Third Way

Programs: Social policy and politicsin 2017, the social policy and politics program had a number of significant exempt purpose achievements, including: 1) better understanding the voters who will make up the next american majority; 2) developing a robust voter empowerment agenda; 3) refocusing the conversation in higher education away from cost to value; and 4) contributing substantially to moving the national conversations forward on immigration, gun policy, and marijuana legalization. To accomplish the goal of better understanding the next american majority, we produced reports and memos analyzing the american electorate, and we conducted six visits to congressional districts around the country. We found that: 1) demographics are not - and won't be - a cure-all for progressives. We made this case in a widely-read report and washington post op-ed; 2) the progressive movement needs to embrace a broad path. We made this case in a report and a feature in the washington post's daily 202; 3) our district visits revealed that - no matter the community - people are confronting complex problems like immigration and economic opportunity in their daily lives, and there is an urgency to address them. Second, we initiated the development of a holistic voter empowerment agenda. This agenda is meant to address voters' faltering faith in government, as well as the specific problems of obstacles to voter participation and making sure every vote counts. This includes: 1) creating our own set of guiding principles of how to empower voters with a targeted launch date of early 2018; 2) joining a coalition to advocate for ranked choice voting and nonpartisan redistricting nationwide. Third, we made significant progress in 2017 to increase our footprint and move the conversation in higher education from cost to value, and metrics of our successes here include: 1) doubling the capacity of our higher education team from three to six (including the hiring of a policy advisor, education events coordinator, and education communications advisor), allowing us to produce a steady stream of 101-level explainers, original data and analysis, op-eds, digital content, and public events that highlight the quality and completion crisis across our higher education system for hill staff and non-trade press; 2) undertaking a two-year public opinion research project to persuade policymakers and influencers to define the problems in higher education differently, including shifting the conversation away from cost to value; 3) playing an instrumental role in convening the principals of key higher education organizations in dc in a behind-the-scenes "fight club" that work together to promote information-sharing, identify and advocate for collective action around shared policy priorities, and build trust within the higher education reform movement. Finally, metrics for our 2017 success in social policy included achievements in the debate over immigration, gun, and marijuana policy, mainly: 1) pushing back against trump anti-immigrant actions through a series of border wall and sanctuary city reports, explainers, and one-pagers written to give moderates the means to effectively stand up to the administration's xenophobic attacks; 2) working with the gun safety coalition to educate the public about dangerous proposals on the table around guns, including nationwide mandatory concealed carry permit reciprocity and handgun silencer deregulation; 3) releasing a comprehensive report on the evolution of marijuana legalization that details both the changes in the state and federal landscapes and the substantial shifts in public opinion and congressional willingness to address marijuana policy.

clean energy - in 2017, the clean energy program had a number of significant exempt purpose achievements, including: 1. Nuclear power: produced a series of papers, videos, and reports explaining how advanced nuclear technology can help the united states reduce carbon emissions to address climate change, and what services it could provide to displace fossil fuels. Also conducted a comprehensive study on the number of companies and research institutions developing advanced nuclear reactors in north america. Hosted a working group at stanford university on the opportunities and obstacles facing the commercialization of advanced nuclear, which identified gaps in the current private capital markets that need to be addressed as perhaps the biggest long-term challenge to advanced nuclear. 2. Innovation: produced a series of papers, videos, and educational briefings explaining the importance of federal funding for clean energy innovation in the united states, and the impact cuts to innovation would have on u. S. Competitiveness and the economy. 3. Carbon capture: developed and released a comprehensive report evaluating all of the carbon capture projects under development in the united states and around the world. Hosted educational events to highlight the progress in the development of carbon capture technologies, and identify the steps needed to commercialize and scale the technologies.

economics program - please note that for this program, and for all of the organization's programs, all reports developed by third way are made available to the general public through its website: www. Thirdway. Org. In 2017, the economic program had a number of significant exempt purpose achievements, including:1. New social compact for the digital age: embarked on a year-long process that explored extensive economic, sociological, and public opinion research that showed the signature economic question for most americans is: how will we and our kids have the opportunity to earn a good life in a time of amazon, robots, and driverless trucks? With that in mind, we created a modern policy agenda that offers a bold reimagining of government's role in expanding the opportunity to earn. We developed 12 transformation policies that reimagine investment in good-paying jobs, reinvent postsecondary education and skills, and redesign the pay and benefits of work. 2. Health care: developed a series of reports that analyzed the impact and repercussions of efforts to dismantle the affordable care act on both coverage and costs for middle class families. Reports analyzed the current structure of the aca, an examination of policies needed to strengthen the law, and an analysis of consequences of repeal. 3. Capital markets: developed a series of reports that analyzed the impact of efforts to weaken and repeal the dodd-frank financial reform legislation on the broader economy. Analysis included the economic benefits of a stable financial system and well as examination of bank capital rules and bank bailouts.

national security programour national security program worked in 2017 to educate the public on national security issues. To that end, we provided a series of briefings and papers that were widely attended and distributed. Specifically, metrics for our 2017 successes include:* releasing a major briefing paper "the last straw: responding to russia's anti-western aggression" which was a bipartisan policy roadmap to hold russia accountable for their election interference, including recommendations on sanctions, nato relations, campaign finance, and election security; * conducting public opinion work in partnership with lawfare at brookings to broaden our understanding of partisan perceptions on national security, on the public's views on the russia investigation, on electronic surveillance, and on other national institutions and operations, which is posted to the lawfare website and on the third way website; * leading efforts to reform electronic surveillance statutes with a balanced approach, including producing the paper, "why electronic surveillance reform is necessary, and a series of shorter papers and infographics which were widely relied upon by congressional offices, journalists, and other think tanks to helped frame the debate for the reauthorization of the electronic surveillance programs at play since the snowden disclosures. * evaluated congressional whistleblower procedures, and published a report in january of 2018, which examined which members of congress serving on national security committees were creating avenues for whistleblowers to approach them. * we also educated members around a variety of proliferation threats, including producing a report on what would happen if the administration withdrew from the jcpoa, colloquially known as the iran deal. We also explained the proliferation consequences for the us government in seeking nuclear energy deals in saudi arabia which are likely to destabilize an already volatile region through an op-ed published on lawfare.