If you really want to get Matt going on something he’s passionate about, just ask him about station wagons. Yes, even as a 17-year old senior in high school, Matt’s dream first car was a wagon. Aside from his soccer mom taste in cars, Matt is a hardcore traveler, having visited all six inhabited continents and proudly filling his passport to the brim with stamps. He’s always happy to share travel tales or provide recommendations.

Matt joined Third Way in February 2013 and serves as the Senior Advisor for Outreach & External Affairs, where he works with his team to implement the organization’s long-term impact strategy. He is responsible for running point on contact with congressional offices, executing large and small events, tracking the team’s progress, and keeps the trains running on time.

Matt’s interest in moderate politics was piqued after an internship on Governor Pat Quinn’s 2010 campaign in Chicago where he witnessed the full brunt of the Tea Party wave sweeping the country. He finished his senior year in Senator Sherrod Brown’s Columbus, Ohio, office and moved to D.C. just a week after graduation. Matt’s first job in Washington was as an Associate for the Committee for Economic Development, a 70-year old nonpartisan think tank comprised of current and former CEOs, C-suite executives, and NGO leaders.

A native and proud Long Islander, Matt trekked out to the Midwest to attend college at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. During his junior year, Matt studied abroad in Buenos Aires where he was relentlessly mistaken for Lionel Messi. In his free time, Matt can be found reading The New Yorker, watching old political ads on YouTube, indulging in a not-too-guilty-pleasure meal at McDonald’s, or finding creative ways to earn frequent flier miles. 

Contact Matt at mcoglianese@thirdway.org.