BIO-KNAACK

Frank Knaack is the Director of Public Policy and Communications for the ACLU of Virginia.  In this role, he leads the organization’s advocacy before state and local government bodies and oversees the design and implementation of the organization’s communications strategy.  Prior to joining the ACLU of Virginia, Frank was the Associate Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the ACLU of Texas, where he developed and managed the organization’s four state-wide campaigns: Criminal Law Reform, Immigrants’ Rights, Youth Rights, and Religious Freedom.  Frank also led the ACLU of Texas’ successful efforts at the Texas Legislature to pass legislation designed to help dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.  Prior to joining the ACLU of Texas, Frank was a part of the ACLU Human Rights Program, where he researched domestic human rights violations and coordinated national advocacy campaigns designed to hold the United States accountable to its international human rights treaty obligations.  Frank has also worked with Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel as a Palestine Works Fellow. 

Frank is the co-author (with James Thomas Tucker) of “Publish and Perish: The Need for a Federal Reporters’ Shield Law” (ACLU 2007), author of “Use of Force in Texas Public Schools: The Case for Transparency, Accountability and Decriminalization” (ACLU of Texas 2011), and served as the International Organizations Staff Writer for the Human Rights Brief.  Frank is a graduate of The American University in Cairo (M.A. International Human Rights Law) and the University of Vermont (B.A. Political Science and History).