oregon State Legislature. He opened and managed the organization's first field office, and later went on to serve as its political director.
Adam earned his master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon, where he served as student body president and statewide board chair for the Oregon Student Association. Adam currently lives in Seattle, Washington.