Politics & Public Service
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” The concept of civic engagement as service, especially by young people, has consistently inspired Greg. Consider that King himself was a mere 26 when he stood alongside Rosa Parks, delivering a potent speech that ignited the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Greta Thunberg was only 15 when she emerged as a global champion for climate activism, and Pakistani female education advocate Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at just 17. There are numerous routes to such service, including campaigning for candidates, advocating for issues, running for office, working within government, serving on boards, and much more. The following are some of the ways Greg has endeavored to embody the principles he has advocated to emerging leaders over three decades.
Initiatives
Candidacies for Office
Public Higher Education Advocacy
Federal, State, & Local Service
Student Leadership
Candidacies for Office
In the 2005 and 2009 Virginia statewide elections, Greg stood as the Democratic Party’s candidate for a House of Delegates seat once held by George Washington. At the time, southern Fairfax County was a conservative stronghold, and Greg’s opponent was a seasoned incumbent with around 20 years of service. Despite the odds, Greg’s team created a competitive race, knocking on 30,000 doors and raising more campaign funds for a challenger than any previous candidate for a Delegate seat. His campaign earned the endorsement of The Washington Post and leading policy associations representing private businesses, teachers, law enforcement, emergency medical services, and conservationists. Although Greg narrowly missed victory in 2005 by only 2 percentage points, his campaigns laid the groundwork for the subsequent shift in the political landscape of both the County and Virginia as a whole. Alongside addressing regional concerns such as taxes and traffic, his campaigns also ignited public discourse on statewide issues like ensuring equitable access to quality education and eradicating political gerrymandering through nonpartisan redistricting reform, a goal finally realized in 2020.
- The Fairfax Station-Clifton Connection, "42nd Delegate Race: War of the Words," by Julia O'Donoghue (October 29, 2009)
- The Washington Post, “Werkheiser Blasts Albo,” by Amy Gardner (May 13, 2009)
- The Washington Post, “Werkheiser Will Challenge Albo,” by Tim Craig (January 19, 2009)
- The Washington Post, “Reliably GOP State Is Up for Grabs,” by Alec MacGillis and Tim Craig (August 4, 2008)
Photo credit: Greg Werkheiser
Federal, State, & Local Service
During the Clinton Administration, Greg served at the White House, where his roles included drafting speeches for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and supporting the President’s speechwriting team. During this period the President delivered a powerful defense of affirmative action and the First Lady successfully spoke against Congressional cuts to public television funding. Mrs. Clinton also prepared her landmark address to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, where she famously declared, “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights.” The following year, Greg undertook dual roles at the US Embassy in Paris: he served as a speechwriter for the US Ambassador to France, Pamela Harriman, and coordinated US Information Agency press events related to President Clinton’s participation in the Group of Seven (G7) summit. This included organizing bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Japan. In addition, Greg spent a summer at the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to improving the efficacy of legislators, their staffs, and the institution through research-based education and training.
At the state level, Greg chaired the Virginia Commission on National and Community Service by gubernatorial appointment. He led the strategic growth and reform of the body charged with overseeing AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and other national and state community service programs. His board rebranded the agency and oversaw the launch of Virginia’s statewide portal for volunteer service. His state service has also included serving as an Aide to a member of the General Assembly.
Locally, Werkheiser chaired Fairfax County’s Bond Referendum Committee, informing citizens who subsequently approved $365 million in investments in schools, parks, and libraries.
Photo of Greg Werkheiser with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. Photo credit: The White House
- VirginiaCorps, “Governor’s Commission on National and Community Service,” (August 15, 2002)
- College of William & Mary Alumni Gazette, "Cultivating the Commonwealth," by Emily Johnson (December 1999) (p. 39)
- William and Mary Alumni Magazine, "World Class," by Pam Kirschbaum (Spring 1996) (select pages)
Public Higher Education Advocacy
In the 1990s then Virginia governor George Allen led the elimination of parole, creating demand for many new prison cells. Allen proposed to pay for new prisons by slashing tens of millions of dollars from the budgets of public colleges and universities, reducing low-income students’ access to education. Werkheiser and student leader H. Martin Haley, Jr., responded by founding the Virginia Student Coalition, a group representing 120,000 college students. Werkheiser, elected chair, forged a collaboration with Virginia college presidents and prominent business leaders to thwart the proposed cuts. He testified before the General Assembly, delivered 25,000 post-cards to legislators, and spoke to across the Commonwealth. They succeeded, both in defeating Allen’s efforts and those of Allen’s successor, Governor James Gilmore, and instead secured historic investments in public higher education. The precedent set by the advocacy work of the Virginia Student Coalition would serve as a model for subsequent decades of student activism in the Commonwealth, led by Virginia21, which Werkheiser served as an original board member.
Photo credit: College of William and Mary Alumni Gazette, Vol. 61, No. 6
- College of William & Mary Alumni Gazette, "Outlook Improves For Higher Education," (February 1995)
- The Virginian-Pilot, "Group of Student Leaders Will Work for Changes," by Lee Banville (October 16, 1994)
- The Virginian-Pilot, "VA. Collegians Will Lobby For Students," by Associated Press (October 4, 1994)
Student Leadership
As a William and Mary freshman in 1992, Werkheiser was elected president of the Young Democrats. He led students in marches for fair employment conditions for the College’s cleaning and food service staff, advocated for the civil rights of racial, religious, and gender minorities, and campaigned statewide for Democratic candidates. As a sophomore in 1993 he was elected president of the student government. His detailed platform entitled “A Blueprint for Progress” included a signature promise to persuade the administration to wire the College’s historic campus for access to high-speed cable, which was soon accomplished. The same year, to organize more resources in support of the College’s black staff and students, Greg cofounded the College’s NAACP chapter, which today is approaching 30 years of service.
- Flat Hat, “School establishes new NAACP chapter,” by Todd Seigrist (September 16, 1994)
- Virginian-Pilot, “White W&M Student Is Trying To Organize Local NAACP Chapter,” by Lee Banville (September 10, 1994)
- Daily Press, “W&M May Be Getting Campus NAACP Chapter,” by Richard Stradling (September 2, 1994)
- Flat Hat, “NAACP holds first campus meeting,” by Drew Cannady (September 1994)
