Public Agenda
Co-founded in 1975 by distinguished public opinion analyst and social scientist Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Public Agenda’s dual mission is to:
Help citizens effectively engage in critical public issues so they can make thoughtful, informed decisions.
Help leaders better understand the public's point of view on important local, regional, and national public issues.
Since its inception, Public Agenda has worked as an objective explorer of public opinion, a scrupulously fair-minded author and producer of citizen education materials, and a pioneer in the practice of civic dialogue. We have facilitated the work of local leaders and national policy makers to engage citizens in new, more productive ways in hundreds of communities and regions nationwide and on dozens of tough issues such as education, taxes, health care, the environment, and foreign policy.
Public Agenda’s work has won praise for its credibility and fairness by Republicans and Democrats, and our work regularly appears in such media as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, USA Today, Parade, Los Angeles Times, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox News.
Recently, Public Agenda helped the Nebraska State Department of Education engage citizens across the state to define the concept of an “essential education” for all students. We also completed a dialogue project which brought community members and police officers together in three cities to discuss issues of mutual concern, such as police-community relations, school safety, and terrorism and civil liberties. In 2005, we are looking forward to continuing our work with the Lumina Foundation’s initiative Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. Public Agenda is currently one of eight partner organizations supporting the initiative which aims to improve results for traditionally underserved community college students.
Currently, Public Agenda is exploring possibilities for increasing the scope and impact of its public engagement activities by integrating face-to-face dialogue among citizens with research, media events, leadership initiatives and web-based engagement.
Contact Information
Lara Saxman
Manager, Public Engagement & Project Development
Public Agenda
6 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Phone: (212) 686-6610
Fax: (212) 889-3461
Website: www.publicagenda.org