Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)

Trump’s Plan to Strip Rep. Omar of Her Citizenship Is Unconstitutional and a Threat to All of Us

JD Vance

JD Vance Tells Republicans Who America’s Real Birthright Citizens Are

Group of voters stand in line

Six Key Voting Blocs Hold the Balance of Power on Nov. 3

Five men sitting on one side of a table, as a panel at an event.

Congressional Inaction Raises Constitutional Change Alternative

Man holding American flag

This Is What Makes America Great

Fulcrum Democracy Forum: Maxine Rich

Opinion

Fulcrum Democracy Forum: Maxine Rich

Maxine Rich, Program Manager with Common Ground USA at Search for Common Ground

Hugo Balta
By Hugo BaltaFeb 16, 2025
Hugo Balta
Hugo Balta is a journalist, educator, and communicator. Hugo is the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. He is the publisher of the Latino News Network, a trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network, and an adjunct professor teaching journalism courses.
See More Writings by author

Maxine Rich is the Program Manager with Common Ground USA at Search for Common Ground.

Rich applies proven methods from international peacebuilding to shore up social cohesion in the United States. She oversees efforts to reduce online polarization and build grassroots resilience to extremism.

I spoke with Maxine on a recent episode of Fulcrum Democracy Forum (FDF). The program engages citizens in evolving government to better meet all people's needs. Consistent with the Fulcrum's mission, FDF strives to share many perspectives to widen our readers' viewpoints.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Maxine and I know each other through Common Ground: Journalism, an initiative where students explore strategies and challenges to reporting on-campus conflicts. I am an instructor.

Previously, Maxine led the design of global programs on religious freedom and women's empowerment, researched violent extremism in Morocco, and strengthened peacebuilding partnerships with the US Government, UN, and peer organizations.

She has also served as the Maryland Director of Urban Rural Action and as a dialogue facilitator with Soliya and First Year Connect, a virtual exchange program supporting college students to understand and communicate across differences.

Here are other Change Leaders who I had the opportunity to interview as part of the Fulcrum Democracy Forum series:

    I am the executive editor of the Fulcrum and a board member of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, the parent organization of The Fulcrum. I am also the publisher of the Latino News Network and an accredited solutions journalism trainer with the Solutions Journalism Network.


    Latest news

    "I Voted" sticker
    Elections

    New Tool Reveals Which Americans Hold Outsized Voting Power

    Man dressed in jaguar costume
    Community

    Why Language Access Matters for Indigenous New Yorkers

    Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico
    Elections

    Are Independent Voters About to Flip Texas?

    Woman sitting and typing on laptop on her lap.
    Media & Technology

    AI’s Information Crisis: Why Trust Is Harder to Sustain Than Ever

    Read More

    US Flag
    us a flag on pole under cloudy sky
    Photo by iStrfry , Marcus on Unsplash

    This Country ’Tis of Thee Calls America to Unite Again

    In July 2024, before the presidential election, I was deeply moved by a song written by New York/Nashville recording artist and songwriter Candace Asher. It’s called “This Country ’Tis of Thee.” Asher is internationally and critically acclaimed for several top‑five hits and airplay in 12 countries in the early 2000s.

    I teamed up with Candace, and together we wrote new, contemporary lyrics for “This Country ’Tis of Thee,” and together we produced the video that went live on YouTube.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    Meeting, handshake and business people with deal in office for funding approval and success.

    Four Reds and four Blues reached unanimous Points of Agreement on immigration, then presented them to Reps. Fitzpatrick and Suozzi. Here’s how it worked.

    Jacob Wackerhausen/Getty Images

    On Immigration, Common Ground May Be Closer Than We Think

    Immigration has become one of the issues pulling Americans apart. Earlier this month, at a constituent conversation in Bristol, Pennsylvania, I watched eight Americans with very different political views offer a glimpse of how it does not have to stay that way.

    Four “Reds” and four “Blues” — terms used for participants on the political right and left — sat across from Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), the Republican and Democratic co-chairs of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, to present something increasingly unusual in our politics: unanimous Points of Agreement on immigration developed through an earlier Common Ground Workshop.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    Visitor at the reflecting pools to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center

    A visitor pauses at the reflecting pools to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum on September 11, 2026, in New York City.

    (Photo by Jeenah Moon - Pool/Getty Images)

    The Moral Distance Between Our Dead and Theirs

    Last month, I watched the ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of September 11.

    I listened as family members read the names of the dead. Children and grandchildren talked about people whose absence still shapes their lives. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that morning. At the 9/11 Memorial, they are remembered as individuals.

    Keep ReadingShow less
    © Copyright 2026