About Exodus Leadership Forum
EXODUS Leadership Forum is a strategic effort to preserve democracy, reduce polarization and neutralize extremist narratives on both the left and the right. We are led by Van Jones and the Dream Machine Innovation Lab, in partnership with the Aspen Institute. We seek to accomplish our mission in three ways:
By renewing and leveraging the historic Black-Jewish alliance, which has always played an outsized role in advancing American democracy.
By helping leaders from civic, cultural and business sectors work together to solve difficult problems at scale.
By supporting a new generation of media projects and media makers.
The Problem
Democracy is threatened by increasing polarization, rising extremism and the erosion of social cohesion. In the United States, these challenges are compounded by the deterioration of relationships between key communities, such as Black and Jewish Americans. Contemporary issues – including the Israel-Palestine conflict, debates over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, computational propaganda from foreign actors and the rise of extremist movements – are exacerbating divisions.
The Opportunity
Exodus Leadership Forum brings together business and community leaders who can forge partnerships and thought leaders who can shift the narratives tearing us apart.
Exodus has three unifying principles:
Partnership > Pity
Prosperity > Protest
The Future > The Past