Sean McElwee is an American liberal activist and data scientist. He is a co-founder of the non-profit think tank Data for Progress. He graduated from New York City's King's College before working at the Reason Foundation and the Comeback America Initiative, among other organizations. In 2014, he became a researcher at the progressive think tank Demos. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Nation, Vox, and The Washington Post. He was named one of the "Politico 50", a list of 50 individuals considered by the website Politico to have created an idea that is "driving politics", in 2018. His inclusion on the list was because of his popularization of the phrase "Abolish ICE", beginning in February 2017. This activism also led to him being interviewed by MSNBC's Chris Hayes, and to New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appearing at one of his weekly happy hours.