Why I’m Joining 1776’s Revolution

Since I was five years old, I’ve been drawn to politicians. I like the ones who are filled with hopes, dreams, ambitions to change the world and the ideas to do it. That’s why I always wanted to be a political journalist: It was the best way to tell their inspiring stories and reach the largest number of people doing it.

But right now, while negativity and partisan gridlock are strangling our government’s ability to assist in changing people’s lives, startups are remaking them everywhere — even in farflung corners of the world.

I’ve been watching this phenomenon with awe from afar for several years. This year I have the opportunity to join it.

I’m thrilled to share I’m joining 1776 in Washington as the team’s first director of communications.

1776 is the vanguard of innovation on a global scale:

• It launched three years ago to scout the best entrepreneurial talent all over the world, cultivate it, and invest in it.
• It is connecting these hungry innovators to investors the world over who can turn their game-changing ideas into reality.
• It is partnering with major corporations and universities, the incumbents with institutional knowledge and power to reach the global public, and connecting them to the new innovators who can advance their critical industries.
• It is convening all of these key players in its global network and linking them to the policymakers who have the power to steer their ideas toward either failure or success.

1776 serves industries that impact the fundamental needs of daily life: The schools we attend, the cities we live in, the roads we drive on, the hospitals that heal us, the energy that powers us, and more. Governments all over the world have a keen interest in making sure those needs are met for the citizens they serve.

When I was a high school senior, I wrote in a college application essay that government permeates every aspect of our lives, and the American people must understand how in order to make informed decisions before voting.

That same principle rings true for startups that are exploding all over the globe and major corporations that constantly are coming up with new ways to service the public: They must navigate the checks thousands of local, state and national governments have in place to keep their citizens safe and healthy. Headquartered in the city that houses the world’s most recognizable government, 1776 is helping startups understand how to take the lessons learned here and apply them around the world.

No other organization is taking this on. While the media beats drums around unicorns and bubbles, 1776 is igniting a revolution of meaningful innovation in the critical areas that won’t go away with the ups and downs of the stock market.

In coming to understand 1776 and its industries, the startup scene, and the business world, I’ve learned more in a few weeks than I have in an entire election cycle. We journalists crave learning new subjects and trends and trying to master them.

And for a storyteller who feasts on politics, this was an easy call: America, the ultimate startup, launched in 1776.

Here at 1776, we’re taking that spirit global.