PERSON: Mark McKinnon

Co-Founder

Mark David McKinnon (born May 5, 1955) is an American political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship and political problem solving. He served as vice chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., which was acquired by the international communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton Strategies, and was president of Maverick Media. McKinnon is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and co-host of Showtime’s The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth and consulted on the HBO series The Newsroom and Netflix’s House of Cards. He was a regular columnist for The Daily Beast and The Daily Telegraph (London).

McKinnon has worked for many causes, companies and candidates, including former President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, Texas Governor Ann Richards, Congressman Charlie Wilson, and musician and philanthropist Bono. He has served on the boards of numerous organizations dedicated to reforming the influence of money in politics. McKinnon was on the advisory board of Americans Elect, a defunct political organization known primarily for its efforts to stage a national online primary for the 2012 United States presidential election. In 2014, McKinnon launched Mayday PAC to force ethics reform in the United States Congress, along with Harvard Professor Larry Lessig—who would later run for president on a related push for ethics and campaign finance reform—and tech moguls Steve Wozniak, Fred Wilson, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman. McKinnon and Julian Castro served as co-chairs of Southerners for the Freedom to Marry, before Obergefell v. Hodges affirmed that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples. He currently serves on the boards of Take Back Our Republic and the Austin Film Society, and is a member of the George Foster Peabody Awards board of jurors as well as the Advisory Council of Represent.Us, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization.

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