iCivics is proud to join the Partnership for American Democracy, a new collective voice for change determined to renew democracy by unleashing the power of American ingenuity. Louise Dubé, Executive Director of iCivics, will serve as the Co-Chair of the Strengthening Civic Education Pillar of the Partnership for American Democracy.

American democracy is more fragile than ever. In this moment of division, the Partnership for American Democracy is bringing together American leaders capable of making transformative change for the renewal of American democracy. To launch the partnership, a cross-sector, cross-partisan array of leaders joined together on July 1 to discuss the next chapter of America’s future and bring the Partnership for American Democracy to life.

“The Partnership for American Democracy is an important network that will provide critical support to make civic education a priority for our country,” Dubé said. “We look forward to working with the Partnership to make that happen.”

The Partnership for American Democracy aims to foster a broad and inclusive vision of democracy renewal that synthesizes five core pillars:

1. Strengthening civic education
2. Expanding national service, civic engagement, and volunteerism
3. Bridging cultural and political divides
4. Advancing effective government and political reforms
5. Combatting mis- and disinformation and strengthening local journalism

According to Stephen Heintz, President and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Co-Chair of the Partnership for American Democracy National Leadership Council, the Partnership is necessary now because many Americans feel the country’s democracy is not working for them, but they want a common purpose and functioning system of democratic self-government.

Event speakers included: 

• Diana Aviv, CEO of the Partnership for American Democracy 
• Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO & Co-Founder, Leadership Now Project; Senior Advisor, Dahlberg Advisors
• Melody Barnes, Director for Policy and Public Affairs, Democracy Initiative; Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
• John Bridgeland, Founder and CEO, Civic; Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council
• Barbara Comstock, Former Member of Congress (D-Va.)
• Louise Dubé,Executive Director, iCivics
• Dick Gephardt, Former House Majority Leader (D-Mo.)
• Stephen Heintz, President and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; Co-Chair of the Partnership for American Democracy National Leadership Council
• Alexandra Huynh, National Youth Poet Laureate
• Doris Kearns Goodwin, Presidential Historian
• Dirk Kempthorne, Former Governor (R-Idaho), Former Senator (R-Idaho), Former Secretary of the Interior
• Eric Liu, Co-founder and CEO, Citizen University
• Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Former Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command
• Manu Meel, Co-Founder and CEO of Bridge USA
• Cecilia Muñoz, Advisor, New America; Former White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council; Former White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Janet Murguia, CEO of Unidos
• Deval Patrick, Former Governor (D-Mass.)
• Nick Penniman, Founder and CEO of Issue One
• Bruce Reed, Deputy White House Chief of Staff
• Condoleezza Rice, Director of the Hoover Institution; Former Secretary of State
• Frank Sesno, Director of Strategic Initiatives of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs; Former CNN Washington Bureau Chief
• Tim Shriver, CEO, UNITE; Chairman, Special Olympics
• Kent Thiry, Former Chairman & CEO, DaVita
• Natalie Tran, Executive Director, CAA Foundation
• Philan Tree, Two-time AmeriCorps Mentor and 2012 Corps Member of the Year
• Alayna Treene, Congressional Reporter, Axios
• Zach Wamp, Former Member of Congress (D-Tenn.)
• Judy Woodruff, Managing Editor and Anchor, PBS NewsHour

Watch the Launch Event