Dr. Patrick Riccards is the founder of the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement, a national effort transforming the teaching and learning of American history and civics through provocative, relevant video content for students and related professional development for teachers. DFI is committed to inspiring today’s learners need to “think like historians.”

During his career, Pat has advised four presidential administrations and more than a half-dozen cabinet-level agencies on policy and public engagement. He has also worked for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and three U.S. Senators, as well as for the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

Previously, Pat served as executive director and CEO of Life After Hate, the nation’s leader in the violence intervention community. He has also held positions as a university vice president and as the chief communications and strategy officer at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, helping build many of its signature initiatives, including the High Meadows Graduate School of Teaching and Learning (acquired by the University of Kansas in 2022).

He also was CEO of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, executive director for communications and public affairs at the American Institutes for Research, chief of staff to the National Reading Panel, and executive director of the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative. Patrick began his career working on Capitol Hill and on political campaigns.

Currently the chairman of the board for Life After Hate and on the Board of Directors for the Center for the Collaborative Classroom, Project Tomorrow, and the University of Virginia’s Bolivar Network, and the advisory board for the Education Writers Association, Pat was chairman of the school board in Falls Church City, Virginia. He is a member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council, writing regularly on nonprofit strategy and leadership.

An award-winning author, he writes and tweets under the handle Eduflack. Pat’s latest book, Strategic Strikes: Mastering Your Communications in the Cage Match of Public Opinion, was published by Advantage/Forbes Books and is an Amazon BEST SELLER. He is the author of the nationally recognized book, Dadprovement, that chronicles his experiences building a family through adoption. Pat is also the editor and contributing author of Why Kids Can’t Read: Continuing to Challenge the Status Quo in Education and author of the award-winning Dad in a Cheer Bow, which has recently been turned into a full-length feature film.

Pat regularly speaks on the intersections of policy, research, and engagement and is the author or ghost author of work that has appeared in hundreds of publications, including USA Today, Washington Post, New York Times, and Education Week.

Pat earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and completed the Non-Profit Leaders Executive Education Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He received his doctorate from the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, focusing his award-winning academic research on the value of a learn-from-failure mindset.

Pat lives in Worcester, MA with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Michael and Anna. From 2017 to 2021, he has volunteered his time as a coach for his daughter’s competitive cheer team, helping lead a squad of 19 teen girls to Nationals (and a top 10 finish) in December 2019 and runners up at 2019 YCADA Globals. This experience is the basis for his award-winning Dad in a Cheer Bow memoir.