CNL END OF YEAR NEWSLETTER

Celebrating 2023

The Center for New Liberalism has had a busy year in 2023! We want to take a moment to highlight some of the things we’ve done at the national level and the fantastic things our chapters have done at the local level this year.

CNL Growth
We started the year by growing the CNL team with the hires of Matti Miranda as Assistant Director and Tobin Stone as Community and Communications Manager. Matti and Tobin have been fantastic additions to our team at CNL, and have been instrumental in helping our chapters grow and become forces to be reckoned with in their communities.

NLAS West
Our first big event of the year was at the end of March, when we flew out to San Francisco for our first New Liberal Action Summit (NLAS). At NLAS West, we heard about some of the issues most important to New Liberals, including housing policy, permitting reform and biotech policy, education policy, fiscal policy, tech policy, and workforce development policy. We were also lucky to hear from several fantastic elected officials at NLAS West, including Representative Scott Peters (CA-50), Representative Jim Costa (CA-21), and Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read.

CNL Joins New Democracy
In June, we took a big step towards our mission of becoming a true grassroots organization for the center-left by joining forces with New Democracy, a 501(c)(4) organization that is a supports network and home base for pragmatic Democratic leaders – members of Congress, governors, state officials, mayors, and local leaders – with the mission of expanding the party’s appeal across Middle America and making Democrats competitive everywhere. As a part of New Democracy, our chapters have been able to engage directly in local and state political debates and contests, to advance our center-left agenda.

New Liberal Regional Action Project
Also in June, as part of our partnership with New Democracy, we launched our New Liberal Regional Action Project, an initiative that offered up to $10,000 in grant funding to projects that would promote new liberal values in local communities, strengthen center-left Democrats and local CNL chapters, and more. We’ve awarded more than $30,000 in these grants to support projects across the country in Los Angeles, Denver, Austin and more. Some of these projects have already launched, and others will be launching next year!

NLAS D.C.
In July, we drew hundreds of young, center-left New Liberal advocates from around the country to Washington, D.C. for our second New Liberal Action Summit, NLAS DC. Representatives Jeff Jackson (NC-14), Scott Peters (CA-50), Val Hoyle (OR-04), and Brad Schnieder (IL-10), as well as other leading voices from the Democratic Party’s center-left, spoke at the summit about the need to organize young center-left activists in support of a new, pragmatic approach to policy and realigning U.S. politics around a center-left majority. As part of NLAS DC, CNL members participated in a hill day, visiting the offices of their members of Congress to discuss New Liberal ideas. We ended NLAS DC with a retreat for CNL chapter leadership, providing training on messaging and framing, organizing, and strategic planning for CNL chapters.

The CNL Steering Committee
Also at NLAS DC, CNL’s dues-paying members elected a new steering committee for the organization. Among a fantastic crowd of candidates, Benjamin Akselrod, Brianna Coyle, Laura Duffy, Micah Erfan, Tibita Kaneene, Morgan Rinehart, and Cathy Reisenwitz were elected as the domestic members of the committee, and Ramsey Kilani and Imar Koutchoukali were elected as the committee’s international representatives. The new steering committee selected Benjamin Akselrod as Chair and Cathy Reisenwitz as Vice-Chair.

One of the newly elected steering committee’s first actions was to vote to establish two new subcommittees dedicated to strengthening the Center for New Liberalism – a chapter development committee, and a diversity committee. Descriptions for these committees are below. If you’re interested in learning more about or joining either of these committees, please complete the Interest Form. [[link removed]]

Diversity Committee
Diversity in perspective, programming, and overall membership will allow us to better support policy and politics around advancing our New Liberal values. The diversity committee has the mission of growing CNL membership and external relations to reflect an inclusive, diverse collective that works together to advance liberal, center-left policy seeking to provide economic opportunity and well-being to all participants in society. In its inaugural year, the Diversity Committee will work to better understand the baseline current state of the CNL community in terms of diversity in participation and in conjunction, diversify the CNL membership in regards to gender, race/ethnicity, and geographical location.

Chapter Development Committee
Strong New Liberal chapters are the backbone of center-left grassroots activism and as such this subcommittee is formed to further invest our resources back to our chapters. By implementing a strategic plan for chapter development and aiding in its execution, CNL will have strong yet lean chapters able to propel center-left policy and candidates in their regions. The Chapter Development Committee has the mission of strengthening CNL membership and chapter organization around pragmatic policy solutions seeking to provide economic opportunity and well-being to all participants in society.

The New Liberal Podcast
Over the course of the year, we also had some great guests on our podcast, the New Liberal Podcast, hosted by CNL’s cofounder, Jeremiah Johnson. Among our most notable guests this year included Representative Brittany Petersen (CO-07), who spoke about her work on the opioid crisis, election analyst Nate Silver, economist Daron Acemoğlu, columnist Jonathan Chait and Former US Global AIDS coordinator and head of PEPFAR Dr. Mark Dybul.

New Liberals Grassroots Action
CNL’s chapters were also making waves in their local communities throughout the year, and we want to celebrate some of those chapters.


- Our Denver chapter hosted several fantastic events with some of our favorite elected officials, including Governor Jared Polis and Representative Brittany Petersen. In their municipal elections this year, the Denver New Liberals also helped elected a YIMBY mayor, Mike Johnston, and helped replace a NIMBY DSA city council member with a YIMBY.
- In NYC, our local chapter hosted an event with YIMBY State Assembly Member, Alex Bores.
- Our chapter in Columbus hosted an event with State Senator Bill DeMora, and helped canvass in support of reproductive freedoms.
- We launched a new chapter in Huntsville, AL this year, with tremendous success, as they’ve become one of our fastest-growing chapters.
- The Austin New Liberals played a role in helping the city pass a number of huge housing reforms this year, and in August, they had Councilmember Ryan Alter, one of the sponsors of Austin’s YIMBY reforms, speak at one of their happy hours.
- Our Toronto chapter has been growing quickly this year as well, and they’ve had the opportunity to host events with Nate Erskine-Smith, MP, Stephanie Bowman, MPP and Ted Hsu, MPP.
- Our London chapter hosted events with multiple prospective parliamentary candidates, including David Lawrence, Dan Tomlinson, and Edward Lucas, and had their end-of-the-year Christmas party at the Parliament hosted by Tulip Siddiq, the Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury, followed by a reception at the National Liberal Club.

Looking forward to 2024

2024 is shaping up to be a big year for the Center for New Liberalism and our sponsor, New Democracy. Electoral primaries start early in the next year and we are in a very unique place to strengthen the center-left. We should focus our network and our grassroots energy to ensure that we elect leaders who will propose, pass, and enact pragmatic legislation. This does not stop at the top of the ticket, but additional community boards, local offices, and central committees will require additional support when moderates are face-to-face with the extreme left.

YIMBYtown 2024
In February, CNL will be traveling to Austin, Texas to participate in and sponsor the YIMBYtown 2024 conference! After a fantastic year for pro-housing advocates in 2023, we’re excited to hear about what’s next for the YIMBY movement. If you’ll be attending, be sure to catch us at our booth!

NLAS DC 2024
We’re also excited to announce the dates of our 2024 New Liberal Action Summit in DC, which will tentatively be taking place from May 16th to 18th! NLAS DC 2024 will be our national convening of New Liberals, where we come together to connect and showcase the strength of our New Liberal movement.

Interested in attending NLAS DC 2024? Fill out this form on our website so we can send you emails with updates! [[link removed]]

Democratic National Convention
In August, CNL and New Democracy will be headed to Chicago, IL for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, and we’ll be bringing some New Liberals along with us! We’re still in the process of finalizing our plans for the convention but expect to hear more from us in the coming months.

Member Spotlight - Mike Wainwright

Mike Wainwright is a native Texan who moved to Austin to go to UT in the year 2000. He fell in love with the music scene, playing in bands and DJing, was captivated by the natural beauty of Austin, and never could manage to leave for very long. Mike eventually put down roots in Austin with his wife and bought a home in 2018.

Mike is currently a co-lead for the Austin New Liberals and is leading a project called CasaGraphica, which is being funded through the New Liberal Regional Action Project grant program we announced in June.

What got you involved with the Center for New Liberalism?
“I got involved with the Center for New Liberalism through the subreddit originally, but eventually followed the shill bracket, got a Twitter account, and got exposed to a world of nerdy wonky writers and podcasters that I really liked. I was definitely drawn in by the land use policy discussions I found there, as there was (and still is) tons of talk in Austin about growth, development, and displacement.”

What is the CasaGraphica Project?
“CasaGraphica is a project to elevate the quality of discourse related to housing in Austin using data visualization. Like anywhere, land use regulations are a major issue impacting affordability in Austin, and the arguments over it can get contentious, emotional, full of recrimination and accusations and bad faith.... it just gets really ugly sometimes.

“My idea was to create a resource that brings data and confirmed facts back to the center of the arguments that we make, hopefully establishing a shared reality for people to start from. I've been taking state, local, and federally collected data about our situation and creating well-sourced, Austin-centric infographics that communicate visual concepts that would be hard to glean from reading a table or an article.

“When the archive is launched, the infographics will be free to license and to download the data to repurpose, so anyone can use them for their online content or work product. Hopefully, we can create a valuable educational resource that can become part of the broader conversation about housing, making an evidence-based argument for increased supply, while redirecting us away from the more intensely emotional arguments that have made this such a difficult topic in Austin. So far the project has been well received locally, and I'm optimistic we'll have a real impact.”

In the News
Foreign Policy – Europe’s Tech Curbs Are a Double-Edged Sword [[link removed]]
By Jeremiah Johnson, CNL Co-Founder | October 23rd, 2023
“There’s a chicken-and-egg dynamic here—American companies are the ones targeted by regulations because they are the firms that have succeeded and grown large enough to matter. The lack of significant European tech giants, then, is also one of the reasons the EU’s regulations are as harsh as they are in the first place."

Reason Magazine – The Abundance Agenda Promises Everything to Everyone All at Once [[link removed]]
By Christian Britschgi | December 2023
Mention: Colin Mortimer, CNL Co-Founder and Director
"It was making really wonky memes about the federal funds rate," says CNL co-founder Colin Mortimer. "It very quickly turned into a community and refuge for non-Bernie [as in socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders] Democrats who wanted a place to talk about still wonky but general politics."

Liberal Currents – Recalling the Irish Diaspora [[link removed]]
By Nick Felker, NYC New Liberals | December 4th, 2023
“Ireland stands out as the only country today with a population lower than in 1840. Over the next century, the population fell in half. Even today, there are a million fewer residents of Ireland than at its peak.”

Podcasts

Getting the border under control ft. Alex Nowrasteh [[link removed]]
The US-Mexico border has seen a surge of illegal crossings and apprehensions since the end of COVID-era restrictions. Alex Nowrasteh joins the podcast to talk about the situation at the US's southern border, why the perception of chaos matters more than the actual number of immigrants, and how we can build a less chaotic immigration system while still remaining open to immigration.

Fixing the Opioid Crisis ft. Rep. Brittany Pettersen [[link removed]]
What should the government be doing to fight the opioid epidemic? In this episode, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen joins the show to talk about her family history with opioid addiction and how we can make progress on this issue. We talk about how to step up enforcement to stop imported illegal drugs like fentanyl, how we prevent over prescription of opioids through legal channels, and ultimately how we get help in the hands of people who need it.

Saving 25 million lives ft. Mark Dybul [[link removed]]
PEPFAR is widely hailed as one of the most impactful aid programs of all time, with credible estimates as high as 25 million lives saved. Former US Global AIDS coordinator and head of PEPFAR Dr. Mark Dybul joins the show to discuss how it all happened. We talk about the institutional challenges to make a program like this work effectively, how presidential leadership was important to make PEPFAR a reality, and why it's so important that we authorize the program again.

The Integralist Right ft. Kevin Vallier [[link removed]]
What is integralism, and why is it growing in popularity on the religious right? Kevin Vallier joins the show to discuss his new book, All the Kingdoms of the World, about the new integralist movement. We talk about the history of integralism, why they believe liberalism has corrupted society, and why Dr. Vallier thinks their version of anti-liberalism is doomed to fail even on its own terms.

Should Joe Biden drop out? ft. Nate Silver [[link removed]]
Joe Biden's polling numbers have Democrats worried. Some commentators have even started publicly wondering - should Joe Biden drop out and not run again in 2024? Nate Silver joins the podcast to discuss the factors around whether or not Biden should run for re-election. How much trouble in Biden in? Is Biden's age really a problem? Would Democrats actually have a better shot at winning if Biden steps aside, or is that wishful thinking? We discuss all this and more one year out from the 2024 election.

Why is the public down on the economy? ft. Will Stancil [[link removed]]
The economic picture seems bright - GDP and wages are up, unemployment is low, and inflation is falling. So why is public sentiment about the economy intensely negative? Will Stancil joins the podcast to discuss the 'vibecession'. We cover why economic indicators have divorced from consumer confidence, the role of social media in driving doom narratives, and the politics behind why everything feels so relentlessly negative.

Are Your Points In Danger? Ft. Brian Kelly, The Points Guy [[link removed]]
Congress is considering legislation on credit cards, and the future of your credit card rewards could hang in the balance. Paul Weinstein, a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute , and Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy website , join the podcast to discuss a proposed bill that would regulate US credit cards.

Closing Remarks

Join your Chapter’s Leadership Team Today!
Ahead of what is sure to be one of the most intense election cycles we’ve ever seen, we need to grow our chapter Leadership Teams today.
Our chapters have open slots at all levels of commitment – if you’re interested in taking on a more active role in your local chapter, whether it’s helping with events, communications, political affairs, or more, we have a role for you!

Fill out this interest form here [[link removed]] , and someone from the CNL team will follow up with you shortly!

[link removed] [link removed]

The Center for New Liberalism (CNL) is a digital-first grassroots organization dedicated to fighting for liberalism during the age it is most under attack. We are the hub of a grassroots movement of center-left activists from around the world. Collectively, our work reaches upwards of 60 million people a month.
CNL values our members. To become a member or to learn more about membership, visit our membership page [[link removed]] .
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