Paul A. Friedman, JD
Founder/Board President/Executive Director

Paul Friedman is the Founder and Executive Director of Safer Country, a gun violence prevention non-profit focused on keeping guns out of unsafe hands. It was established on February 14, 2019.  He is inspired by the memory of his great aunt, Elizabeth Shulkin, who was shot and killed in her hotel room on December 1, 1981 while on vacation in Florida.

Prior to Safer Country, Paul served as Executive Director of the Virginia Tech Victims (VTV) Family Outreach Foundation.  His primary work was to urge other states to adopt their own background check systems to enable them to enter people who wouldn’t qualify for the federal system.  This stemmed from Virginia’s experience with the Virginia Tech shooter.  He also worked with the City of Alexandria and Virginia Tech’s local graduate schools to create a tree grove in Chinquapin Park to honor the victims and survivors of the April 16, 2007 massacre.

Paul graduated with a B.A. in Politics from Brandeis University and a J.D. from New York Law School.  He spent the year between the two in Washington, DC working on Capitol Hill and at a law firm.  After two years in Connecticut working for the law firm founded by my aunt’s brothers, he moved back to D.C., to work on the Hill.

In 1988, he left to be a Field Organizer in Iowa for Paul Simon for President (where he had the privilege of informing Sen. Simon that he had received the Des Moines Register endorsement for the Democratic presidential nomination) and an Advance Man for the Dukakis/Bentsen campaign.

In 1990, upon returning to Washington, DC, he was elected Chair of the Ward 6 Democrats and became the PAC Director for Environmental Action, where he wrote that year’s Dirty Dozen.  On August 25, 1991, Paul married his brilliant and lovely wife, Lori, a CPA, and moved to Alexandria, Virginia.

In 1992, Paul successfully managed a state representative campaign in Orlando, Florida and, later, a City Council race in Alexandria.  Paul went on to work as a liaison to the Legal and Financial Community in the DMV for the Development Corporation for Israel and went on to become the Director of Development for Save A Child’s Heart, Neediest Kids and Every Child Matters.  With Every Child Matters, he also led the Vote Kids Action Fund, a federal PAC that supported candidates who were champions of funding for the needs of children.

In 2022 and 2023, Paul served as a paid political adviser to the Torpedo Factory Artists Association’s president.

Alexandria Volunteer Activities
Paul has served for over 20 years as a member of the Alexandria Democratic Committee and a large portion of that time as a Precinct Captain.  He served six years on Alexandria’s Budget and Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee and six years on the board of Agenda: Alexandria, a nonpartisan group that holds forums about local issues.  Paul also served as Mark Levine’s political consultant in his  victorious Democratic primary campaign for Delegate in Virginia’s 45th District.

In 2020, Paul was elected to serve as the Alternate Delegate from Virginia’s 8th Congressional District for Joe Biden for President to the Democratic National Convention.

In January 2022, Paul was elected Vice President of WEBA, Alexandria’s West End Business Association.  In January of 2023, Paul was elected WEBA’s Director of Government Relations.