John Nichols is National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation, a contributing writer for The Progressive, and associate editor of The Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin.  He has written, co-written, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of important movements in American politics and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest book, co-written with Senator Bernie Sanders, is The New York Times bestseller It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.

Bob Welch is a former Register-Guard columnist and author of more than two dozen books, his latest two being Cross Purposes: One Believer’s Struggle to Reconcile the Peace of Christ with the Rage of the Far Right and Seven Summers (And a Few Bummers): My Adventure Hiking the 2,650-Mile Pacific Crest Trail. Welch is a former adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Oregon and founder of the Beachside Writers Workshop. He now authors a weekly column on Substack called Heart, Humor & Hope.

Don Gall is a retired Eugene area pastor.

Deborah Miranda Deborah A. Miranda is an enrolled member of the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, with Santa Ynez Chumash ancestry. She is author of Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir, four poetry collections, and is currently finishing a fifth collection, maxana chempapisi: Blood Writing. Retired Thomas H. Broadus Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, she now lives in Eugene, Oregon with her wife, writer Margo Solod, and two large rescue dogs. Her article, “A String of Textbooks: Artifacts of Composition Pedagogy in Indian Boarding Schools,” is posted at academia.edu.

Visit Deborah’s website to learn more about her work HERE!

Robert P. (Bob) Tom, Grand Ronde Tribal Member, comes from the tribal people of the Southern Oregon Ashland area and south on the Oregon Coast along the Rogue River. He is part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. He and his wife Leah, Northern Cheyenne presently live in Salem and have 14 grandchildren, two great grandchildren. Bob was a long-time resident of the Eugene Springfield area. While living in Eugene he founded the United Indians of Lane County. During this time, he was deeply involved with the NASU students and the UO Longhouse community which became an important place for many of Eugene’s communities of color before there was a place for them in the University. He mentored many students at the UO and was asked by them to become part of the very first Council for Minority Education where he supported and advocated for all students of color. Bob is a loyal University of Oregon Duck. Bob Tom is a bridge builder between communities. Many generations who have graduated from the University of Oregon and lived in Lane County are grateful for his mentorship and generosity.

Bob Tom became the first General Manager for the Confederated Tribe of Siletz after the tribe regained Federal Recognition and Restoration of their tribal status and returned to live in Salem. The Salem area is where Bob was born in the hospital at Chemawa Indian School when his parents and family lived in Siletz. He moved to Salem eight years later. Bob lived on Chemawa campus three years. Later he worked at Chemawa during his high school years as well as several years after high school. He coached Chemawa Junior Varsity Basketball for three years and emceed many Chemawa pow wows. He was part of the Salem Intertribal Drum group and sang at several Chemawa graduations. He has deep roots in Salem. Wherever Bob Tom lived, he contributed, educated and led, a valued Elder.

 

Braver Angels is leading the nation’s largest cross-partisan, volunteer-led movement to bridge the partisan divide for the good of our democratic republic. Coming out of the election, we’re bringing together “We the People” to find a hopeful alternative to toxic politics. The American Hope campaign is equipping Americans across the political spectrum to work together and demand the same of politicians from both parties.

The Challenge We Face

As we separate into groups that increasingly do not even know, or interact with, people of differing opinions, we lose trust in our institutions, eroding the ability to govern ourselves and lowering the caliber of citizenship. This growing trend coarsens public debate, produces policy gridlock, shrinks our capacity for goodwill, and harms our family and personal relationships. Effective self government depends precisely on what this type of polarization destroys.

We believe the American Experiment can survive and thrive for every American who contributes to the effort. Where we go from here is up to us.

This is the driving force that fuels our mission:

Bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.

For more information on the Southern Willamette Alliance of Braver Angels Organization, visit their website Southern Willamette Valley Alliance Braver Angels Website

Hope Bohanec is the Founder and Executive Director of Compassionate Living. Having gathered experience and wisdom about animal advocacy through her long trajectory as a thirty-year career activist, Hope participated in important movements in her youth such as Greenpeace and Earth First! as well as organized anti-circus, anti-fur, and anti-vivisection campaigns and protests throughout the 1990s.

In the 2000s, as the movement shifted its focus to animals used for food, Hope shifted from radical, direct action activism to vegan education and compassionate advocacy. Hope spent fifteen years working for the national non-profit organizations United Poultry Concerns and In Defense of Animals and has published two books on the subject of humanewashing and greenwashing: The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat?  and The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs. She created and hosts the Hope for the Animals Podcast, now in its third year with downloads on six continents.

She co-founded the Humane Hoax Project, the Ahimsa Living Project, and has organized hundreds of online and in-person events including the Humane Hoax Online Conference, the Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar, the Conscious Eating Conference, and the Sonoma County VegFest.

Visit the Compassionate Living website for more information HERE!

Visit Compassioante Living’s Eugene VeganFest project website HERE!

 
Steve Goldman spent his entire professional career revegetating disturbed areas and restoring rivers and wetlands, most recently as the Natural Resources Program Manager of the California Tahoe Conservancy, working to save Lake Tahoe.  Since moving to Oregon in 2008, Steve has spoken about climate change to community and church groups and at colleges, high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools down to the second grade level.

Initially trained by Al Gore, Steve developed a focus on the relationship of food to climate, which he sees as critical to addressing the climate crisis.  In addition to writing articles and opinion pieces, Steve has organized webinars on the food-climate connection, led the Climate-Friendly Food Committee of the Climate Reality Project, and even organized a “Tasting Table” for sampling climate-friendly foods at a popular natural foods store in Eugene.

Roger Knudson, Ph. D. is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Miami University in Oxford, OH. He received his Ph. D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1976. Roger served on the faculty of Miami University from 1976 to 2010; and during that same period, he also maintained a limited practice of psychotherapy. In retirement, he trained in climate activism with former Vice-President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. He was a founding member of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of Climate Reality and served for 4 years as first Chair of the chapter. Roger and his wife moved to Eugene in the fall of 2022, and he immediately became involved as a volunteer with 350 Eugene. 

Charles Ross, D.O. has been an osteopathic physician in Oregon for 47 years. He currently teaches free community education classes on preventing and reversing disease through lifestyle choices. He no longer charges for his time, and all consults are free to the public. He used to practice family medicine for eight years and then emergency medicine for over 30 years. Currently, he is a part-time assistant professor at Western University of Health Sciences.

Eleven years ago, he changed his diet to a whole food, plant-based diet and has been inspired to help others transition and obtain the health that they deserve.