What is the Bipartisan Working Group?

The Bipartisan Working Group is a forum in which business, political and civil society leaders  collaborate on solving some of the most pressing domestic policy issues affecting economic opportunity. Our unique model provides a safe space for open and honest discussions. The groups of about 15-20 leaders meet every two months for working dinners; in between, facilitators and conveners continue to touch base to capture agreement, explore areas of consensus and generally keep the process on track. As a result, these Working Groups have developed a reputation as an innovative and successful model for injecting new voices and consensus-building techniques into public policy debates

 Our first Bipartisan Working Group launched in 2007 around the issue of education reform bringing together leaders from the cutting edge of school reform with political and civil society leaders to craft an agenda for broad-based overhaul of our approach to education.  The outcome was very successful, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan praising the group’s recommendations during the debate over the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA),  and several of those proposals getting incorporated in the final version signed into law. 

In the summer of 2008, we initiated the Bipartisan Working Group on Health Care Reform, a coalition of major health care industry stakeholders including doctor, patient, and hospital associations, health insurance providers, political leaders, industry CEOs, and foundation executives.   This group sent a letter to the President outlining their agreement around eight core health care reform principles that collectively address access, cost control, quality and fiscal sustainability. Signatories include Senator Robert Bennett, R-UT, Sister Carol Keehan, President & CEO, Catholic Health Association; Jeff Korsmo,  Executive Director of Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center; Bill Novelli, Chief Executive Officer, AARP; John Podesta, CEO, Center for American Progress,  David Walker, President and CEO of the Peter Peterson Foundation, and Senator Ron Wyden, D-OR. The group is continuing to work throughout 2009-2010 to build deeper consensus around specific reform areas.