Burt Edwards

Burt joined ReThink in fall 2022 as the new Director of Programs. He works as part of the management team to help empower program partners in moving key policy discussions through collaborative, cohesive, and creative communications.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, Burt previously worked for over 20 years in Washington, D.C. where he last served as communications and media director for InterAction. Over the years, he’s worked with leading nonprofit, public, and private sector organizations to create and manage communications and public education campaigns to effectively shape public opinion on pressing policy debates from climate change to international conflict.

Burt most recently served as the communication director for Friends of the Columbia Gorge. As the head of Friends’ Public Engagement team, he led rapid-response efforts to the 2017 Eagle Creek fire and co-managed a 2020 community communications campaign to bolster public support for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs’ efforts to restore community access and infrastructure for clean water. In spring 2021, he was appointed to the Oregon Metro Natural Areas and Capital Performance Oversight Committee.

A graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, Burt holds a masters of public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, where as a student he founded the Barbara Jordan Memorial Forum. For over 25 years, subsequent LBJ students have utilized the Forum to encourage community service and explore of issues on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in U.S. public policy.

In his free time, Burt enjoying catching up with friends and family, listening to comedy podcasts, and exploring new restaurants and coffeeshops around the PNW.