September 29, 2021
America At Its Best – Live at Annual Meeting: Tarren Bragdon
At Annual Meeting, we have the opportunity to meet with hundreds of leaders across the Network who are doing big things in their states and beyond. As part of our mission, SPN partners with these leaders for the long haul, coming alongside them with professional development opportunities, coaching, strategy planning, connections with other leaders, and engagement on policy efforts that have the potential for national impact. This is all made possible because of those who support SPN and this Network.
We had the chance to speak with Tarren Bragdon, CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, about his leadership and the exciting progress his organization has made on key issues like getting people back to work and election integrity. Ten years ago, Bragdon won SPN’s prestigious Roe Award for his leadership at the Maine Heritage Policy Center (an SPN member) in pushing back against the Affordable Care Act on the state and federal level. It was this award that inspired him to dream bigger, move his family to Florida, and start his own organization. FGA began with $50,000 in seed money and has grown to a $16 million organization today. In 2021, they have led efforts to restore trust in our election processes with 57 reform wins in 14 states.
As you’ll see in the interview, he describes how SPN’s partnership was not only helpful in the early days, but continues to be a valuable resource as they go even bigger into the future. He said, “It’s like a 3-legged race…I’m tied to SPN every step of the way.”
To see past episodes or subscribe for more information, please visit spn.org/AAIB.
America at Its Best features powerful stories of hope that bring you good news and groundbreaking solutions from the Network of 63 state-based organizations and over 90 national partners in the State Policy Network. Together, we accelerate the work of these organizations so that state solutions have national impact.
