Greetings --

My name is David Ritter and I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As I enter the third act of my 40-year career in technology, I've taken up the cause of preserving democracy. I believe this is an end in itself -- but is also critical to enable any long-term program that seeks to make the world a better place.

In conversations with people engaged in EA, I often find that an early experience contributing to a cause gave them a spark that led to their later commitment. These first experiences may be modest – and local to their community. Many were inspired by examples of social action they encountered in Social Studies and Civics education in school. Civics instruction also offered an understanding of how citizens can engage in government to create positive outcomes.

I hope to better understand how Civics Education may support aspects of the EA mission – as a scalable, cost-effective input to preserving democracy, and more broadly in creating more engaged citizens who may take up other causes. To help activate this mission, I serve on the Board of iCivics (iCivics.org), the leading non-partisan organization that promotes and enables Civics Education in the United States. 

On December 12, I'll be hosting a dinner conversation on the potential value of Civics Education at Workshop House in Washington, DC. Details to follow soon. I look forward to lots of constructive dialog.