Tobin Van Ostern

Deputy Director

As the Deputy Director for Campus Progress, Tobin oversees the development of policy recommendations and the coordination of government affairs work that leads to their enactment.

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 politics and technology in order to better engage young adults in the political process.

Tobin 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.

Expertise: Health care, new media, elections, advocacy