Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

National Week of Conversation aims to heal Americans

Two friends talking
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

Molineaux is president/CEO of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization that houses The Fulcrum.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
— Margaret Med

In May 2017, I was invited by my colleague Cheryl Hughes to participate in an annual event she created for the city of Chicago called On The Table. It has since been replicated in over 30 cities across the United States. The idea was simple: Have a single day dedicated to citizens talking about what they wanted for Chicago. Cheryl's team focused on recruiting and supporting conversation hosts — those courageous individuals who would invite their friends, family, colleagues and adversaries to conversations about their collective futures.


My experience that day led me to ask, could we do this nationally? I consulted with Cheryl and she said the funding community didn't believe it was possible. It was too broad in scope. Chicago was hard enough ... and their budget had grown incrementally over their four-year history.

In October 2017, Cheryl and I (now fast friends) co-convened a group of 20 people to discuss the idea of "a national conversation" to help Americans connect with each other and reduce toxic polarization. We started with ideals and purpose: to heal the soul of America.

Those in the meeting were mostly optimists. We had experienced the heart-opening and life-uplifting power of generative conversations. We talked about a website or platform where organizations could list events, provide toolkits and generally promote the idea that talking to each other was necessary and fun. #GivingTuesday was our business model when we needed a little infrastructure but shared ownership of the content. We also recognized strong optimism and wishful thinking about our goal with little pragmatism. It was time to get real.

After lunch, I asked, why should we NOT do this? The pragmatists spoke up and the challenges were all too real and grim. Lack of funding, no media attention, lack of influence, the public's lack of interest, etc. The usual challenges to new ideas.

Next I asked, should we do it anyway? YES was the fervent response.

By the end of that meeting, we had committed to create a National Week of Conversation, which launched in April 2018. I am forever grateful for the tireless efforts of Pearce Godwin, John Gable, Caroline Klibanoff, Sandy Heierbacher, Serena Witherspoon, Cheryl Graeve, Jaymee Copenhaver and many, many others for getting us started. And to my co-creator, Cheryl Hughes, for inspiring all of us with On The Table.

By 2019, Pearce was leading the team with his # ListenFirst Coalition and dozens more organizations. Last year, the National Week of Conversation became a months-long campaign, #WeavingCommunity, meeting the extraordinary needs of 2020 with hundreds of partners.

It's almost time for the fourth annual National Week of Conversation, June 14-20, kicked off by a two-day event, America Talks, on June 12-13.

You're invited to join this national event from the comfort of your home. You're invited to help our nation move forward.

Read More

Congress at sunset
Sunlight Foundation, a transparency trailblazer, closes after 15 years
Bill Clark/Getty Images

America’s ‘Do Nothing Congress’ Investigation Failures Under Trump 2.0

The month of August is widely recognized as the ideal time for relaxation and rejuvenation. America’s 535 delegates to the U.S. Capitol started their annual summer recess on Aug. 4 and will not return to D.C. until Sept. 1.

This four-week respite should give our elected delegates time to reflect on their achievements since President Donald Trump started his 2.0 administration on Jan. 20. And, hopefully, the four-week break will give our legislators time to consider how they’ve come up short in representing their 340 million constituents and honoring the principles of the U.S. Constitution, which they took an oath to uphold and defend.

Keep ReadingShow less
shallow focus photography of computer codes
Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash

When Rules Can Be Code, They Should Be!

Ninety years ago this month, the Federal Register Act was signed into law in a bid to shine a light on the rules driving President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal—using the best tools of the time to make government more transparent and accountable. But what began as a bold step toward clarity has since collapsed under its own weight: over 100,000 pages, a million rules, and a public lost in a regulatory haystack. Today, the Trump administration’s sweeping push to cut red tape—including using AI to hunt obsolete rules—raises a deeper challenge: how do we prevent bureaucracy from rebuilding itself?

What’s needed is a new approach: rewriting the rule book itself as machine-executable code that can be analyzed, implemented, or streamlined at scale. Businesses could simply download and execute the latest regulations on their systems, with no need for costly legal analysis and compliance work. Individuals could use apps or online tools to quickly figure out how rules affect them.

Keep ReadingShow less
An Open Letter to the Department of Education
Committee of Seventy Engages Over 23,000 Students in Civic Education Statewide
Getty Images, Maskot

An Open Letter to the Department of Education

Children—Black, white, brown, immigrant, and native-born—crowded around plastic tables, legs dangling, swapping stories, and trading pieces of their lunches. I believe that the dream of the Department of Education was to build a country where a child's start in life doesn't determine their finish, where public education flings open the doors, not just for a few, but for all.

Our story didn't begin in isolation. The Department of Education was born in 1979, forged by decades of struggle and hope; by the echoes of Brown v. Board, the promises of the Civil Rights Act, and the relentless voices of parents and educators who refused to accept that opportunity could not be representative and equitable. The mission was bold and straightforward: make real the promise that public education is a right and a shared responsibility.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caution in the C-Suite: How Business Leaders Are Navigating Trump 2.0

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks alongside CEO of Cisco Systems Chuck Robbins (R) at the Business Roundtable's quarterly meeting at the Business Roundtable headquarters on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump addressed the group of CEO’s as his recent tariff implementations have sparked uncertainty that have helped fuel a market sell-off.

Getty Images, Andrew Harnik

Caution in the C-Suite: How Business Leaders Are Navigating Trump 2.0

In the first months of Donald Trump’s second term as president, his policies – from sweeping tariffs and aggressive immigration enforcement to attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion – have thrown U.S. businesses into turmoil, leading to a 26-point decline in CEO confidence.

Yet despite this volatility, many American corporations have remained notably restrained in their public responses.

Keep ReadingShow less