Colin Achilles is the Associate Director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the Batten School and Vanderbilt University.  He is the manager of day-to-day operations of CEL. Born and raised in Virginia, Achilles completed his undergraduate work at Flagler College in Political Science and his graduate work at the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. Prior to coming to UVA, Achilles worked at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, with a focus on the organization's FixUS initiative. He has also interned and volunteered for the federal and state legislatures as well as other nonprofit groups. He is based in Arlington with occasional travel to Grounds.