Seth Flaxman Email & Phone Number

Ashoka Fellow | Forbes "30 Under 30" | Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur | Bluhm Helfand Social Innovation Fellow | Aspen Ideas FellowI led Democracy Works as the founding CEO for 12 years, scaling up a crazy idea and grad school paper to become one of the largest and most impactful civic engagement nonprofits active today, critical digital infrastructure helping millions vote every year.Yet despite achieving historic voter participation, threats to free and fair elections have multiplied, and I have a new mission after passing the torch at Democracy Works: Helping leaders and donors scale up strategies to support our democracy and defeat authoritarianism.Experienced leadership. Leading a fast growing technology nonprofit for over a decade means that I’ve seen it all, made every mistake, iterated, learned, and overcome (almost) all of it. Whether you are a leader or a donor looking to bring an effort to scale, you shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel or do it alone.Donor partner. As a fundraiser who has raised tens of millions for a $14M annual budget, I’ve partnered with hundreds of donors and know what it takes for donors to make a real and lasting impact.Innovative solutions. I’m a social entrepreneur, a pragmatic optimist who believes that no matter the problem, there is something we can do. An innovative strategy, with the right team and resources, can succeed against impossible odds.Grounded in research. Before Democracy Works, I worked to understand the world at the Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institute, and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. I founded Democracy Works while earning a MPP at the Harvard Kennedy School, and believe that innovative strategies see the world differently but are always rooted in a respect for expertise and research. Inspired by history. I have a deep passion for history, rooted in a desire to better understand my own family's dual narratives as Jewish refugees to Brooklyn on the one hand, and as Revolutionary War and Union soldiers on the other. In my family, we were always taught “it could happen here.” My hope for our democracy and commitment to defeating authoritarians is rooted in these histories. Every step of progress in our country has been won by leaders working in darker times, with fewer resources. If they can do it, so can we, and our work together can be deeply enriched by learning lessons from the leaders and strategies that came before us.

Listed skills include Nonprofits, Public Policy, Research, Policy Analysis, and 12 others.