Third Side Strategies Director Elizabeth Doty attended this year’s PolicyLink Summit, "We Are the Founders: Writing the Unfinished Story of Our Democracy," which convened thousands of organizers, business leaders, policymakers, and advocates in Washington, D.C.
The conference focused on two themes: An economy that works for all and a nation that governs for all, asking participants to help draft a "Governing for All Blueprint" they would carry home and put into practice. Throughout the summit, attendees expressed a renewed conviction that opportunity, free enterprise, constitutional democracy and representation are achievable goals, with benefits for society overall — but ones that demand new levels of responsibility, understanding, and practical problem-solving from every sector, including business.
Several Third Side Strategies partners were present, including PolicyLink, B Labs and ASBN, along with executives from larger companies, investors and corporate legal experts, exploring how business contributes to this positive future.
Ashley LaPorte, SVP of People & Impact at Burton Snowboards, captured the spirit of the week in a LinkedIn recap, describing a sense of interconnectedness — even as attendees wrestled openly with real differences about how to get there.
In particular, LaPorte captured many business leaders' experience firsthand: that no single company can drive this kind of systemic change on its own. Not surprisingly, corporate political responsibility was named repeatedly as a critical and manageable solution, addressing structural barriers that incremental fixes and well-intentioned programs cannot sustain on their own.
LaPorte's open invitation for business leaders to build toward a society that works for all people is a fitting distillation of what many in the room seemed to be reaching for: a coordinated field of practice that makes principled engagement the shared norm rather than the one-off exception.
What will it take for more companies to treat corporate political responsibility not as a defensive posture, but as part of how they help write the next chapter? The CPR Hub welcomes reflections from anyone shaped by this summit or gatherings like it — share your thoughts.