Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Five Significant Changes to Immigration Policies Under Trump (so far)

Five Significant Changes to Immigration Policies Under Trump (so far)

Will Trump and Musk ultimately clash?

Will Trump and Musk ultimately clash?

Musk budget cuts will leave millions uninsured

Musk budget cuts will leave millions uninsured

Will Trump’s immigration crackdown be good or bad for the economy?

Will Trump’s immigration crackdown be good or bad for the economy?

Support for Mass Deportation Drops Well Below Half as People Consider Other Options

Support for Mass Deportation Drops Well Below Half as People Consider Other Options

Meet the change leaders: Ken Powley

Ken Powley
Team Democracy
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsOct 03, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as co-publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
See More Writings by author

Nevins is co-publisher ofThe Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of theBridge Alliance Education Fund.

Ken Powley and Chris Newlon founded Team Democracy in early 2021. Its signature initiative is the nonpartisan Safe and Fair Election Pledge. The pledge is designed to create an important piece of common ground where Americans — including their elected representatives — can join together from opposite sides of the aisle in committing themselves to protecting the most essential guardrails of American democracy: safe and fair elections, and the peaceful transfer of power.

One of Team Democracy’s newer projects is the RAFT for America Challenge. Outfitters across the country offered pairs of participants, no matter what their differences, the opportunity to demonstrate that there is much more that unites us than divides us, and that we always do better by pulling together than by pulling apart. RAFT for America participants were treated to a transformative personal adventure in one of the most exciting and pristine places on earth!

Powley retired from a 46-year career at the helm of his whitewater rafting company to found Team Democracy. Powley brings a love of entrepreneurship and team building to his work in the nonprofit world, where, as he says, “I’ve come to think of democracy as being mainly a verb.” He and his wife, Penny, are proud parents of three. Of their six grandchildren, three called Kyiv, Ukraine, home until they were evacuated in the face of the Russian invasion. T

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Powley, who lives in Mountain Top, Pa., prefers smaller government, reasonably limited regulation and lower taxes.

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

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Latest news

MERGER: The Organization that Brought Ranked Choice Voting and Ended SuperPACs in Maine Joins California’s Nonpartisan Primary Pioneers
Electoral Reforms

MERGER: The Organization that Brought Ranked Choice Voting and Ended SuperPACs in Maine Joins California’s Nonpartisan Primary Pioneers

Read More

To Overcome Our Divides, We Must Try to Understand the Other Side’s Anger
Derick McKinney on Unsplash

To Overcome Our Divides, We Must Try to Understand the Other Side’s Anger

I’m in an unusual and uncommon line of work: I work on reducing toxic political polarization with the nonpartisan organization, Builders. As part of this work, I get to talk with Americans who may very much disagree politically but can agree it’s vitally important we detoxify our politics.

After the election, I’ve been listening carefully to the people in our community. I’ve listened to Democratic voters distraught at Trump’s election, who can’t understand how so many people could vote for someone like him.

Keep ReadingShow less
California Needs More Homeless Shelters, Especially in the Face of Climate-Driven Disasters

Firefighters hosing down a structure during a local wildfire in Southern California.

Getty Images//Studio One-One

California Needs More Homeless Shelters, Especially in the Face of Climate-Driven Disasters

As a native Californian and a passionate homeless advocate, my heart shattered when I witnessed the devasting wildfires that ravaged the state I call home. For those already vulnerable, facing homelessness or housing insecurity, the wildfires are a cruel reminder of how fragile stability can be. The Los Angeles fires have forced evacuations of more than 200,000 people, displacing families and individuals from the only place they consider home. Shelters quickly filled to capacity, and resources that were already strained became nearly nonexistent. The lack of a solid foundation can turn a natural disaster into an inescapable cycle of hardship and despair.

California's homelessness crisis is multifaceted and severely impacts individuals and families across the state. With 181,399 unhoused individuals, of whom 68% are unsheltered, it is clear that the current resources available are grossly inadequate. This situation not only showcases a systemic failure to provide necessary support but also amplifies the vulnerability of these individuals, especially in the face of natural disasters such as the wildfires.

Keep ReadingShow less
Israelis and Palestinians: Breaking the cycle of violence and retaliation

An aerial view of the destruction after the ceasefire agreement came into effect in Gaza Strip on January 21, 2025. Months of Israeli bombardment turned the buildings in the city into a pile of rubble and ash.

(Photo by Mahmoud sleem/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Israelis and Palestinians: Breaking the cycle of violence and retaliation

While nothing can take away the pain that Israelis and Palestinians have experienced since Oct. 7, 2023, there are some working hard for a mutual society with the hope of a more peaceful future.

Now more than ever, this work needs to be done now, so as not to rob the people coexisting in the region of that future by being stuck in the hate of the present.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025