Joel Rubin is an expert in foreign policy, Congressional affairs, and the media with deep experience in domestic politics. Joel served in the Obama-Biden Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, handling the House of Representatives, and has served for more than two decades in a variety of senior foreign policy positions in government, in Congress, and in the nonprofit sector. Joel is a frequent presence in the national media as a commentator on both foreign and domestic issues, and he began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica in Environmental Education (1994 - 96). Joel also previously served on the Board of Directors of both National Peace Corps Association and the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington, D.C. (RPCV/W).
In government, Joel has worked to advance bipartisan solutions on behalf of American foreign policy. He served in the U.S. Senate as a foreign policy advisor, winning the bipartisan Congressional Staffer of the Year award from the Military Officers Association of America. He earlier served as a career State Department officer in the Bush Administration in Political-Military Affairs and Near Eastern Affairs, earning the State Department’s Superior Honor Award. He began his career as a Presidential Management Fellow in the Clinton Administration at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
In the non-profit arena, Joel is an experienced foreign policy expert and peace advocate. He served as J Street’s founding Political and Government Affairs Director, where he worked to advance Middle East peace by creating political support for it. He also was the Policy Director of Ploughshares Fund, where he led advocacy campaigns in support of nuclear diplomacy with Iran as well as broader nuclear arms control policy. In addition, he recently was the Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress, focusing on countering antisemitism and domestic extremism.
In the media, Joel appears frequently both in print and on television on both national security and domestic political topics. He has appeared on television more than 1,000 times over the past decade, including several hundred times on MSNBC, CNN and FOX, as well as on international outlets. He has also frequently written opinion pieces on foreign policy topics for outlets such as Foreign Policy, The Hill, Newsweek, Axios, The Daily Beast, and The Forward.
In domestic politics, Joel has been elected three times to serve as a Council Member in the Town of Chevy Chase, MD. Joel also ran for Congress in the 2016 Democratic primary for Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, which at the time was the most expensive Congressional primary race in the history of the United States. In addition, Joel was a Middle East Foreign Policy Volunteer for the Biden-Harris Presidential Campaign and earlier served as the Jewish Outreach Director for the Bernie Sanders 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Joel is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and attended Brandeis University for his Bachelors degree and Carnegie Mellon University for his Masters degree. He currently lives in Chevy Chase, MD with his wife, three daughters, mother-in-law, and rescue dog Maddy.
