History
AmericaSpeaks was founded in 1995. Since then, it has engaged over 130,000 people in over 50 large-scale forums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. AmericaSpeaks aims to bring citizens together to deliberate about critical policy issues. The conclusions from these meetings are then brought to the attention of decision-makers in the hopes that citizen input will influence policy.
In 1994, after more than ten years of service in the public sector, AmericaSpeaks president Carolyn Lukensmeyer had grown concerned that citizens were increasingly being shut out of public decision-making processes. Carolyn traveled the United States and held vision meetings to conceptualize a model for large-scale citizen engagement forums, and a vision for how these forums could be used in national dialogues on key public policy issues.
AmericaSpeaks’ mission is to create innovative mechanisms through which citizens can enhance their voice in local, regional, and national governance, and to renew democracy through the development of a national infrastructure for democratic deliberation and citizen engagement.
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Famous quotes containing the word history:
“You that would judge me do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place
Where my friends’ portraits hang and look thereon;
Ireland’s history in their lineaments trace;
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends
And say my glory was I had such friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)