Jim Gerstein is a founding partner of GBAO and provides research-based strategic counsel for candidates running for office, non-profit organizations, arts and cultural institutions, and Fortune 500 companies.  Over the past 25 years, Gerstein has conducted hundreds of focus groups and surveys across the United States, Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Australia to help individuals, organizations, and companies devise strategies that enable them to meet their goals.

Gerstein has served as the pollster to numerous candidate and independent expenditure campaigns for US Senate, House, and municipal elections.  He has particular expertise in swing states and congressional districts that determine the balance of power in America, overseeing GBAO’s work with DCCC’s independent expenditure campaign since 2012 and leading GBAO’s work with Senate Majority PAC, including the challenging reelection efforts for Senator Joe Manchin (WV) in 2018 and Senator Gary Peters (MI) in 2020.  Gerstein has also served as the pollster in Democratic strongholds that confront the biggest issues facing our country, including former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu who built a citywide coalition to improve public safety and remove Confederate monuments from public spaces.

Outside of campaign work, Gerstein has conducted extensive research in the areas of political beliefs and values, charitable behavior, national security and foreign policy, public safety, the courts, digital users’ experiences, health care, medical devices, museums, Millennials, and American Jews.  His work for J Street helped reshape the public understanding of Jewish political attitudes and views toward the United States’ role in the Middle East. 

Prior to establishing GBAO, Gerstein led two different non-profit organizations through periods of substantial growth and influence.  For 10 years, Gerstein served as the Executive Director of Democracy Corps, a non-profit organization that conducts public opinion research and provides strategic advice to the progressive community. Under Gerstein’s leadership, the organization increased its annual budget seven-fold and dramatically increased its impact on our national debate.  Prior to his work with Democracy Corps, Gerstein was the Executive Director of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, where he led public education campaigns, congressional visits to the Middle East, and convened Middle East diplomats in the US for meetings with business and political leaders.  During the 1999 Israeli Prime Ministerial campaign, Gerstein joined Ehud Barak’s US-based consulting team led by James Carville. He served as the team’s representative on the ground in Israel, overseeing polling, paid media, and message development for the campaign.

Gerstein began his career working on several US political campaigns and holding several positions within the Democratic Party. In 1992, he worked on the field campaign for Carol Moseley Braun’s successful run for the US Senate in Illinois. In 1996, Gerstein worked in the press office for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and then directed the Clinton/Gore campaign for the north side of Chicago and northern Illinois.

Gerstein received an MA in Middle East history at Tel Aviv University and a BA in philosophy at Colgate University.  He grew up in the Chicago area and today resides in Washington, DC, with his wife and two sons.