Political & Operational Advisors
Anyone can call themselves cross-partisan. We wrote it into our organization and rules. We think the only way we’ll be able to protect and revitalize our democracy is if we do it all together across party lines, with the vast majority of Americans who believe in our core shared values of living together in a representative democratic republic.
In fact, there’s far more that we agree on in this country than what shows in our news, social media feeds, or what we hear from politicians or pundits.
How decisions get made
We want to make sure we build tools, programs, and efforts that help us protect and revitalize our democracy, together. Politically sensitive issues go to the Political Advisory Board, including which projects the Accelerator selects, what goes into the Democracy Index, and eventually where investment dollars go. The board is split into three clusters, left, right and center. A decision needs two thirds of the whole board plus at least half of each cluster. If we can’t get there, we work it through or we drop it.
The Operational Advisory Board helps with things that aren’t political in nature: Programs, finance, research, tech, events, media, accessibility, and more.
Our goal is to build towards a broader and representative “Citizen Advisory Board” taking on actual governance decisions over the next few years. Please join us, and let’s work on building a highly effective, innovative, and participatory organization and country. We can do this.
Political Advisory Board
Working towards a balanced and representative group. Have suggestions of people who should join? See nomination information below.
Left-leaning
Joan Blades
Co-founder, Living Room ConversationsCo-founded MoveOn.org, MomsRising and Living Room Conversations, which has spent more than a decade building structured ways for people who disagree to talk to each other. Prior to that she co-founded Berkeley Systems, the software company behind the flying toaster screensaver.
Gabriel Aranovich, MD
Physician, FounderA physician and entrepreneur who has built and led digital health companies and clinical organizations. He co-founded SanLuca, advises Kyan Health and Benchmark Health, and works with the health tech program at Cornell Tech. Stanford MD, and a licensed and board-certified physician.
Centrist and independent
Jennifer Esteban
President, United Independents · Executive Director, Independent National ConventionShe runs the message and the machinery of the United Independents ecosystem from Austin, and leads the Independent National Convention. Before that she founded FriendsMates, a co-living platform, and a digital marketing agency, and she has spent 20 years as an architectural photographer.
Scott Vineberg
LA Civic AllianceA social entrepreneur who has started companies across media, retail, hospitality and tech, founded People Power TV, and ran as an independent for the US Senate in California in 2016. His focus now is collective intelligence and participatory democracy.
Right-leaning
John Gable
Co-founder and CEO, AllSidesAllSides rates media bias and puts left, center and right coverage of the same story side by side. Before that he was a Republican strategist for three US Senate Majority Leaders, the RNC and President George H.W. Bush, and an executive at Netscape and Microsoft.
Bill Shireman
Co-founder, Solution Citizen and Circle AmericaA member of the San Francisco Republican Party who has spent decades getting business, environmental and political adversaries to build things together rather than argue about them.
Chris Yeh
Founding General Partner, Blitzscaling VenturesCo-author of Blitzscaling and The Alliance with Reid Hoffman. He has founded, advised or invested in more than 100 startups since 1995.
Operational Advisory Board
People who have built the kinds of institutions we’re trying to support, and who will tell us when we’re about to repeat a mistake they’ve already made.
Sarah Bonk
Founder, Business for AmericaFounder and CEO of Business for America, a coalition of companies and business leaders working on a government that functions. She spent close to 15 years at Apple before starting it.
Julio Aranovich, PhD
Founder, Chequeado and La Voz PúblicaHe spent his career in Silicon Valley, from HP Labs to Group Vice President at Applied Materials. Then he went back to Argentina and founded Chequeado, the first fact-checking organization in Latin America and now one of the most respected in the world. He has a PhD in materials science from Stanford.
Victor Pineda, PhD
Founder, World Enabled · Inclusive Cities Lab, UC BerkeleyHe was the youngest government delegate to help draft the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and has since advised cities and governments around the world on building places that work for everyone. Twice appointed to the US Access Board, under presidents of both parties, and he directs the Inclusive Cities Lab at Berkeley.
Lila LaHood
Executive Director, San Francisco Public PressShe co-founded the Public Press in 2009 and has run it since, building a nonprofit newsroom on the public radio model that does investigative reporting on housing, homelessness, elections and public health. She also sits on San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, which exists to keep city government open.
There’s room for more
We’re working to build a more representative advisory board across geographies, political leanings, and identities. If you want to suggest someone you think would be a great support to this effort, please let us know.