Opening the door to your first home.

Putting your business’s first dollar on the wall.

It’s a wonderful day when you reach a milestone, and enter into a new and important phase in your life.

But when my late husband, Leonard Salle, and I founded the Commonweal Institute almost ten years ago, we hardly recognized that we were making a monumental personal transition. We had successful careers as an engineer and a physician, but we saw what was happening to our country’s political landscape, and we were scared.

We couldn’t just sit by and watch while our government, our media, and our political debate were taken over by a well-organized, well-financed juggernaut that put the interests of the powerful few ahead of the rest of us. So, with the help of many good friends and allies like you, we founded the Commonweal Institute, and dedicated ourselves to building a powerful, unified progressive movement that would fight back, as our name says, for the common good. We saw this as a milestone for our country.

Since that day back in 2001, the Commonweal Institute has been part of many of the decade’s progressive successes. We exposed the machinations of the Right Wing and their coordinated attacks on citizens’ access to the courts and right to organize. We did groundbreaking research on the psychology and sociology of changing our political culture, and articulated the shared values around which a durable progressive majority could come together. And we created a unique set of programs for building our movement:

• The Progressive Ideas Network, a consortium and collaboration platform for nearly three dozen of the country’s leading think tanks;
• The Progressive Roundtable convenings, bringing policy wonks and grassroots activists together to plot shared strategies for power and victory;
• The Talking Politics training series, helping grassroots activists and ordinary citizens communicate their views more persuasively;
• Our Fellows program, lifting up the ideas of some of the leading thinkers in progressive politics today;
• And more, including major research projects, conference workshops and panels, and public speaking and media appearances.

Today, I’m writing to tell you about another major milestone that the Commonweal Institute has reached, and to invite you to join me in celebrating it.

I am proud to announce that the Commonweal Institute has joined forces with Demos, a leading research and advocacy organization based in New York and one of our peers in the Progressive Ideas Network. As part of this strategic affiliation, the Progressive Ideas Network (PIN) and its related programs will officially be housed at Demos, where they will be run by Barry Kendall, Commonweal’s executive director for the past three years.

Barry has been the key person in the formation of PIN and its rapid growth—he has really put the Commonweal Institute and its work on the national map.  This new relationship with Demos is a result of his efforts.  I am excited that I will be able to continue to work with Barry and provide guidance for these programs as a member of the PIN Steering Committee, the network’s governing body.

This alliance will take our movement-building work to the next level. Demos is a strong organization, with an East Coast presence that is essential for operating at the federal level. Demos’ capacity as an exemplary producer of ideas and policy solutions will be the perfect complement and support to our efforts to bring more connection and cooperation to the progressive policy community.

Also, we hope our affiliation will help Demos address the critical challenges of government and governance in California. Our state government is broken, and it’s very clear that our leaders need the kind of resources on revitalizing the role of the public sector that Demos has to offer. I’m looking forward to using Commonweal’s California connections and resources to help Demos have a great impact with this work.

The Commonweal Institute and our sister lobbying arm, Commonweal America, are not going away, although the bulk of our work will continue under the PIN banner. I will continue to use Commonweal as a platform for advancing ideas and opinions about progressive politics and cultural change, but our more costly endeavors – major research projects, convenings, collaborations – will be run by PIN, and that’s where resources will be needed. After nearly ten years of doing this work, I believe that a connected, cooperative, and effective progressive movement is more needed now than ever before, and PIN represents a unique opportunity to make that happen. 

If you have been a supporter of the Commonweal Institute in the past, or just an interested friend, I ask that you join me in supporting the Progressive Ideas Network. Click here to donate now.

Of course, no milestone would be complete without a celebration – and we’re having two! First, please mark your calendars for a special event welcoming Demos to California on Tuesday, June 22 at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco. Second, please plan to join me at my home in Portola Valley on Sunday afternoon, June 27, for a celebration of 10 years of the Commonweal Institute and our new partnership for progressive success. Both events are free, and you are welcome to attend one or both – formal invitations will follow.

On a personal note, let me take this opportunity to say thank you to our current and past Board members, our donors, and all the friends and allies who have supported the work of the Commonweal Institute over the past decade. Leonard and I always knew that this would be a long fight, and obviously we were right – there is so much work still to be done. But when I look back on where we were as a country ten years ago, and where we are today, it’s clear that a lot of progress has been made – and we couldn’t have done it without you, the passionate citizen standing up for the best that our country can be. Thank you for helping us to reach this milestone, and I look forward to many more years of working together for the common good.

Onwards and upwards,

Dr. Katherine Forrest

President, Commonweal Institute

It's the question on everyone's lips this time of year:

"So, do you have any New Year's Resolutions?"

You probably do -- I know I have a few. (My #1: Use the car less, the bicycle more.)

We ask the question in an effort to improve ourselves. Annual resolutions may be great for an individual's self-improvement goals, but when it comes to achieving real progress in our communities, our country, and our world, a year is not a very long time.

2009 is all the evidence we need for that. This year, progressives gained a greater foothold in our federal government than we've had for many years. Still, change comes slowly. Guantanamo remains open. Copenhagen was a let-down. And it now looks likely that even if a health care bill passes this year, more reforms will be needed.

This past month has been an emotional roller coaster for me and for progressives everywhere. I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to watch the Administration and Congress escalate the war in Afghanistan and compromise -- no, capitulate -- on health care reform.

How do we fix this? Some of my friends in the movement point the finger at villains like Joe Lieberman and say the answer is to elect "more and better" Democrats. That can't hurt, to be sure. Progressives obviously need an electoral strategy.

But I think that if the dominant ideology in Washington doesn't change, then electing different people won't make much of a difference. Even very idealistic politicians will be forced to adapt to the Beltway's power structure.

This is why we need a more united and more powerful progressive movement -- to change the terms of the debate and shape legislative outcomes. This is what I work for day in and day out at the Commonweal Institute, work that is only possible because of your support.

On all sides, we are seeing renewed attacks against issues that we care deeply about.  We know that you, like other friends of the Commonweal Institute, care about the wider society, too — you share our values of community, caring, justice, and concern for the future.

The attacks are just beginning, but a familiar pattern is emerging.  As in the past, the Right is using race to try to divide our country and halt progressive change. Targeting this strategy toward the presidency is new. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Van Jones, and even President Obama himself are being challenged by baseless political attacks drenched with subtle and not-so-subtle racial overtones. The danger is that the Right will use race to mark the President and his team as dangerous "others" – who are not part of “us,” do not look like “us,” and do not share “our” values, leading to the war cry of the tea-baggers, “I want my country back!” The irony is that these racialized scare tactics – by undermining the presidency as the country faces serious problems – diminish the ability of government to fulfill its fundamental role to support life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. 

Executive Director Barry Kendall was joined by Commonweal Institute fellows Chris Bowers, Dave Johnson, Jill Richardson, and Nezua at the 2009 Netroots Nation convention from August 13 through 16 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a sponsor of Netroots Nation, the Commonweal Institute is a firm believer in the power of blogs and new media to advance the progressive agenda. Holding to this idea, Commonweal fellows and staff took part in discussions and attended lectures which addressed the emergence of technology as an ally in the fight for progressive change. The conference proved a successful platform for Commonweal, as Kendall and fellows were well received on a total of seven panels ranging in discussion from food policy and economics to environmentalism and media problem solving. In his panel about connecting think tanks to the Netroots, Dr. Kendall offered insight about how policy idea factories can effectively engage and collaborate through blogs and the social web to more effectively advance a progressive agenda.

Senator Al Franken, Duluth, MN City Council Member Tony Cuneo and AZ State Representative Kyrsten Sinema at the Greysolon Plaza in Duluth, August 2, 2009 (Photo: Umayyah Cable)

From August 2 through 5, 2009, the Commonweal Institute, along with lead sponsor the A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation, convened leaders of the progressive movement from all across the country in Duluth, Minnesota for the 2009 Progressive Roundtable.  Senator Al Franken kicked off the proceedings with a free public lecture and discussion attended by almost 300 local residents.

Commonweal Institute Executive Director Barry Kendall and Retreat Director Mirit Cohen with San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 gave all of us here at the Commonweal Institute an opportunity to celebrate the acheivements of Barry Kendall and all of his hard work forging the path for the progressive movement. The New Leaders Council's annual "40 Under 40" Awards honor young, innovative and dedicated progressive leaders throughout the nation, and this year Dr. Kendall was selected as an award recipient! Be sure to check the NLC website to see the impressive list of award winners.

On May 27, Executive Director Barry Kendall led a day-long meeting with 53 members and allies of the Progressive Ideas Network. Titled "Progressive Ideas in Action: Long-Term Thinking in a Short-Term World," the event gathered policy experts and intellectuals from inside and outside DC to look beyond the current policy battles and begin formulating the big ideas that will power progressive advocacy four, six, even ten or more years down the road. At the end of the day, Dr. Kendall offered participants an inspirational rallying cry, written with Institute friend and supporter Greg Colvin. Check it out:

With the goal of providing an opportunity for local and national news outlets to publish opinion and commentary from a progressive political perspective, the Commonweal Institute will produce and distribute weekly op-ed columns starting July 1, 2009.

A new lineup of Commonweal Institute Fellows, public intellectuals who have organically developed large audiences and authority in their fields through their blogs, publications and academic work, will write the columns on a rotating basis.

UPDATE (8/6/09): Columns will be made available for exclusive use by news outlets for a limited time and then released with a Creative Commons attribution license and posted at Commonweal Institute's Uncommon Denominator Blog.

The spark for this program came from a Commonweal Institute supporter seeking an alternative to the conservative and libertarian perspectives regularly featured in their local newspaper’s op-ed page. 

Executive Director Barry Kendall, co-chair of the Progressive Ideas Network, discusses the newest publication from PIN, Thinking Big: Progressive Ideas for a New Era. The book is a collection of succinct essays that outline the current reinvention of the progressive movement in the United States. It is an essential handbook for the progressive agenda.

Major issues discussed in Thinking Big include: