Aleks Sverdlik is the Knight First Amendment Institute’s chief of staff. He helps guide the Institute’s strategy, organizational planning, and cross-team collaboration.

Prior to joining the Institute, Aleks served as the chief of staff of the legal team of the Biden and Harris presidential campaigns. In that role, he coordinated team priorities and personnel, including an extensive network of attorney volunteers and legal fellows, and was a liaison to the campaign’s internal and external stakeholders.

Aleks is also an experienced attorney with stints in private practice and at the American Civil Liberties Union, where he litigated antidiscrimination and First Amendment cases. He has drafted numerous merits and amicus briefs in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts of appeals, and has counseled senior leaders of top universities, nonprofits, and companies through issues at the intersection of law and policy.

Earlier in his career, Aleks helped organize a grassroots coalition of community activists, religious leaders, medical professionals, and student groups that successfully advocated for significant restrictions on the use of solitary confinement in state prisons.

Aleks is a graduate of Northwestern University and Yale Law School, where he was awarded the C. LaRue Munson Prize for excellence in clinical work.