My Evolved Vision

CARD Strategies has existed in some form for the last eight years. The business has grown and changed, expanded, and contracted with a changing world. Along the way, I’ve helped organizations understand the new political landscape, counter disinformation and conspiracies, create tech advocacy campaigns, build coalitions to fight disinformation, protect themselves from emerging threats, and recover from attacks. I’ve trained hundreds of activists and advocates and written volumes of articles to help engaged citizens navigate all of it.

Here are my three biggest takeaways from doing this work:

1. Marginalized communities and the people within them remain under great threat. They make easy targets for bad actors, and institutions generally don’t do enough to protect them. Nor do institutions realize that having the backs of their most vulnerable staff and supporters is a key component of building resilience and fighting for a multiracial Democracy.
2. Inciting violence is now a standard tactic and strategy for bad actors. They’re exploiting our own vulnerabilities and our society’s overall tolerance for political violence and threats. We’ve made some societal progress on holding perpertrators accountable, but it’s a drop in the bucket of what’s needed. And until powerful people and institutions step up to say “enough” this incitement will continue.?
3. Threats and violence can derail anyone and any sector. This isn’t limited to politics and advocacy, and an increasing number of people just trying to live their lives or do their jobs find themselves under attack. Everyone from healthcare workers to librarians, parents of trans children, to election workers. Even employees and visitors of a butterfly sanctuary.?

No one should have to deal with threats or violence incited against them to live their lives or do their jobs. But it happens every day, and too often, employers, government, and organizations have no idea what to do about it. Sometimes, the people with the power don’t care or realize how this environment makes life (and productivity!) more difficult for everyone. Often, they’re well-meaning but don’t know how to help or what to do. That’s where CARD Strategies comes in.

I’ve always tried to center my work on those targeted with hate, harassment, and harm, but that’s no longer enough for me. Over the past year, I’ve given much thought to how to have a bigger impact so that I can stop playing whack-a-mole and work on systems rather than individual organizations. That contemplation resulted in my new vision statement for the company.?

Build a world where we can all do our work, share our stories, and live our lives free from hate, harassment, and harm.

Over the next month, I’m going to write a series of articles about this vision and how I plan to evolve CARD Strategies in service of it. I’m excited to share what I’ve been working on and where I’m headed with others for the first time. If you'd like to learn more or have a conversation about thought partnership or working together, please reach out so we can find a time to talk.

Stay tuned!