Center for Visionary Law, Business, and Public Policy

The Center for Visionary Law, Business, and Public Policy is the non-profit educational organization that publishes and promotes Radical Middle newsletter.

I. FOUNDING AND FOUNDERS

The Center was founded on May 14, 1998, in Denver, Colo., by Kurt Colburn, a corporate attorney from Denver; Roger Pritchard, a business advisor and investor from Berkeley, Calif.; and David Yamada, a labor and employment law professor from Boston, Mass.

The three founders represent three generations: Roger was born in 1940, David in the late 50s, and Kurt at the end of the 60s. And they embody one of the themes of the newsletter, The World Is Here: David is Japanese-American -- Roger is a British citizen -- Kurt is third-generation Coloradan.

II. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The founders constituted the Board of Directors from 1998-2001. Kurt became president of the Center as the year 2001 began, and the other two founders stepped down. Kurt was joined on the Board by Mark Satin, Executive Director of the Center and editor of Radical Middle newsletter, and by Allen Parker, chief financial officer of a rising high-tech firm near Boston. Allen stepped down as 2005 began and was replaced by Terrye Wilder, retired executive secretary of the San Francisco Municipal Court. In 2013, Kurt and Terrye were replaced by Mary L. Dean, M.A., longtime advocate for young people in the healthcare, education, and legal sectors, now based in Lexington KY, and by Edryce A. Reynolds, Ed.D., mediator, workshop leader, and political activist in Tacoma WA.

III. PURPOSES

The Center's founding documents authorize not only a newsletter, but such complementary activities as:

-- other politically informed writings;

-- an annual Political Book Award;

-- a biennial Congressional Voting Index;

-- seminars and conferences;

-- “test cases” brought by the Executive Director and student interns to prod institutions to move in the directions suggested by Radical Middle newsletter.

IV. PROJECTS

In 1998, the Center's first Political Book Award was handed out.

In 1999, the hard-copy version of the newsletter was launched.

In 2002, the Center's first Congressional Voting Index was published (and was soon incorporated into Project Vote Smart's definitive website).

In 2004, the Center's first book was published (by Westview Press and Basic Books). The Center -- not Mark Satin -- holds copyright to the book.

In 2005, the Center decided to entirely replace the handsome but pricey print version of Radical Middle newsletter with a freely available online version.

In 2008, the Center decided to suspend publication of the newsletter (because of the deterioration of the editor's eye condition) but to continue to maintain the website as a useful introduction to innovative policy ideas.

In 2013, the Center decided to enhance the appearance and expand the content of the website.

V. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In May 1998, Mark Satin was hired as executive director of the Center. His duties included raising money for the Center and editing the newsletter. He retired from this position in November 2008.

VI. BOARD OF ADVISORS

Along with most of the members of the Radical Middle Newsletter Board of Advisors, the Center's Board of Advisors includes visionary law professors Saul Mendlovitz (Rutgers School of Law, Newark NJ), Lewis Solomon (George Washington University School of Law, Washington DC), and David Yamada (Suffolk University Law School, Boston MA).

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THE NYU LAW CONNECTION

Kurt Colburn, hands on hips, prepares to walk over to The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1995, where his New York University School of Law graduation ceremony was about to begin. Kurt would later co-found the Center for Visionary Law, and serve as president of its board of directors for 15 years (1998 – 2012). David Yamada, one of Kurt’s Lawyering instructors, was another co-founder of the Center. Mark Satin, who graduated with Kurt, was hired as executive director in 1998. Three more members of the Class of ’95, including the class president, served on the initial advisory board of the Center’s newsletter, Radical Middle.

ABOUT THE RADICAL MIDDLE CONCEPT

WHY "Radical Middle"?

WIKIPEDIA Weighs In

50 Thinkers and Activists DESCRIBE the Radical Middle

50 Best Radical Middle BOOKS of the '00s

GREAT RADICAL MIDDLE GROUPS AND BLOGS:

100 Great Radical Centrist GROUPS and Organizations

25 Great Radical Centrist BLOGS

SOME PRIOR RADICAL MIDDLE INITIATIVES:

Generational Equity and Communitarian platforms 1990s

First U.S. Green Party gatherings, 1987 - 1990

Green Party's "Ten Key Values" statement, 1984