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CIVIC VENTURES

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Challenging conventional wisdom. 

Building social change.

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WHO WE ARE



Civic Ventures is a small group of political troublemakers devoted to ideas,
policies, and actions that catalyze significant social change. We are serial
innovators in the civic sphere who favor the kind of big ideas that challenge
conventional thinking. Though we promote many progressive concepts, we’re not
beholden to the traditional political framework of liberal versus conservative;
an idea’s value and utility should be more important than its origin. By
thinking, writing, and acting outside the realm of conventional political
discourse, Civic Ventures works to drive the conversation and fundamentally
alter the status quo in Seattle, Washington state, and the United States.

VALUES, MISSION, AND GOALS

We believe that the point of politics and economics is to maximize the rate at
which we improve the lives of the typical family in our community and country.
We reject trickle down economics in all of its forms—the claim that the better
the rich do, the better everyone does. We believe that a thriving middle class
is the source of growth, not a consequence of growth.

We believe in capitalism, but recognize that the form capitalism takes
defines whether the economy benefits the many or the few. Our view is that the
only sensible long-term policy is to maximize the benefit to the many. We know
that there is often a giant difference between policies that benefit capitalism
generally and policies that benefit a few capitalists narrowly, despite what
some capitalists may tell us.

We believe in progress and innovation in all of its forms. We believe that
the technological innovation that solves human problems is the source of
all improvements in living standards. But we also acknowledge that every
commercial technological innovation brings with it disruption—and therefore that
healthy communities depend on matching the rate of commercial innovation with
equal amounts of civic and social innovation.

We believe that prosperity, or what some call growth, is the consequence of
a positive feedback loop between increasing amounts of innovation and demand.
We know that the principal driver of this feedback loop is inclusion. Including
as many people as possible in as many ways as possible—as consumers, workers,
innovators and citizens—is the most direct, effective and durable way to
increase prosperity and social cohesion and harmony. Inclusion is our most
fundamental value and drives all of our work.

Our goal is to create systemic disruptive change that improves the lives of our
fellow citizens and community. Civic Ventures believes in the power of ideas,
particularly new ideas, to disrupt the political landscape by radically
reshaping public opinion. We believe that all significant social and civic
change transforms the way citizens understand how the world works—and thus
changes the way they feel and what policies or outcomes they prefer. We will not
focus energy or resources on activities, programs, or organizations that are
ameliorative or downstream from the problem. Said another way, we seek to
prevent poverty, rather than treat the symptoms of poverty.

We believe that significant civic, political, and social national change usually
begins locally. Change is best effected on the local level; the experimental
nature of city and state governance has always fostered a political and civic
wisdom that improves policy and law on the national level. We embrace this
“local first” theory of change and believe it creates a unique opportunity for
us. That said, when the opportunity presents itself, we will also seek to enact
change at the national level.

We are institutionally independent, accountable only to our community
and ourselves, and will do whatever it takes to innovate important social
change, even if we antagonize allies in the process. We believe effective
leadership requires building a great strategy first and then building a
collation around that strategy. Coalition-first movements lead nowhere but to
bureaucracy and half measures. That said, as institutions yield to networks, we
recognize that we can’t accomplish important work by ourselves. We must always
partner with other like-minded groups and institutions to be effective. We are
willing to lead the pack, but will never be “lone wolves”.

Our ability to create and integrate policy, politics, and narrative in real time
in our own community gives us an unmatched ability to optimize and modify our
plans strategically and effectively. Paying close attention to the feedback loop
between ideas, policies, and politics can lead to faster learning and more
effective decision-making and strategy. We seek to be nimble and to use our
agility and small size to maximum advantage. We seek voids and opportunities in
the civic sphere—places where others fear to tread, that allow us to create the
largest and most disruptive impact.

We will lead, catalyze, or participate in local and national civic actions that
meet the following criteria:


1

The cause is inherently inclusive and will improve the lives of a majority of
our fellow citizens.


2

The environment surrounding the cause provides a unique, disruptive, and
strategic opportunity to completely change the frame of the debate and advance a
new kind of public argument.


3

Our strategy will always be focused on both winning and on making our opponents
lose.






4

We seek to focus only on the most ambitious civic projects and those that are
most likely to catalyze national change.


5

We will only engage in fights that advance our narrative and allow us to reframe
the debate in a durable way that inherently advances the principle of inclusion
that animates much of our work.







STAFF


NICK HANAUER, FOUNDER


ZACH SILK, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF TROUBLEMAKER


JASMIN WEAVER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT


SEJAL PARIKH, VICE PRESIDENT


DAVID GOLDSTEIN, SENIOR FELLOW


PAUL CONSTANT, FELLOW


SAGE WILSON, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER


FREDDY DOSS, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST




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