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tomás bilbao

Vice President of Marketing and Communication

Tomás Bilbao is vice president of marketing and communication at StriveTogether, where he leads the marketing, communication and brand management of the nation’s premier movement working to ensure that every child has every opportunity to succeed.

A public affairs executive with over two decades of experience in the public, nonprofit and private sectors, Tomás has designed and executed communications and public policy campaigns for global brands in a variety of sectors and industries around the world.

Most recently, Tomás served as chief marketing officer for iCivics, the country’s largest nonprofit provider of civic education resources to K-12 schools. Previously, he served as executive director of branding and communications at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, where he helped lead the school’s turnaround following its acquisition by ASU.

A resident of Washington, D.C., for almost two decades, Tomás served in various public service positions in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the administration of George W. Bush. He holds a degree in international studies from American University in Washington, D.C., and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Tomás lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and two sons.

hear from tomás

What is a place that shaped you, and how does it give you purpose?

I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, where I witnessed firsthand the impact of inequity on the country’s democracy. Despite the wealth created by the oil boom of the 1970s, corruption and mismanagement led to a concentration of wealth at the top, while most of the country faced poverty, crime and a lack of opportunity. Hugo Chavez took advantage of this environment to lead a populist presidential campaign after being pardoned for staging a military coup in 1992. Riding a wave of popular disaffection with the system, Chavez was elected in 1998 and his authoritarian party has ruled the country ever since. Poverty, inequality and corruption have only continued to grow while the government has assaulted and dismantled democratic norms and individual liberties. This is how I learned the important role that education and economic mobility must play in protecting a country’s democracy and why I have dedicated my life to advancing democracy through education and economic opportunity.