The shock heard around the world
It isn't just about one nation's struggles—it's a wake-up call that democracy everywhere requires active stewardship.
About The Concord Project
Democracy was never meant to run on autopilot; it demands constant problem-solving and renewal to survive.
Enter The Concord Project: founded to pilot and scale practical, non-partisan innovations that choose unity over division, the public good over private interests, and democracy over discord.
Judicial Elections Compact
The first initiative of the The Concord Project is a Judicial Elections Compact.
The Compact takes aim at the increasing politicization of our courts - not by reforming away judicial elections but by imagining an entirely new way to conduct campaigns. The initiative provides a nonpartisan, transparent, and equal campaign platform for judicial candidates through voluntary, binding compacts. This approach is innovative, yet practical - transforming how we think about judicial independence while keeping what works.
Our founders have a deep understanding of the essential accountability function served by democratic elections. However, the reality is that many elections for judicial office in the United States foment political division, weaken the effectiveness of the courts, and undermine trust in the rule of law. The Concord Project will work in a fully non-partisan way to strengthen accountability while resisting democratic erosion.
Learn more about the Judicial Elections Compact
About us
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American democracy offers fertile ground for innovation. U.S. states and localities have been likened to laboratories for democracy, but without care and creativity, their capacity for experimentation withers. The Concord Project aims to innovate to solve the thorniest problems facing democracy with practical initiatives that can be piloted, adapted, and scaled for maximum impact. Other organizations are focused on reforming the legal system and advocating for change over time - these efforts are essential but insufficient to the extraordinary challenges we face today.
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The Concord Project is informed by decades of experience in other laboratories for democracy around the globe. We have worked on electoral integrity, rule of law, and governance programs in over 30 countries, across every region of the world. We serve as neutral, non-partisan technical partners for judges, election administrators, institutions, universities, civil society groups and journalists as they strengthen the democracies that belong to them.
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Founder and CEO
Katherine is a lawyer and non-profit executive with over 20 years of experience with democracy programs worldwide, working with election commissions, oversight bodies, anti-corruption commissions, tribunals, courts, and civil society in over 30 countries. She is a former diplomat with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a special advisor to the Standing Committee on Election Law at the ABA, and a member of the Scientific Committee for the Global Network on Electoral Justice. She holds a master’s degree in law and bachelor’s degrees in law and philosophy from the University of Canterbury, and a diploma for graduates in international development from the University of London. She is admitted to the High Court of New Zealand.
Ellena plays the drums, rides a Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, and once had to sleep on the floor of a public toilet in a rural Indian train station.
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Founder and Board Chair
Chad is a lawyer and non-profit executive with over 25 years of experience spearheading and implementing new methodologies for securing the integrity of elections in countries around the world. He is a member of the Advisory Board to the Electoral Integrity Project, a member of the Washington and Maryland State Bars, a special advisor to the Standing Committee on Election Law at the American Bar Association, and co-Chair of the Task Force on International Election Law within the ABA Section of International Law. He holds a master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University; a J.D. from the Catholic University of America; and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Washington.
Vickery is an avid road cyclist and mountain biker with two golden doodles who was once instructed to approach the bench during a courtesy call at a district court in Pakistan.
