K. Sabeel Rahman Starts His First Day as New President of Demos

K. Sabeel Rahman begins his first day as the President of Demos. He released the following statement:

There are moments in history where our communities—black, brown, white, working families—have fought together to assure an equal say and an equal chance for all. This is another turning point in our history.

“Today, I’m honored and excited to take the helm as President of Demos. Today is also Constitution Day, and it is a fitting reminder that we are in the midst of a generational battle for the heart and soul of our democracy. There is no place I would rather be to join that fight than Demos. Our work here is vitally important to the country and the moment, and I want to ground this—my first note to you—in the vision of what we do and why.

Every day brings fresh evidence of the many ways in which our democracy is broken—not just by today’s policymakers, but by chronic, deeper systems of inequality, exclusion, and disempowerment that have been in place for decades. But as I look out among our amazing team and partners, I’m also reminded of how vibrant and transformative this moment is, with powerful social movements and transformational ideas for building a truly inclusive America, the likes of which we have never fully realized before.

At Demos we see both dimensions of this equation. We diagnose the deep structural drivers of inequality, exclusion, and democratic failure. We seek to use every tool available—policy and research, litigation, communications, close collaboration with grassroots movements and partner organizations—to tackle those deep drivers and help build a more inclusive democracy. This is the lens we bring to all our work, whether it is fighting in the courtrooms or beside our partners on the ground to restore voting rights and make our democratic institutions accountable; or figuring out how to close the racial wealth gap and dismantle the toxic feedback loop between economic and racial inequality; or working to build an economic system that empowers our communities instead of exploiting them.

We work on all these fronts because real equality—and real democracy—requires it. Our communities are not free unless we have a fair and equal say in our elections and our politics. We are not free until we dismantle the hidden rules and policies that segregate, exclude, and exploit.

There are moments in history where our communities—black, brown, white, working families—have fought together to assure an equal say and an equal chance for all. This is another turning point in our history—and this is our moment, our time to continue that legacy of progressive, transformational change. A radically inclusive and equal democracy is both possible and achievable. In future communications, I will be delving deeply with you into why and how we can work together to drive that kind of change.”

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