This We Believe

1. In 2024 the greatest danger to our values is a victory by Trump and his allies. We celebrate the Independents, Democrats, and traditional Republicans who made up the coalition that narrowly won in 2018 and 2020; we recognize that our differences are small compared to the threat of empowering Trump and his acolytes. Our mission is to hold the coalition in 2024.

2. We prioritize politics in our actions. The threats to our values are political, so our responses must be political. No other investment can change trillions of dollars in taxes and spending, change the laws governing our public and private lives, and change the moral standing of our country.   

3. We make investments, not predictions. Our goal is to change the outcome of elections.  

4. We are motivated to focus on the US Senate because of its outsized role in the judiciary. We never forget that narrow Democratic Senate losses in 2010 and 2014 allowed the far-right to gain control of the courts. 

5. Our focus is on 2024 U.S. Senate states, but we are also building momentum and infrastructure for 2026 Senate races in Alaska, Kansas, North Carolina, and Montana.

6. We back candidates who can win in their states and who share our democratic, humane values. Full stop.

7. We respect your time and money. We send out three or four emails a month. We work hard to find the races and organizations where your money will help change who governs. We hold monthly Zoom events together to build a virtual community and make a difference in our lives and country.

Who We Are

Core Circle

David Henry, Massachusetts
David is currently a full-time father of three young kids. He previously worked at Industrial Economics, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the intersection of public policy, economics, and the environment. In politics, he worked as a field organizer for Barack Obama’s primary campaign and a regional field director for Jeanne Shaheen’s 2008 U.S. Senate campaign. He has a master’s degree in Environmental Science from Yale University and undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Haverford College.

Pat Semple, Massachusetts
Pat Semple was most recently the Director of Libraries at Bullis School in Potomac, MD. Prior to that she was a Research & Instruction Librarian at Montgomery County Community College (MD), the Assistant Editor for MultiMedia Schools, and a researcher at the American Institutes for Research. She started her career on Capitol Hill as a congressional intern and then moved to the White House as a member of Vice President Walter Mondale’s staff. She has a BA in Political Science from Barnard College and a master’s degree in Library & Information Science from the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland.

Monique Gabriela Curnen, New York
Monique is an actor and producer who has been in a string of critical and commercial successes including Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Steven Soderbergh's Contagion; and Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace. She has produced several short films and is currently attached to produce the feature Sheila and the Punk Rock. Her current focus is creating stories that address social issues through characters who illustrate the richness and complexity of our times.

Steering Committee

Catherin Lerza, California
Cathy has spent five decades as a grant-maker, advocate, organizer, and writer. She has worked with a range of NGOs and foundations on a range of progressive issues. She directed Defining Sustainable Communities, which culminated in a major national conference in 1994, and for nearly a decade she was a senior philanthropic advisor at Tides Foundation. She is now a consultant working with progressive philanthropists and nonprofits, including the Groundswell Action Fund and the Alki Fund.  She is the author or editor of several books and has written dozens of reports and studies. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Alliance for Youth Organizing and the steering committee of the Faith, Rights, and Democracy donor collaborative. Cathy has a BS in Conservation of Natural Resources from UC Berkeley and did work toward an M.Ed in Dance at the George Washington University. She’s also a professional actor, working regularly in film and video and on stage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Paul Strasburg, Colorado
After a career in public affairs, which included work at the Ford Foundation, at the Vera Institute of Justice, and as Commissioner of the Department of Juvenile Justice in NYC, Paul spent seven years as executive director of Volunteers in Asia (VIA) and as board chairman of VIA and of International Rivers. He was founder and board chairman of International Development Exchange (IDEX, now known as Thousand Currents), a nonprofit organization providing support to local community development projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Paul received his BA in History from Stanford University, spent two years with the US Peace Corps in Thailand, attended Yale Law School, and received a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University. 

Alissa Keny-Guyer, New Mexico

Elliott Hahn, California

Jeff Malachowsky, West Virginia

Advisory Circle

Karie Brown, California

Robert Dimmick, Massachusetts
After a 30-year career in special events and alumni relations, Robert now concentrates on writing about etiquette and other matters of manners as Etiquetteer. A proud graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy, Robert received his BA in English Literature from Boston University and his MA in Professional Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. He is also affiliated with the Gibson House Museum in Boston.

David Lyons, Massachusetts

Clare McCamy, California

Dale Smith, Massachusetts