David Sutphen

Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer, 2U 

As chief strategy and engagement officer, David Sutphen leads the 2U communications and brand functions, as well as the company’s social impact, government and public affairs, and diversity and inclusion efforts. He is a member of the senior leadership team and reports directly to the CEO.

Sutphen joined 2U in 2017 from Brunswick Group, a global strategic communications advisory firm, where he was a partner and head of the Washington, DC office. During his more than eight years at Brunswick, Sutphen advised Fortune 500 and emerging companies on reputation, stakeholder engagement, crisis, diversity, and public affairs matters with a particular focus on the media, retail, technology, and education sectors.

Earlier in his career, Sutphen served as judiciary committee general counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy and chief of staff to former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. After leaving Capitol Hill, Sutphen worked as a senior vice president at the Recording Industry Association of America and at Viacom. Outside of 2U, Sutphen serves on the board of directors of Teaching Strategies, a KKR portfolio company and the market leader in pre-K and early elementary curriculum, assessment, family engagement, and professional development solutions. He is also actively involved in the leadership of numerous non-profit organizations, including as board chair of GetSchooled; a board member of CityBridge Education; a board member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation; and a Dean’s Advisory Board member at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Sutphen is an honors graduate of Amherst College, with a B.A. in Political Science, and also served as a trustee of the college. He earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served on the editorial board of the Michigan Law Review, before clerking on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.


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