Arena
Arena is an organization founded by "a group of former Obama Administration alumni, tech entrepreneurs, and grassroots activists in December 2016." Arena seeks to channel the "unprecedented wave of civic enthusiasm and activism" in three main ways: "through in-person and collaborative summits, by spotlighting promising work throughout our community, and through an accelerator for promising new organizations and candidacies."
Arena was co-founded by Ravi Gupta,[1] a former campaign staffer for Barack Obama and special assistant to then U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and Swati Mylavarapu, a Founding Partner at Incite Ventures.
Catherine Vaughan, co-founder and CEO of Flippable, is listed on the Arena website as a "Fellow."[2]
Arena Summit
- "Think of the Arena Summit as equal parts spring training, group therapy, summer camp, and speed dating for progressives. The first took place in Nashville, the second in Raleigh, and Gupta has a third planned for Detroit in June. The goal: to train a field team of inexperienced candidates, face hard truths about the past, forge lasting bonds between local communities, and help disparate organizations find their perfect match."[3]
Support from Onward Together
Hillary Clinton's PAC Onward Together lists Arena as a partner and has provided them with financial support.[4]
The Dilemma
From the Arena website:
- "We are in the midst of an unprecedented wave of civic enthusiasm and activism that, if channeled strategically and organized logically, can overwhelm the anti-democratic forces that have captured our country.
- "But we must take the time to organize our community. That’s what The Arena does."[5]
Advisory Board
References
- ↑ Inside the Grassroots Movement to Groom a New Generation of Democratic Candidates, accessed April 13 2017
- ↑ CATHERINE VAUGHN, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, FLIPPABLE, accessed April 13 2017
- ↑ Tech Alone Won't Be Enough to Reboot Progressive Politics accessed January 24 2020
- ↑ Onward Together website: Program (accessed on June 12 2019)
- ↑ WE ARE THE ARENA, accessed April 13 2017