We are a diverse coalition of more than 90 respected established organizations committed to revitalizing democratic practice in America. Each member has agreed to adhere to The Four Principles.
Since it’s often difficult for any one group to fully capture public attention or broadly popularize solutions, we are banding together to create great impact across three broad areas: civic engagement, governance and policymaking, and campaign and election processes.
January 15, 2019
As a JSA Governor, it is expected that I hold the values of JSA sacred to my heart. Most would even think there’s an unspoken requirement that Governors believe with the utmost faith that JSA’s mission is essential to our democracy. Generally, I believe in this mission. However, throughout my high school career, I’ve had my own reservations- even resentments- about the mission of JSA. Here at JSA, our mission is to build the bridge between people with differing political opinions. We strive to foster not only discourse, but partnerships and connections between individuals whose values may initially seem incompatible.
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January 08, 2019
As partisan gridlock and political turmoil roils the national scene, California Forward’s leaders have grounded our actions and reactions in the confidence that democracies are designed to be resilient. We have experienced that resiliency here in California with Proposition 11 in 2008, which created citizens’ redistricting; Proposition 14 in 2010, which opened the primary system so all voters could choose from all of the candidates; and, Proposition 28 in 2012, which modified term limits. A number of other political and fiscal reforms have been instigated over the last decade by coalitions of civic organizations like California Forward and the California Forward Action Fund, which worked on all of these measures and more.
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January 02, 2019
True engagement is about cultivating and maintaining positive relationships between citizens and the institutions that serve them. On Nov. 7, about 20 community organizers from all over New York City were welcomed with bagels and coffee as they settled in for a full day of learning about effective public engagement. At the start of the Avenue NYC Public Engagement Strategy workshop, we all agreed to some ground rules which included enabling empathy and compassion, accepting a lack of closure, and recognizing the partial nature of our truths. With that small activity, the workshop, hosted jointly by Public Agenda and NYC Small Businesses Services (SBS), became a model of public engagement. The day succeeded in not only helping leaders learn how to strengthen their own engagement strategies, but consistently demonstrated what good engagement looks like.
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January 15, 2019
As a JSA Governor, it is expected that I hold the values of JSA sacred to my heart. Most would even think there’s an unspoken requirement that Governors believe with the utmost faith that JSA’s mission is essential to our democracy. Generally, I believe in this mission. However, throughout my high school career, I’ve had my own reservations- even resentments- about the mission of JSA. Here at JSA, our mission is to build the bridge between people with differing political opinions. We strive to foster not only discourse, but partnerships and connections between individuals whose values may initially seem incompatible.
Read More
January 08, 2019
As partisan gridlock and political turmoil roils the national scene, California Forward’s leaders have grounded our actions and reactions in the confidence that democracies are designed to be resilient. We have experienced that resiliency here in California with Proposition 11 in 2008, which created citizens’ redistricting; Proposition 14 in 2010, which opened the primary system so all voters could choose from all of the candidates; and, Proposition 28 in 2012, which modified term limits. A number of other political and fiscal reforms have been instigated over the last decade by coalitions of civic organizations like California Forward and the California Forward Action Fund, which worked on all of these measures and more.
Read More
January 02, 2019
True engagement is about cultivating and maintaining positive relationships between citizens and the institutions that serve them. On Nov. 7, about 20 community organizers from all over New York City were welcomed with bagels and coffee as they settled in for a full day of learning about effective public engagement. At the start of the Avenue NYC Public Engagement Strategy workshop, we all agreed to some ground rules which included enabling empathy and compassion, accepting a lack of closure, and recognizing the partial nature of our truths. With that small activity, the workshop, hosted jointly by Public Agenda and NYC Small Businesses Services (SBS), became a model of public engagement. The day succeeded in not only helping leaders learn how to strengthen their own engagement strategies, but consistently demonstrated what good engagement looks like.
Read More
