Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Suzette Brooks Masters

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

Suzette Brooks Masters is a senior fellow at the Democracy Funders Network and director of DFN’s Better Futures Project. She prides herself on seeing around the corner and challenging conventional thinking.

She is a social entrepreneur, philanthropic advisor, thought leader, and strategist in the fields of democracy, futures, and pluralism. Previously, she advised foundations, nonprofit organizations, policy makers and corporations on the impact of immigration on America. She did so from roles at the American Immigration Council, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Welcoming America, the J.M. Kaplan Fund (where she directed the Migration Program from 2007 to 2016) and as a consultant.


She has received numerous awards for her philanthropic vision and impact, and accolades for her publications. She has served on the boards of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Define American, the New York Immigration Coalition, the Tenement Museum, HIAS, the National Immigration Forum and New York Cares, which she co founded. Masters is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Cambridge University and Amherst College. A lifelong New Yorker, she is the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants.

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Masters 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 Suzette Brooks Masters, Sr. Fellow, The Democracy Funders Networkwww.youtube.com

Read More

A Call for Respect: Bridging Divides in a Polarized Nation

political polarization

kbeis/Getty Images

A Call for Respect: Bridging Divides in a Polarized Nation

In the column, "Is Donald Trump Right?", Fulcrum Executive Editor, Hugo Balta, wrote:

For millions of Americans, President Trump’s second term isn’t a threat to democracy—it’s the fulfillment of a promise they believe was long overdue.

Keep ReadingShow less
An Independent Voter's Perspective on Current Political Divides
a person wearing a jacket
Photo by Brett Kunsch on Unsplash

An Independent Voter's Perspective on Current Political Divides

In the column, "Is Donald Trump Right?", Fulcrum Executive Editor, Hugo Balta, wrote:

For millions of Americans, President Trump’s second term isn’t a threat to democracy—it’s the fulfillment of a promise they believe was long overdue.

Keep ReadingShow less
From Diplomat to Dissenter: Why I Protest Trump’s America

A retired U.S. diplomat speaks out against the politicization of the State Department and the rise of authoritarianism, urging Americans to defend democracy.

photo courtesy of Michael Varga.

From Diplomat to Dissenter: Why I Protest Trump’s America

I love our country. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Africa in the 1970s. I served as a Foreign Service Officer (diplomat) for the State Department in assignments in the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Morocco, Lebanon, and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. Because of that love and my sense of service to this country, I have now become an anti-government rebel. I take to the streets every weekend to protest the cruel and incompetent actions of the Trump administration. I don’t even recognize my country now. A government that is sloppy in rounding up supposed immigrants and entrapping American citizens in dark vans that transport them to hidden locations by masked men is not one I can honor today. A country that targets people because they “look like immigrants” is not one I can serve today.

How does this happen? How does patriotism and love for a country translate into a call to action to fight what is happening to our nation? Here’s my story.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump's Policies: A Threat to Farmers and American Values
green farm heavy equipment on green field
Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

Trump's Policies: A Threat to Farmers and American Values

In the column, "Is Donald Trump Right?", Fulcrum Executive Editor, Hugo Balta, wrote:

For millions of Americans, President Trump’s second term isn’t a threat to democracy—it’s the fulfillment of a promise they believe was long overdue.

Keep ReadingShow less