Innovation Begins with Democracy

Written By Carrie Pendolino
Welcome to Innovators for Democracy, which we hope will offer both information and inspiration for those who believe in building a cleaner, healthier, technologically advanced economy that can compete and lead globally. Collectively, we have a laser-focused mission: to educate and engage (both ourselves and policy makers) and, ultimately, to elect leaders with the courage and vision to spur innovation through government policy.

Innovators come from a wide range of backgrounds representing technology, finance, science, energy, and climate policy. We come together committed to finding pathways for the enactment of policies that will lead to transformational adoption of innovation and investment, on the life-changing scale of computers in the 1990s and telecom in the 2000s.

Innovation is the key, deployment is the vehicle, but the “democracy” part is the essential engine. For instance, in the area of climate policy, identifying solutions isn’t difficult, but building societal acceptance for implementation has been elusive. Building public consensus starts with leadership, and Innovators for Democracy exists to cast a spotlight on leaders who can help to steer these policies toward implementation. This group serves as an important meeting point for those leaders, through events and the exchange of ideas.

Timely engagement is critical: For instance, on September 28th at 5:30 ET, we will be hosting an Innovator Intro (virtual meet & greet) with Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who is an architect of the House infrastructure legislation, as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. We seek to bring innovators and policy makers together when doing so can have the greatest impact.

Our coalition’s original format as Innovators for Biden demonstrated how effective our collective action can be, and we will rely on that enthusiasm and active participation going forward. In 2020 we helped elect a President who is bringing clean energy and infrastructure to the top of the national agenda; now it’s our turn to help re-elect Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), who is doing the same in New Jersey. Please join us for a campaign fundraiser September 23rd at 8:15pm ET, co-hosted by music industry innovator Irving Azoff.

As for the “education” part of our mission, we hope you will return to this space a couple of times a month for updates on upcoming events and political support opportunities, and for a little of the information and inspiration mentioned earlier. This blog can’t duplicate the tremendous research and analysis that emanates from NGOs, government agencies, and think tanks, but we will try to highlight their best work to make sure you don’t miss it. We will also occasionally feature guest commentary from different viewpoints within our coalition. If you have something to say, let us know.

Our advice for the coming weeks: Take a few minutes to remind yourself of all the potentially powerful initiatives included in the two infrastructure bills now before Congress. For a refresher, here’s a good summary of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. As you likely know, the Senate passed this package on Aug. 10th, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) has committed to acting on it by Sept. 27th.

Meanwhile, House committees are marking up their portions of the more extensive Build Back Better Act, which was outlined by the budget resolution passed on Aug. 23rd.

Innovators, representing enormous collective expertise, can play an important role both publicly in social media and privately through personal relationships to help make the case for individual programs within the two packages.

Together, these two bills represent the most important opportunity in years to enact meaningful programs to address innovation priorities including creating wider access to broadband and education, building a national electric vehicle charging network, modernizing the electric grid, and other cornerstones of an innovative economy. These legislative milestones are only a first step, and we hope this coalition will be a powerful voice for policies that foster greater prosperity, a better educated workforce, and a cleaner energy future.

Carrie Pendolino
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Winning Hearts and Minds