Jonathan Jay Cowan

Jonathan J. "Jon" Cowan is the president and a co-founder of Third Way, a self-described centrist think tank.

Career From 1989 to 1992, Cowan was Press Secretary and Legislative Assistant to Congressman Mel Levine (D-CA). Cowan then focused on political advocacy because he believed no one was acting as an "activist social-change agent in [his] generation." With the bipartisan help of former U.S. senators Paul Tsongas (D-MA) and Warren Rudman (R-NH), The organization, with no paying members, was primarily funded by American businessman Pete Peterson. In 1994, Cowan and Nelson co-authored the book Revolution X: A Survival Guide for Our Generation.

During the second Clinton administration, Cowan served as Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. During that presidency, Cowan also served as Senior Advisor to Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs under Secretary Henry Cisneros.

In 2000, Cowan became President of a new organization, Americans for Gun Safety. In 2005, Americans for Gun Safety was folded into the new, multi-issue think tank Third Way, which Cowan co-founded along with Matt Bennett, Jim Kessler, and Nancy Hale.