Adam Kovacevich is an American lobbyist and the CEO and founder of Chamber of Progress. He formerly worked as a Google executive and Democratic aide.^[2][3]

Early life and education

Kovacevich is the son of John J. Kovacevich, a California agriculture businessman who owned the 650-acre non-union Kovacevich Vineyards outside Bakersfield, California.^[4][5] He graduated from Harvard University.^[4][1]

While at Harvard, Kovacevich befriended Tom Cotton, and would later support several of the Arkansas Republican's political campaigns.^[6] Kovacevich said of Cotton, “I support him as a friend, but that doesn’t mean we agree on policies.”^[7]

As a student, Kovacevich lobbied Harvard to end a ban on serving grapes that had been organized to express solidarity with a 1984 United Farm Workers grape boycott.^[8][9] Supporters of the ban from National Council of La Raza opposed Kovacevich's efforts, saying the grape ban was about respecting the human rights of farmworkers.^[8] Kovacevich rebutted criticism of the working conditions of farm laborers by noting that, at his family's vineyards, workers were permitted to listen to the radio while picking grapes.^[1] Kovacevich was successful in having the Harvard grape ban overturned.^[8][10][11] In 2000, following the vote by Stanford students to overturn their university's grape ban, the United Farm Workers announced a permanent end to its grape boycott.^[12][13]

Career

After graduating from Harvard, Kovacevich worked in Democratic politics. He served as spokesperson for then-congressman Cal Dooley,^[14][15] co-founder of the moderate New Democrat Coalition. He also worked for Senator Joe Lieberman in the United States Senate and on his 2004 presidential campaign^[16][17] and for Inez Tenenbaum on her 2004 campaign for the United States Senate.^[18][19]

In 2007, he went to work for Google, where he spent 12 years, eventually becoming senior director of public policy.^[20] He launched Google’s public policy blog.^[21]

His op-eds, on tech issues, have appeared in media such as the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,^[22] The Philadelphia Inquirer,^[23] and Fortune,^[24] and he has appeared on TV channels such as Cheddar,^[25] C-SPAN,^[26] and Bloomberg Television.^[27]

Politics

Kovacevich describes himself as a progressive, though others have disputed this assertion.^[1][6] Speaking of Kovacevich, Mike Lux, board chair of American Family Voices, said in 2021 that "there is no evidence that this guy is progressive".^[6]

During his time at Google, Kovacevich personally donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates.^[6][28]

In 2021, Kovacevich expressed support for President Biden’s proposed tax increase on corporations.^[29]

Personal life

According to Kovacevich, he lives in Arlington, Virginia, and is married with three children.^[1]

References