staff bios
Gladstone Payton
Associate Director of Federal Affairs
As the associate director of federal affairs, Gladstone works to develop and promote the federal legislative agenda of Americans for the Arts to Congress and the federal administration. Advocacy efforts include direct lobbying; proposing, monitoring, and analyzing legislation; working in formal and informal coalitions; organizing strategic events; and mobilizing Americans for the Arts’ grassroots members and constituencies. Gladstone serves as the main liaison between Americans for the Arts and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gladstone came to Americans for the Arts after leaving his position as outreach director at the Alliance for Justice (AFJ) in Washington, DC. During his tenure at the Alliance for Justice, Gladstone was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the Outreach Department; acted as the liaison to various constituencies involved in AFJ’s work in defending the public interest; and fostered relationships with various coalitions, member organizations, and individuals that were critical to AFJ’s many campaigns on Capitol Hill.
Previous to working at AFJ, Gladstone was a campaign manager for several successful state house races in his home state of Michigan and also coordinated independent expenditure campaigns for EMILY’s List in recent years.
Gladstone completed his law degree from Howard University in Washington, DC and served as a clerk for a federal judge in Michigan. During law school, Gladstone was a congressional aide to then Democratic Whip, David Bonior, for two terms before leaving for law school.
E-mail Gladstone.
