Josh is Executive Vice President, Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and is Global Chair of Burson's Corporate and Public Affairs Practices, overseeing both practices in the US. As Executive Vice President, Josh is involved with the firm’s global business strategy and operations. Josh also directs the US Issues and Crisis Group and US Media practices, and serves as the lead for the firm’s KCR program, composed of top clients from around the world.
Josh was Director of Strategic Communications at Ford Motor Company. His responsibilities included communication strategy and message development; overseeing Ford's US corporate advertising; and supervising the Washington DC Public Affairs operation. In his time at Ford, he helped develop the company's new corporate message, "Driving American Innovation."
Between 1998 to 2001, Josh served as Special Assistant to the President and Presidential Speechwriter to President Bill Clinton. In that role, he drafted speeches, op-eds and articles for President Clinton. Among others, he helped draft the State of the Union addresses in 1999 and 2000, several comedy speeches, and the 2000 Democratic Convention speech.
After leaving the White House, Josh was a Senior Advisor to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He was also a founding partner of the Cambridge Writers Group, where he provided strategic communications advice, developed message strategy and drafted remarks for public and private sectors clients (including Fortune 100 CEO's, university presidents and several elected officials).
In the 2004 presidential race, Josh served as Deputy Director of Speechwriting and Senior Policy Advisor to the John Kerry for President Campaign. In this role, in which he traveled with the Senator, Josh wrote speeches, op-eds, and policy memoranda. In addition, he aided in the development of communications and political strategy. During the primary season, Josh was Deputy Director of Communications & Chief Speechwriter in General Wesley Clark's bid for the Democratic nomination.
Josh is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Law School and was a Thouron Fellow at Oxford. Josh was a political analyst for BBC television and radio and appears regularly on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel. He has published articles in The Washington Monthly, ABA Magazine, and was the editor of Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches (Basic Books, 2003) a collection of inspiring speeches from five social movements in American history. He is currently working on Power in Words: Barack Obama’s Speeches from the State House to the White House (Beacon, 2010) a history of President Barack Obama’s most important pre-presidential speeches. Josh is a member of the New York State Bar, the District of Columbia Bar, the Public Affairs Council, and the New York Economic Club. He also serves on the advisory boards for Hope for Vision and Leapfrog Investments.