Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Carolyn Lukensmeyer

Carolyn Lukensmeyer
National Institute for Civil Discourse

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

Carolyn Lukensmeyer was the first executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, an organization that works to reduce political dysfunction and incivility in our political system. As a leader in the field of deliberative democracy, she works to restore our democracy to reflect the intended vision of our Founding Fathers.


Lukensmeyer previously served as founder and President of AmericaSpeaks, an award-winning nonprofit organization that promoted nonpartisan initiatives to engage citizens and leaders through the development of innovative public policy tools and strategies. During her tenure, AmericaSpeaks engaged more than 200,000 people and hosted events across all 50 states and throughout the world.

Lukensmeyer served as consultant to the White House chief of staff from 1993 to 1994 and on the National Performance Review, where she steered internal management and oversaw government-wide reforms. She was the chief of staff to Ohio Gov. Richard Celeste from 1986 to 1991, becoming the first woman to serve in that capacity.

She earned her Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Case Western Reserve University and has completed postgraduate training at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Lukensmeyer in May for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of her democracy reform work:

The Fulcrum Democracy Forum Meets Carolyn Lukensmeyer, Executive Director of NICD Arizonawww.youtube.com


Read More

People, diversity or meeting with hands together for unity,

A personal 9/11 reflection on American resilience — how ordinary kindness, community, and quiet strength endure amid political noise and division.

Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

America’s Quiet Strength: Rising Above Power, Chaos and Cruelty

As Americans look back on 9/11 in this 250th year, we remember a nation shaken — yet rising, again and again. America is cracked, but Americans are not broken. Our resilience is the quiet force holding this country together.

Today, we find ourselves in a moment thick with noise — global conflicts, corruption, rising prices, healthcare struggles, and political division designed to exhaust us. Every day brings a new headline, a new crisis, a new attempt to distract or divide. The chaos, fatigue, and uncertainty are real. Yet even in this noisy, chaotic time, Americans continue to rise — not because life is easy, but because rising is who we are.

Keep ReadingShow less
People standing in a circle with their arms around each other.

A theological look at addiction recovery: why faith communities matter alongside treatment, and how loneliness fuels dependence in America.

Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

Recovery Is Sacred Work: Faith, Belonging, and the Crisis of Dependence

September’s observance of National Recovery Month gives us a chance to celebrate people rebuilding their lives after substance use and mental health challenges. It should also force us to ask an uncomfortable question: What kind of society leaves so many people desperate to escape their own lives?

Addiction is often described as an individual disorder. Clinically, that description matters: substance use disorders affect the brain, behavior, judgment, and physical health. Yet addiction does not develop in a vacuum. It can take root in grief, trauma, chronic pain, economic insecurity, family rupture, social isolation, or a loss of purpose. Recovery therefore requires more than abstinence. It requires a life in which connection, dignity, responsibility, and hope become possible again.

Keep ReadingShow less
​A crowd gathers to take in the September 11th memorial lights in Brooklyn, NY.

A crowd gathers to take in the September 11th memorial lights in Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York City, NY.

Getty Images

Remembering 9/11 and My Pledge to Frank

A college friend called me and desperately urged me to turn on my television. I was at home in my study writing a chapter on civic faith for a new book. As I tuned in to the news, I watched a second plane ram into the north tower of the World Trade Center, where my best friend from college, Frank Reisman, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. Hours later, another call: Frank was gone.

Twenty-five years have passed, and I remember that dreadful day as if it was yesterday. Are we a better nation? Stronger? More vibrant? Kinder?

Keep ReadingShow less
Two Yellow Speech Bubbles Overlapping Common Ground on Blue Background Front View.
A reflection on parenting, empathy, and communication in a divided world.
Getty Images, MirageC

Building Trust, One Conversation at a Time

In 2020, my friend and colleague Dr. Terrence Robinson died suddenly and unexpectedly of COVID. For five years, we had built a youth apprenticeship program together in Cleveland, raised more than half a million dollars, and trained more than 200 young people. Terrence was Black. I am Jewish. The whole time, I wanted to talk with him about the things that sat quietly underneath our friendship: race, religion, history, privilege. I never did, because I was afraid of saying the wrong thing, and the negative ramifications of saying something ignorant in the workplace. Then he was gone, and the conversation I kept postponing was gone with him.

I think about that silence often, because it is the same silence I now see between two communities that once helped change this country together.

Keep ReadingShow less