About Clay
A native Charlestonian, Clay grew up in Bayside Manor, now Bridgeview Village Apartments.
Clay graduated from the Charleston Catholic School and Burke High School, where he served as Student Body President and Regimental Commander of Burke JROTC program his senior year. He was also honored with a Proclamation from the City of Charleston, declaring April 30, 1999 Clay N. Middleton’s Day.
Clay matriculated to The Citadel - The Military College of South Carolina in 1999. While at The Citadel, he joined the SC Army National Guard as a Private First Class on January 6, 2000. Upon graduating in 2003, with a degree in political science, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant Signal Officer.
Clay is currently a Lieutenant Colonel serving as a Battalion Commander. He is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Reserve Component National Security Course at the National Defense University. In addition to his combat and operational experiences during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Jump Start, and Operation Atlantic Resolve, Clay has supported a number of federal and state missions and served on the SC National Guard Association Executive Council. He is a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, four Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medal, two Army Reserve Components Achievement Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M Device, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and Bronze Order of Mercury Award.
Clay was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the associate and then acting director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Corporation for National and Community Service; he also served at the Department of Energy, and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
In 2017, Clay became the Director of Business Services for the city of Charleston, where he led the Business & Neighborhood Services division. He is currently a Managing Director at Mercury Public Affairs, a global public strategic affairs firm.
Clay served as a longtime aide to Congressman Jim Clyburn, and previously former Senator Fritz Hollings, and former SC Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. He also worked on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senator Cory Booker.
His record of community and civic engagement speaks to Clay’s belief that to much is given, much is required. He is a member of The Citadel Alumni Association, the Charleston Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc, Gothic Lodge #212, F&AM, St. Luke R.E. Church, and the NAACP Charleston Chapter among others.
Clay is also a Liberty Fellow with the Aspen Institute, a Riley Fellow with the Diversity Leaders Initiative, a Defense Council member with the Truman National Security Project, and SC Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Some of his other community service work is spent as a board member of the Climb Fund, Lowcountry Local First Policy & Advocacy Committee, Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Center for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston, and the Greater Charleston YWCA Harvey Gantt Triumph Award Selection Committee.
A true believer in giving back, Clay, along with his wife Nicole, established the Clay and Nicole Middleton Family Fund at the Coastal Community Foundation to provide graduating high school students with need-based scholarships to further their education.
Clay lives in West Ashley with his wife, Nicole, and their two energetic sons, Jeremiah and Joshua.
