DJ Yearwood, a 19-year-old from Missouri, successfully campaigned for a fivefold increase in the state's investment in tobacco prevention and cessation. He followed that up with a campaign to lower the voting age in Missouri for local elections as a more effective way to engage teens in civic life and turn them into lifelong voters.
A popular politician who served 10 years in the Alaska state Senate, including two years as Senate president from 2019-21, Cathy Giessel was defeated in the 2020 Republican primary for working too closely with the Democratic minority. Voting reforms passed that year opened a path for her re-election in 2022.
As executive director at Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG), Emma Addams is working to build a political center that models how people of religious faith can successfully advocate for democratic principles and build bridges where there is partisan discord.
Jenny Marienau Zimmer trained to be a movement organizer, an essential role in democracy that rarely gets the media spotlight. When asked why she does what she does, Zimmer makes a clear link between her life’s circumstances and her career decisions. She identifies three pivot points that reflect how her growth from college grad to mother of two influenced the choices she has made along her career path.
Don Henninger is the Republican half of a collaboration that is rebuilding trust in Arizona’s elections through a Democracy Resilience Network supported by the Carter Center in a grassroots defense against election denialism and disinformation coming from the extreme right.
Rose Fabia has committed her early retirement years to increasing collaboration among local grassroots organizations and canvassing to generate votes for Democratic candidates. She does it to protect her daughter and her daughter's future from a Republican Party that threatens the foundations of that future.
Sarah Bonk created Business for America to engage "the economic engine of the country" in improving the health of democracy.
Brian Cannon led the successful effort to end partisan gerrymandering in Virginia, bringing about structural change that enables greater participation by communities of interest and encourages more accountability in Virginia politics.
In the weeks before the 2020 election, David Becker correctly dismissed the many concerns being expressed at the time that the presidential vote would somehow be corrupted. His reason: The long-tenured election officials who would oversee the election. Since we published this, those officials have come under attack from anti-democracy elements in American society, as has Becker and ERIC, the voter registration database that he created.
Hans Breitenmoser sees gerrymandering as the cause of persistent problems in his county.
but it’s often lost in the 24/7 news stream or distorted or obscured,
often intentionally so, by the people who make the news.
The American Leader offers historical storylines and problem briefs to
home in on what’s really happening beneath the surface of today’s headlines.
We sift through the info stream for you, consulting and processing
hundreds of sources that may not make the headlines to connect the dots and
clarify the problems we face and showcase the efforts being made to solve them.
It’s time-consuming work that needs your support.
but it’s often lost in the 24/7 news stream or distorted or obscured, often intentionally so, by the people who make the news. The American Leader offers historical storylines and problem briefs to home in on what’s really happening beneath the surface of today’s headlines. We sift through the infostream for you, consulting and processing hundreds of sources to connect the dots and clarify the problems we face and showcase the efforts being made to solve them. It’s time-consuming work that needs your support.
We have to expect more to get more. We can make this a better country but only if we believe improving on the status quo is possible. A lot of people do believe and are hard at work to solve our systemic problems. We bring you their stories.
