Kip Wainscott

Kip Wainscott is a senior advisor at NDI and leads the Institute's presence in Silicon Valley, engaging technologists and other stakeholders in support of democracy. Until early 2017, Kip served in the White House as senior director of cabinet affairs and senior advisor to the Domestic Policy Council, where his work focused on issues related to justice, technology, and opportunity. He was also appointed senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on the development of federal policy related to technology, privacy, and other issues of priority to the Attorney General and the Obama administration. Prior to entering government, Kip practiced law in a leading political and elections practice, serving as counsel to several Members of Congress, the Democratic National Committee, and numerous political and advocacy organizations. He was also counsel and national delegate director for President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, and has held leadership roles in civic, political, and professional organizations, including the Washington Foreign Law Society and the New Leaders Council. After leaving the White House in 2017, Kip helped spearhead the launch of an international civic tech startup working to democratize access to the justice system and create pathways for communities to support public interest legal action. He is based in San Francisco, California.