A Political Hope Apolitical Foundation

You can do things differently, and just because it hasn't been done before, doesn't mean it can't be done," says Democratic Innovator Hall of Fame recipient Kate Chaney.In this episode, we talk with Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Curtin Kate Chaney about the importance of crowd wisdom and optimism in challenging traditional political paradigms. Through intimate conversations with voters- often sitting around the kitchen tables of their own homes to understand their prio...

Politicians and people must come together to solve the biggest issues of our time. But how do we facilitate productive relationships in an environment of cynicism, distrust and polarization?In this episode, we talk with Secretary of Citizen Participation in Nuevo León (Mexico) Ximena Peredo about strategies to mainstream participation and creating public policy. As a former activist and columnist, she’s passionate about bridging the gap between citizens and government through innovative initi...

"We live today in the falling apart of what I would call consumer democracy."In this episode, New Citizenship Project co-founder and Citizens author Jon Alexander talks with our CEO Lisa Witter about the need to switch from a consumer story to citizens story in politics. He gives examples of what citizen-led governance looks like around the world and calls on politicians to work on trusting people.Since recording this podcast, we've hired Jon as a consultant on our Democratic Innovation work....

* Khadija Patel has become Journalist in Residence at the International Fund for Public Interest Media since this episode was produced. She is referred to as Head of Programmes in this audio. "What I want all politicians to assert is the value of news media, even when it is at their own personal expense.” In this episode, Khadija Patel, the International Press Institute's Chairperson and International Fund for Public Interest Media's Journalist in Residence, discusses the dyn...

"Small is no longer beautiful". That's the message from Bring Back Our Girls and Transparency International co-founder Dr Obiageli "Oby" Esekwesili this International Women's Day. "We need think about how we go for broke."Dr Oby’s career is so varied and impressive that it’s hard to explain in a few lines.She served as Nigeria’s Minister of Education and Minister of Solid Minerals, was appointed World Bank’s vice president for Africa and ran for president.She also founded the poli...

This guest impressed us so much that we gave her a job! French-Tunisian revolutionary, politician and social entrepreneur Omezzine Khelifa was part of the 2011 revolution, ran for office and then served as an advisor to two ministers in her country's early post-revolution governments.She started working for us as Executive Director of our flagship Apolitical Academy Global program in January. In this episode recorded long before her employment with us, Omezzine gets candid about what her and ...