TED Democracy Philadelphia: Founding Futures: Full Schedule

10:00am EDT

Block-Bridge-Build: Finding Your Role in Democracy

Saturday June 13, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Limited Capacity seats available

This immersive workshop explores the different roles individuals and organizations play in moments of democratic stress, change and transformation. The session is designed to support participants in reflecting on their own instincts, strengths and approaches to change-making, while considering how collaboration across sectors, communities and movements can create the conditions for stronger civic culture and broad-front organizing.

Participants will leave with a stronger sense of how diverse roles and strategies can integrate to make progress around common goals — and how these shared visions can shape a more resilient democracy.

Speakers

Andrew Regaldo

Senior Organizer, The Horizons Project

Andrew Regalado is a Senior Organizer with the Horizons Project, where he leads cross-sector initiatives that engage business leaders, faith communities, lawyers, veterans & military families, labor unions, and civic organizations to strengthen civic trust and democratic resilience... Read More →

Evelyn Thornton

Senior Advisor, The Horizons Project

Evelyn Thornton is a facilitator and coach. She accompanies leaders and teams to be more aware, aligned, adaptive, and joyful in navigating change and complexity. Her consulting practice draws on a wide range of work experience, including time as the CEO at Inclusive Security (a global... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Rendell Room 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Discovery Session

10:00am EDT

Co-Authoring Democracy: Then, Now, Tomorrow

LIMITED

Saturday June 13, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT

Hamilton Garden

Limited Capacity seats available

How can we co-author the future of democracy drawing on the wisdom held across generations? In this activation, young people connected to Philadelphia's leading museums anchor table conversations in artifacts that illuminate the unfinished promise of American freedom, then bridge them to the issues most alive right now.

Drawing on the Youth250 Bureau's work across the nation to spread practices of intergenerational discourse and civic imagination, the format mirrors TED Democracy itself: past, present, future, with young people sharing an intergenerational model of a civic square.

The goal: to leave you ready and inspired to host rich, imaginative and informed conversations about how to ensure that the principles of our democracy become a felt and lived reality for future generations.

Speakers

Fernande Raine

Founder, The History Co:Lab

Fernande Raine is an education innovator and founder of The History Co:Lab, a research and innovation lab that centers teens in learning redesign to enable civic thriving. Her path to this work runs through a series of apprenticeships in advancing democracy: she studied history... Read More →

Caroline Kilbanoff

Executive Director, Made By Us

Caroline Klibanoff is the Executive Director of Made By Us, a Senior Fellow with New America's US@250 initiative, and an Eisenhower USA Fellow. Since 2019, she has transformed Made By Us into a national civic force — building a network of 500+ museums and historic sites into hubs... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am EDT
Hamilton Garden 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Discovery Session

1:00pm EDT

Action + Community Are the Antidote: Rebuilding Trust in the Democratic Process

LIMITED

Saturday June 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Hamilton Garden

Limited Capacity seats available

At a time when many Americans feel frustrated, exhausted or disconnected from politics, how do we rebuild trust in democracy at the local level?

Join Lauren Cristella, President & CEO of the Committee of Seventy, for an interactive session exploring how everyday action can strengthen civic life beyond Election Day. Through engaging conversation and facilitated small-group discussions, participants will explore why voting still matters, how local government shapes daily life and what meaningful community engagement can actually look like in practice.

Grounded in real-world examples from Philadelphia, this session moves beyond abstract conversations about democracy and focuses on tangible ways residents can become more informed, connected and involved locally.

Attendees will leave with new perspectives, practical ideas and a stronger sense of how they can make a real impact in their communities.

Speakers

Lauren Cristella

President & CEO, Committee of Seventy

Lauren Cristella is President & CEO of the Committee of Seventy, where she became the first woman to lead the organization in its 120+ year history. Since joining C70 in 2018, Lauren has helped expand the organization’s impact through civic education, voter engagement, and public... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Hamilton Garden 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Discovery Session

1:00pm EDT

Dignity: Democracy's Most Essential Skill

LIMITED

Saturday June 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT

Rendell Room

Limited Capacity seats available

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a group of people who fiercely disagreed built something together anyway — and the language they used to do it mattered.

This session introduces the Dignity Index, an 8-point scale that makes the difference between contempt and dignity in language visible, measurable and changeable.

Through hands-on scoring of real examples from politics and public life, participants will practice the skills that turn disagreement into dialogue — and discover that the most important shift isn't in how you hear others, but in how you hear yourself.

Leave with concrete tools, including a new lens for your own conversations and a personal commitment to the kind of communication that makes democracy possible.

Speakers

Alexa Merrill

Program Assistant, Dignity.Us

Alexa Merrill believes the way we speak can change the world—and shows up every day to prove it. At Dignity.Us, they work at the intersection of community, operations, and storytelling—translating the Dignity Movement's vision into the infrastructure and relationships that make... Read More →

Alicia Burke

Corporate Development & Training, Dignity.Us

Alicia Burke focuses on corporate partnerships and Dignity Index training at Dignity.Us.

Prior to Dignity.Us, Alicia spent 23 years at Bank of America (BofA), integrating across a dynamic team of leaders to develop and deliver on strategy for BofA’s brand, marketing, communications, events, public policy, and Environmental, Social, and Governance. Alicia also led BofA’s Supp... Read More →

Saturday June 13, 2026 1:00pm - 1:50pm EDT
Rendell Room 300 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Discovery Session

10:00am EDT

10:00am EDT

1:00pm EDT

1:00pm EDT

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