Zack Exley | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1969-12-05)December 5, 1969 (age 55) |
| Education | University of Massachusetts, Amherst (BA) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Justice Democrats Brand New Congress |
Zack Exley (born December 5, 1969[1]) is an American political and technology consultant.
Exley was raised inWest Hartford, Connecticut. He studied abroad atShanxi Normal University before earning his B.A. in Social Thought and Political Economy from theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst in 1993. He also attended theJohn F. Kennedy School of Government.[1][2]
Around the2000 election controversy, Exley enabled citizens to self-organize over 100 protests around the United States through a website.[3]
In 2004, he was the Director of Online Communications and Organizing on theJohn Kerry 2004 presidential campaign, and directed internet operations for theUK Labour Party's re-election campaign in 2005.[4]
Exley served as the Chief Revenue Officer (formerly Chief Community Officer) at theWikimedia Foundation from 2010 to 2013. He continued to provide contracted fundraising consultation until 2017.[5][6] Before that, he worked atThoughtWorks, a global IT consultancy.[7] He is also the co-founder and former president of theNew Organizing Institute, a progressive political technology training organization.[8]Politico reported in August 2015 that Exley had joined the2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign as a senior advisor responsible for digital communications.[9][10] He co-founded theJustice Democrats andBrand New Congress.[11]
Exley was Organizing Director atMoveOn.org during the group's campaign to prevent theIraq War, and during its controversial involvement with theHoward Dean 2004 presidential campaign. He was criticized for "rigging" the "MoveOn Primary" in favor of Dean, a charge the group rejected.[12]
Prior to working for MoveOn, Exley created the political parody website, GWBush.com, as well as cnndn.com, a site that parodied financial reporting. Both sites attracted legal action byBush's 2000 election campaign andCNN, respectively. CNN successfully closed cnndn.com, but legal action from the Bush campaign led to increased publicity for Exley's site and set legal precedent that has allowed political websites to operate withoutFederal Election Commission regulation.[13] In response to GWBush.com, then-candidateGeorge W. Bush called Exley a "garbage man" and expressed his opinion that the website should be shut down, arguing "There ought to be limits to freedom."[14][15]
Exley previously managedRevolution in Jesusland, a blog that sought to create dialog between the secular left and groups withinEvangelical Christianity that promote economic and social justice as a matter of faith.[16]
After the2016 United States presidential election, Exley,Saikat Chakrabarti, a former fellow Bernie Sanders presidential campaign executive,Kyle Kulinski ofSecular Talk andCenk Uygur ofThe Young Turks created theJustice Democrats to reform theDemocratic Party and challenge PresidentDonald Trump.[17][18] Exley co-founded Middle Seat, which worked extensively with Justice Democrats.
As of 2025, Exley was managing Chakrabarti's campaign to challengeNancy Pelosi in the Democratic primary forCalifornia's 11th congressional district.[19]
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