Patrick Riccards

Patrick Riccards is the founder and chief executive officer of the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement. DFI was created to improve the teaching and learning of American history by ensuring a stream of short, relevant, and provocative American history content for today’s learners.

Prior to launching DFI, Patrick served as the chief communications and strategy officer at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, helping build many of its signature initiatives, including the WW Graduate School of Teaching and Learning and the WW Higher Education Policy Fellowship.

He previously served as CEO of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, executive director at the American Institutes for Research, a university vice president, and CEO and chief strategist for Exemplar Strategic Communications. Patrick also served as executive director of the PA STEM Initiative and chief of staff to the National Reading Panel. Patrick began his career working on Capitol Hill.

Currently on the Board of Directors for the Center for the Collaborative Classroom and the advisory board for the Education Writers Association, Patrick also was former local school board chairman. An award-winning author, he writes and tweets under the handle Eduflack.

Patrick is the author of two award-winning books – Dadprovement and Dad in a Cheer Bow. He is also the editor of Why Kids Can’t Read: Continuing to Challenge the Status Quo in Education and the recently published, Why History Matters: American History Educators Speak Out, a volume of essays from award-winning social studies teachers on the importance of learning U.S. history.

Patrick lives in Florence, S.C. with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Michael and Anna.