People for the American Way

During his 35-year career, Roger Vann has held a variety of leadership and senior management positions in the areas of civic participation, racial justice, and corporate governance.

Vann is currently Chief Advancement Officer at People for the American Way. He recently served as Vice President of Youth Prevention and Corporate Responsibility at Juul Labs where he directed the company’s global retail access control, ESG and corporate giving initiatives. He previously served as Executive Director of State Voices where he raised more than $40 million to support large-scale civic engagement programs and issue advocacy campaigns in 20 states. Under his leadership, the organization became the largest provider of nonpartisan civic engagement quality control training and technology nationwide.

As Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he planned and directed a campaign that secured over 430,000 verified voter registrations and contacted over 1.5 million voters during the 2012 presidential election. He also oversaw the organization’s centennial strategic planning process as well as its first comprehensive security threat assessment.

Vann is a proud native of Connecticut, where he led state affiliates of both the NAACP and ACLU and worked for more than 10 years as a radio talk show host and news director.

Vann is an avid collector of African American books and memorabilia. He is a four-year survivor of stage 4 prostate cancer. He and his wife Rae live in northern Virginia. They have three children, one of whom is incarcerated.