Braver Angels

Launched in 2016, Braver Angels is a national citizens’ movement to bring liberals and conservatives together at the grassroots level — not to find centrist compromise, but to find one another as citizens. Through workshops, debates, and campus engagement, Braver Angels helps Americans understand each other beyond stereotypes, form community alliances, and reduce the vitriol that poisons our civic culture. Braver Angels is a National Grassroots organization working to depolarize America. The division in our political system is not working for the country or any of us. Braver Angels’ approach has been likened to the “Four-Way Test in action.”  The skills training available through Braver Angels can help us create goodwill and better friendships across the political divide which will be beneficial to all concerned.  

Specifically, our efforts are focused on:

• Grassroots
• Academia
• Media
• Politics & Government
• The root of our organizing, however, begins in the transformation of our attitudes towards each other. The foundation of all our activities is what we refer to as patriotic-empathy: the idea that our love for our country is shown by our concern for our fellow citizens.

A Chicago native, Ed Marek came to Minnesota to earn an MBA from the University of Minnesota. The majority of Ed’s professional career was in nonprofit fundraising and management, most notably with the American Red Cross and the Minnesota Environmental Fund. During his time with the Red Cross, he served on numerous national disaster assignments traveling throughout Minnesota as well as Louisiana and Missouri. Ed has been a member of four Rotary clubs: Shakopee, Eden Prairie, St. Paul Sunrise and now Northfield. Ed served as 5960 District Governor in 2020-21. In his spare time, he enjoys cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing, kayaking, camping, hiking and reading.