Jon Bernstein
The president and founder of BSG, Jon has been working on education, education technology and telecommunications issues since 1995. Jon is an expert on federal legislative and regulatory issues related to the E-Rate program, education appropriations, and the No Child Left Behind/Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Currently, Jon serves as the Co-chair of the Education & Libraries Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), an organization focused on preserving and protecting the E-Rate program, which is comprised of all of the major public and private education associations and the American Library Association. He is also the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Technology in Education and Training (NCTET), a non-profit, non-partisan organization that examines and supports the use of technology to improve education and training in America and hosts the quadrennial NCTET Inaugural Presidential Ball. Jon also helps lead the Homework Gap Big Tent and Title II funding coalitions.
Prior to launching the Bernstein Strategy Group in 2005, Jon served as Vice President at Leslie Harris & Associates, where he worked on k-12 education policy and appropriations issues, the E-Rate program and blocking/filtering legislation. Before joining Leslie Harris & Associates, Jon served as an Attorney Advisor with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), working on common carrier issues for the Accounting Policy Division and, later, for the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Prior to joining the FCC, Jon lobbied for the National Education Association (NEA) on a variety of issues, including education technology, the E-Rate, Internet filtering, school safety and copyright. He also served a stint as Interim Manager of NEA's Federal Relations Division.
Jon's lobbying career began with The Lightspan Partnership, an educational software provider. In that position, he worked on federal education authorization and appropriations issues and collaborated with EdLiNC and Congress to help pass E-Rate as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Jon's first policy job in Washington was with the Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein, where as Legislative Fellow, he helped staff her on judiciary, crime, immigration, and intellectual property issues.
