Ed Hatcher is a retired communications professional active in environmental advocacy, philanthropy and Maryland Democratic Party politics.
In 2000, Hatcher founded and became president of The Hatcher Group, a full-service communications firm that works with nonprofit organizations and foundations to advance progressive social change.
In 2005, his wife, journalist Angie Cannon, joined the firm as partner. Under their leadership, the firm grew to more than 45 employees with offices in Bethesda, Baltimore and Annapolis. The firm focused heavily on education, poverty, social justice and the environment. In the environment arena, the firm’s clients included The Keith Campbell Foundation, Town Creek Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, NOAA, ShoreRivers, Blue Water Baltimore, Smart on Pesticides Maryland and dozens of others.
In 2019, Hatcher and his wife sold The Hatcher Group (which has since been renamed “Hatcher”) to new owners who have maintained the firm’s mission of social change, operated as a Woman-Owned Small Business and grown the company to new heights.
For more than 12 years, Hatcher served as an active board member of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and as board chair from 2012 to 2021. He has remained active with the organization and, until recently, served in various capacities, including chair of its Policy and Political Action Committees. In 2021, Hatcher served as a member of Baltimore Mayor-elect Brandon Scott’s Environment Transition Committee and was recently asked to co-chair then Governor-elect Wes Moore’s Climate and Environment Policy Transition Committee.
Hatcher is also a donor and active supporter for many top Maryland elected officials and serves as a Maryland Democratic Party Trustee and as a member of its Finance Committee. He served as a member of Brian Frosh’s “kitchen cabinet” during his first run as Maryland attorney general.
In 2020, Hatcher and his wife established a donor-advised fund and focus their giving on the environment and climate policy in Maryland and poverty on the Eastern Shore. Their climate and environment grantees include the Chesapeake Conservancy, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Maryland Matters, Waterkeepers Chesapeake and others.
Earlier in his career, Hatcher worked as a journalist, chief of staff and press secretary to members of Congress, and as a communications and policy professional at the American Electronics Association, the American Sociological Associations and Burness Communications. He received his bachelor’s degree in English from Duke University, a master’s degree from the Columbia School of Journalism and, later in his professional life, a master’s degree in American History from the University of Maryland.
Today, Hatcher and his wife divide their time between their homes in Bethesda and Rock Hall, Md. He spends an inordinate amount of time visiting state and national parks, studying French, growing vegetables and playing golf.
