Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Mark Gerzon

Mark Gerzon headshot

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Mark Gerzon, president and founder of Mediators Foundation, has specialized in leadership that bridges divides. His concern about the increasing polarization in America led him to devote the past three decades to working on the ideological frontier between the left and right.


In speaking of his work Gerzon, commented:

“Mediators Foundation serves as a lighthouse. It is here to serve not only our own projects but a wider community of common work. Having passed the landmark age of 70, I’m more aware than ever that it is our common, cross-generational work that gives us faith in our future.”

He co-designed and served as the head facilitator for bipartisan congressional retreats in the late 1990s and has spent the following years catalyzing deeper dialogue across the political spectrum. This work led to his most recent book, “The Reunited States of America,” which inspired the film “The Reunited States,” now playing on Amazon Prime.

As an experienced facilitator in high-conflict zones, he has advised a wide variety of organizations including Congress, multinational corporations and the United Nations Development Program. He is also a leading author of books in the field of conflict transformation, including “A House Divided” (1996), “Leading Through Conflict” (2006) and “Global Citizens” (2010).

Gerzon lives with his wife, Melissa, in Boulder, Colo., and has three sons and eight grandchildren.

To hear Gerzon speak, check out his TedTalk in Vail and another TedTalk in Saltillo, Mexico.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Gerzon in late July for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of his democracy reform work:

The Fulcrum interviews Mark Gerzon, President and Founder of Mediators Foundationwww.youtube.com

Read More

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Could Help Save the Democratic Process

A dollar sign balloon.

Getty Images, Andriy Onufriyenko

Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Could Help Save the Democratic Process

After contributing more than a quarter of a billion dollars to elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk has now turned his attention to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, giving millions of dollars to support Judge Brad Schimel, the Republican candidate.

According to The Brennan Center, this race is the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. If Musk is successful, it will tip the High Court’s balance to his political favor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Together, We Must Repair a “House Divided”

A wooden cut-out of a home.

Getty Images, Andrii Yalanskyi

Together, We Must Repair a “House Divided”

“My Father’s house has many rooms…” John 14:2-3

Lately, I’ve been seeing everything through a political lens whether I want to or not. So, it didn’t surprise me that a Biblical verse at a recent memorial service got me thinking about then-Senator Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 speech about a “House Divided.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Children are Collateral Damage of the Trump Agenda

A child holding an adult's hand.

Getty Images, Fisher Litwin

Children are Collateral Damage of the Trump Agenda

President Donald Trump has claimed a mandate following his electoral victory, using it to justify “bold and profound change.” However, there is one substantial group of Americans who didn’t cast a single vote for the president—or any Republicans for that matter. They didn’t vote for any Democrats either. Yet, they will feel the impact of these changes for decades to come: Children.

Children comprise one-fifth of the United States population, their success will determine the success of our country in the future, yet they are often forgotten stakeholders in the political process. Children have no control over the circumstances they are born into, nor do they have much opportunity to change them. Lacking representation and the funds to lobby elected officials, children must rely on adults to ensure they are protected, supported, and given what they need to thrive. But more and more, policy decisions are harming children as their needs are overlooked by politicians who fail to consider the collateral damage of unrelated agendas. The consequences will be profound and enduring. Fortunately, there’s a simple and politically strategic remedy: prioritize children.

Keep ReadingShow less
Large Bipartisan Majorities Oppose Deep Cuts to Foreign Aid

The Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland releases a new survey, fielded February 6-7, 2025, with a representative sample of 1,160 adults nationwide.

Pexels, Tima Miroshnichenko

Large Bipartisan Majorities Oppose Deep Cuts to Foreign Aid

An overwhelming majority of 89% of Americans say the U.S. should spend at least one percent of the federal budget on foreign aid—the current amount the U.S. spends on aid. This includes 84% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats.

Fifty-eight percent oppose abolishing the U.S. Agency for International Development and folding its functions into the State Department, including 77% of Democrats and 62% of independents. But 60% of Republicans favor the move.

Keep ReadingShow less