Personal Choices. Every day, Americans are making choices in their personal and professional lives that affect the problems we are trying to solve. Some are made by famous politicians or chief executives whom you already know, but scores of others make their choices mostly below the media radar. The lack of a spotlight does not diminish their bold choices that in big ways and small support American values of freedom, diversity, and innovation while helping to make our communities, our country, and our world a better place to live for everyone.
Civic Superpowers. The American Leader is proud to showcase these leaders and the choices they’ve made. Together, their stories present a glimpse of the breadth of action and impacts that a diverse range of courageous and independent-minded people can take to solve our common problems. We like to think that they are exercising their civic superpowers. We hope they may inspire you to discover and exercise your civic superpowers, be it at home, on the job, or maybe on a bigger, bolder stage.
Brian Cannon: Making Structural Change
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.
Holly Martin: Building a Better Local Food System
Holly Martin founded the Chattanooga Sustainable Food Center to build a better food system: one that serves hungry people and local farmers. Gaining Ground, a flagship grocery store, is the first step.
David Becker: Making Elections More Secure
David Becker has improved the security of the nation’s election systems by leading the development of the Electronic Registration Information Center. He continues to support better election administration and more secure elections as the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
Hans Breitenmoser: Local, Bipartisan Effort Opposes Gerrymandering
Hans Breitenmoser sees gerrymandering as the cause of persistent problems in his county.
Amber McReynolds: Making Voting Easier for All Americans
Amber McReynolds led the effort to remake Colorado’s voting system around vote by mail and now leads the National Vote At Home Institute to promote best election administration practices nationwide.
Lisa Fitzpatrick: Better Health Outcomes for Low Income Communities
Lisa Fitzpatrick launched Grapevine Health to improve health literacy and health outcomes in low income communities.
Jeanne Pinder: Making Healthcare Costs Transparent
Jeanne Pinder launched ClearHealthCosts to provide transparency in pricing of medical costs.
Sarah Alvarez: Service Journalism for Low-Income Communities
Sarah Alvarez started Outlier Media to close critical information gaps for low-income communities.
Kyle Bailey: Advocate for Ranked-Choice Voting
Kyle Bailey spent five years leading a grassroots effort to implement ranked-choice voting in the state of Maine.
Katie Fahey: Started Anti-Gerrymandering Campaign
In 2016, Katie Fahey "accidentally" started a movement in her home state of Michigan to end partisan gerrymandering.
Ross Perot: Candidate for President
In 1992, billionaire entrepreneur Ross Perot put the national debt on the political radar during his third-party campaign for President. At the time, the debt had doubled in a decade to 47% of GDP. Perot believed this to be unsustainable.
Larry Grimstad: Renewable Energy Investor
Through personal projects and his business, banker Larry Grimstad has invested in wind and solar energy projects as the smart business choice for building a more stable future for his community.
