Charles Kolb is President of the Committee for Economic Development (CED) with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City.   Founded in 1942, CED is an independent, nonpartisan research and policy organization of 200 business and education leaders dedicated to economic and social policy research and the implementation of its recommendations by the public and private sectors.   In recent years, CED’s work has addressed issues ranging from education, immigration, and e-commerce to basic research, international trade, judicial reform and campaign finance reform.   Mr. Kolb has held this position since September 1997.

Prior to joining CED, Kolb served as General Counsel and Secretary of United Way of America (UWA) from 1992 to1997, where he played a major role in turning around that organization in the wake of a serious national scandal involving UWA’s prior management.  

During nearly ten years of U.S. government service, Kolb held several senior-level positions.   At the White House he served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 1990 to 1992 and handled several domestic issues involving economic, education, legal, and regulatory matters.   From 1983 to 1990, he held three other government positions:   Assistant General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget (1983-1986); Deputy General Counsel for Regulations and Legislation, U.S. Department of Education (1986-1988); and Deputy Under Secretary for Planning, Budget and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Education (1988-1990).  

Prior to government service, Mr. Kolb practiced law at two Washington, D.C., law firms:   Covington & Burling and Foreman & Dyess.   He also was a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph H. Young in Baltimore, Maryland.

Kolb received his undergraduate degree at Princeton University and did graduate study at Balliol College, Oxford University, from which he received a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.   He holds a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Journal of International Law .   He is also the author of a book on White House policymaking and more than 20 law review and op-ed articles.

He has regularly appeared in the media, including The Today Show , ABC News with Peter Jennings, The CBS Evening News , NBC Evening News, MSNBC’s Hardball , The News Hour with Jim Lehrer , CNNfn, CNN’s Inside Politics, and National Public Radio.   In connection with CED’s work on campaign finance reform, he was featured in a New York Times “Money and Business” profile and has been interviewed dozens of times by news organizations around the country.

Kolb is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council for Excellence in Government, and   America’s Promise Alliance, and serves on the boards of the Ethics Resource Center, the National Center for Nonprofit Law, National Center for Higher Education and Public Policy, Common Cause, Asia Society, Common Good, National Board for Professional Teaching President’s Roundtable, and Campaign Legal Center.   He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife Ingrid and their daughter, Charlotte Amanda.   His principal hobby is painting.