Most Americans sense that something is deeply wrong with our democracy—but the conversation rarely gets past blame, cynicism, or resignation. Hope for Democracy (HfD) exists to change that. We are a nonpartisan civic organization dedicated to expanding the range of democratic possibilities available to American citizens: helping people imagine, experience, and ultimately demand governance systems that actually work.

Our theory of change rests on three mutually reinforcing activities. First, we seed public discussion about democratic alternatives—citizen assemblies, sortition, deliberative polling, online hybrids, and other legitimate governance forms that operate outside partisan and money-driven systems. People cannot want what they cannot imagine, and right now most Americans have no idea these alternatives exist. Through social media, events, and media partnerships, we aim to make “what if democracy could be far better?” a mainstream question.

Second, we curate and partner with the growing ecosystem of civic organizations already running democratic experiments—hands-on demonstrations of alternative governance in action. When people participate in or witness a well-run citizen assembly making thoughtful, cross-partisan decisions, it shifts something fundamental: they see that better systems are not theoretical. They’re real, and they work. But we want to add the narrative, generally missing, that citizens can leverage such a process for capturing real power, with the Lever (below).

Third, and most ambitiously, we are building toward what we call The Lever: the possibility that citizens could unite—peacefully, across party lines—to form voting coalitions that hold elected officials accountable to the voice of their district, rather than to party or donor. In dozens of competitive districts nationwide, a cross-partisan coalition of just 500–1,500 citizens would have been decisive in recent elections. Even a single successful demonstration would show the nation that common ground is possible when we use better processes—and that the enemy is not our fellow citizens, but a dysfunctional system.

HfD is committed to cross-partisan balance—across our funding, team, and supporters—from day one. We measure our impact rigorously: does exposure to democratic alternatives reduce cynicism? Increase engagement? Shift how people relate to the political system itself? We believe that even the possibility of citizens reclaiming power changes the political landscape, reducing cynicism and reawakening a belief that self-governance can work.

There is a need—urgent and unmet—for exactly that kind of hope. That is what Hope for Democracy aims to stir in the hearts of our fellow citizens.

Project Director Bio:

Brian Burt is the founder of Hope for Democracy. He has spent 20+ years leading multi-million-dollar technology projects, starting companies, and bringing teams to successful launches. Brian founded and ran MaestroConference for 15 years—a conferencing platform that invented breakout groups for large-scale calls and served the Obama White House and campaigns (30,000+ events, 50+ with the President personally), Airbnb, the World Bank, Stanford, and hundreds of nationally respected organizations. The company was selected into the 500 Startups accelerator and exited in 2022.

Previously, Brian led projects at Charles Schwab—building the company’s first AI-driven personalization system, and delivering over $150M in measured enterprise value—and also managed a $25M+ project portfolio at the Federal Reserve. He holds an M.S. in Mathematics/Mathematical Economics from the University of Minnesota (Game Theory) and a B.A. from Carleton College.

Brian left a successful career to pursue this mission full-time. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Oakland.