Tobin Van Ostern | Biography

Biography

"Van Ostern has been one of Obama's critical weapons in this primary race" (The Washington Post, 01/09/08)

Brief:

Tobin Van Ostern presently serves as the Communications Manager for Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress. He previously worked with Campus Progress's student network to engage, train, fund, and mobilize young people on a variety of progressive issues.

Prior to his work at the Center for American Progress, Tobin was the national director of the official student wing of the Obama for America Campaign -Students for Barack Obama- as well as a national co-chair of the campaign. In this capacity he led Students for Barack Obama from its initial launch with 20 chapters in 2006 to over 1,000 chapters nationwide by Election Day in 2008. Tobin enjoys combining his interests in technology and politics in order to better engage young adults in the political process.

He is a graduate of The George Washington University where he received a B.A. in International Affairs and specialized in conflict and security studies. He has been interviewed or written about by the Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, Politico, RealClearPolitics, techPresident, The Hill, The Nation, The Washington Post, and others.

• Recent Press

• Recent Panels/Conferences

Extended Biography:

Hailing from Richmond, VA, Tobin's first taste of political campaigning came in the 7th grade when he interned for Mark Warner's successful race for Governor. After being accepted into the Maggie Walker Governor's School, a Newsweek Top Twenty Public High School, Tobin became the youngest state gubernatorial appointee at the time when he was selected by Governor Warner to sit on the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation's Board of Trustees, which focuses on decreasing smoking among youth.

Following this interest in government, Tobin helped lead the state's non-partisan Mock Election program while in high school in an effort to increase the number of young voters.

He also served as an intern for the successful Kaine for Governor campaign during this time.

Upon graduating, Tobin earned the Pogue Scholarship for Excellence in Government and International Studies and enrolled at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Once at school, Tobin used his interest in technology and politics to help start Students for Barack Obama (SFBO) in 2006; serving as Deputy Director in an effort to use Facebook as the launching-point for a grassroots effort to convince Senator Obama to run for President. After accomplishing this initial goal, Tobin became the group's National Director in its capacity as the official student wing of the Obama for America campaign, growing it to 1000 chapters nationwide.

After graduating from The George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs, he joined the Center for American Progress, a non-partisan think tank. Tobin now serves as the Communications Manager at at the organization's youth arm, Campus Progress.