Why We Created Democracy.com
This is a remarkable moment for democracy in America.
Citizens across the ideological spectrum feel an urgency to engage and make their voices heard on the issues and elections that matter to them.
But there’s a problem…
Despite the rise in civic passion, Americans say it’s too hard to figure out what they can do that will actually make a difference. Ordinary citizens want to be involved but don’t know where to begin.
Shared Google docs and email chains are a start, but they’re not the modern tools for organizing that Americans need.
Solving this problem led us to create Democracy.com, an award-winning platform with the mission to make citizen engagement as easy as buying a book online.
We help citizens find the right engagement option on any issue or election, quickly act on that option, then invite their friends and family to take the same action and create even greater impact.
The Democracy.com platform is powered by the largest database of citizen engagement opportunities ever created — over 5 million in the US at any given moment. You tell us what you care about, we tell you all the available engagement options and walk you through the action of your choice.
For most actions like donating, volunteering, attending an event or signing a petition, the entire process takes less than minute. You can even create a new issue organization or launch a campaign for elected office in less than five minutes.
Our mission is to make it easier to for you to get engaged and see results.
Democracy.com will always be free to join because we believe there should be zero cost of entry to citizen participation.
“I was a citizen with no experience running for office and no budget. Democracy.com allowed me to launch my campaign in minutes, fundraise and rally supporters… all for free. And I won my election! I’m proof Democracy.com helps level the playing field in our democracy.” Steve O’Dorisio, County Commissioner, Adams County, CO
Democracy.com is a social enterprise founded by life-long activists and organizers who are dedicated to the following core values
• We believe every citizen has an inalienable right to participate and help shape our democracy.
• We believe the issues our nation faces require dialogue across ideologies. Our platform is non-partisan and welcomes all constructive participation.
• We believe empowered citizens are the strongest antidote to the corrosive effects of unregulated money in politics. Because votes still decide elections.
• We believe verifiable facts and data are critical to developing successful solutions that serve all citizens, and we are committed to a platform free from intentional disinformation.
We spent two years (2014–2016) testing these ideas on our groundbreaking beta platform and saw powerful results, winning awards for innovation and acquiring over a million users. Now we’re building our next generation site with even more features to power citizen action.
We hope you’ll join us. Please sign up to receive launch updates at www.democracy.com. You can also contact us at info@democracy.com.
Talmage Cooley, Founder/CEO
What people are saying about Democracy.com:
Leigh Ann Caldwell of CNN: “For the voter, Democracy.com provides one-stop shopping.”
From singer/activist Rosanne Cash: “For women activists across every issue, Democracy.com will serve as the launching point for the solutions we demand. This site is long overdue. I’m all in.”
Greg Ferenstein of TechCrunch wrote: ”The entire profile process couldn’t be easier. In about five minutes, I had a fully functioning campaign website, complete with donation portal, social media aggregation and voter outreach.”
American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) Pollie Award for Best Technology Innovation.
Campaigns & Elections Magazine Reed Award for Best Online Fundraising Platform.
The Campaign Workshop Award for Best Organizing Tool
Leadership Team
Talmage Cooley, Founder & CEO: A serial entrepreneur across multiple for-profit and social sectors, Talmage launched Democracy.com as a result of many lessons learned in social venture strategy and organizing.
Bud Rosenthal, Chief Operating Officer: Bud is a veteran startup leader with high level stints at AOL, Yahoo & RealNetworks, as well as early stage companies which raised $100+M in top-tier venture funding.
Lloyd Closson, Chief Technology Officer: Lloyd has been a software engineer for over twenty years, and was technical lead on the build of FlipDog.com as well as the Hirevue.com platform.
Katie Cushmore, Chief Marketing Officer: Katie has served as SVP of Product & Marketing for Reverb, Marketing Director at Yahoo, VP of Marketing at InPowered, and was the first sales marcom hire at Twitter.
Justin Petro, Chief Product Officer: The founder of Thinktiv Design, Justin began his career at 15 as a CAD technician for an engineering startup, and excels at translating complex business models into high impact UX design.
Board of Advisors
Nicco Mele, Advisor: As Internet Director for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential race and Barack Obama’s 2007 Senate campaign, Nicco pioneered the use of technology and social media that revolutionized political fundraising and American politics. He is the Director of the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Previously he was Senior Vice President and Deputy Publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
Lawrence Lessig, Advisor: Lessig is a national leader on the issues of campaign finance reform, digital policy and ethics. He is a law professor at both Harvard and Stanford, Founder of the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford and Director of the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard.
Karen Grossman, Advisor: An expert in social innovation, Karen has served as Executive Director of Worldteach, VP of Social Innovations for Mercy Corps, Program Director at the Aspen Institute, and manager of the SF-based Socrates Society.
Rusty Rueff, Advisor: Rusty is the Co-Founder of Tech4America and served as National Co-Chair of Technology for Obama during the 2012 campaign. A leading expert on corporate talent development, he has held various HR leadership positions at Pratt & Whitney, Pepsico and Electronic Arts.
Tim Phillips, Advisor: Tim is a global leader on issues of democratization, civil society and emerging technologies. He is CEO/Co-Founder of Beyond Conflict, Co-Founder of The Club of Madrid and Co-Founder of Energia Global.
Raj Kumar, Advisor: Raj is an accomplished start-up founder and investor with extensive experience in domestic and international politics. He is Founder/President of Devex, which the Washington Post calls “The Bloomberg of foreign aid”.
Chris Kasabach, Advisor: Chris is an inventor and co-founder of several companies, including BodyMedia, which pioneered the field of connected self-care/body monitoring. He is now Director of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation.
