Joe Kennedy has dedicated his career to social and economic justice. A former Congressman, legal aid volunteer, and assistant district attorney, he founded Groundwork Project to address pervasive disparities in the American political system and to help build a Democratic Party that is more inclusive, representative, and fair.
Over four terms in the House of Representatives, Kennedy built an impressive legislative record around civil rights, health care, and economic policy, emerging as a national figure in some of our most pivotal political debates. From his headline-making fights for affordable health care and compassionate immigration policy to his legislative leadership on issues like mental health parity and transgender equality, he has become one of this generation’s most powerful voicess for moral clarity.
In addition to Groundwork Project, Kennedy now serves as a senior advisor to the Emerson Collective, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the National Association of Community Health Centers and appears on CNN as a political commentator. He also serves on the boards of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Woodwell Climate Research Center, the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, and the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps.
Prior to serving in Congress, Kennedy was an Assistant District Attorney in Massachusetts. He attended Stanford University and Harvard Law School, where he was an active member of the Legal Aid Bureau, and spent two years in the United States Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. The grandson of former United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy and great-nephew of President John F. Kennedy and former Senator Ted Kennedy, he is married to Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, founder and CEO of Neighborhood Villages, a leading childcare advocacy group. They live in Newton, Massachusetts, with their two young children, Eleanor and James.
