Recognizing Philadelphia as the host city for the TED Democracy Fireside Chats, a pioneering event series from TED and Visit Philadelphia that engages national thought leaders in critical discussions on the evolving role of democracy in our society leading up to America's 250th anniversary.

Recognizing Philadelphia as the host city for the TED Democracy Fireside Chats, a pioneering event series from TED and Visit Philadelphia that engages national thought leaders in critical discussions on the evolving role of democracy in our society leading up to America’s 250th anniversary. WHEREAS, Visit Philadelphia, the region's official tourism marketing agency, hosted the second TED Democracy Fireside Chat, The Power of Participation on September 19th in partnership with TED, a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, aims to bring together thinkers, doers, and change-makers to address the challenges and possibilities facing democracy today; and WHEREAS, Political commentator and community organizer Sally Kohn moderated a thought-provoking conversation between two of the nation’s most influential voices for voting opportunity - Katie Fahey and Desmond Meade; and WHEREAS, Katie Fahey, founder of Voters Not Politicians and current executive director of The People, began a grassroots, nonpartisan campaign that ran a successful effort to end gerrymandering in Michigan by amending the state constitution in 2018 with 61% of the vote; and WHEREAS, Desmond Meade is a formerly homeless returning citizen who overcame many obstacles to eventually become president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition; chair of Floridians for a Fair Democracy, and a published author of “Let My People Vote”; and WHEREAS, Meade led the successful passage for Amendment 4 that restored voting rights …