The mission of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation is to advance deliberative democracy and improve the quality of public life in the United States.
Founded in 1982, The Paul J. Aicher Foundation is chartered as an operating foundation. This means that instead of making grants, we achieve our mission by developing ideas and programs and making them available to the widest possible audience.
Everyday Democracy is the primary project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, which was established with a $6 million endowment. The work of Everyday Democracy is made possible by endowment income, contracts, grants, and generous contributions from individuals and partner organizations.
About Paul J. Aicher
The Paul J. Aicher Foundation is a product of the creative energies, vision, and commitment of Paul J. Aicher. Mr. Aicher, who died in 2002, left the legacy of a powerful vision for a democracy that is alive with the participation and voice of all its people.
Mr. Aicher was a businessman and philanthropist who played a leading role in advancing the idea and practice of civic dialogue on critical social issues in the United States. Throughout his business career, Aicher was involved in community work that would later lead him to become a full-time philanthropist and national civic leader.
In 1982, Mr. Aicher sold his business and established the Topsfield Foundation, Inc., based in Pomfret, Conn., to enhance civic engagement and improve the quality of public life in the United States. His vision of respectful, inclusive, productive citizen dialogue as a regular practice of democracy led Aicher to create Everyday Democracy as the Study Circles Resource Center in 1989.
No one who knew Paul Aicher will forget his zest for life, for nature, for birds, for flying his airplane, for sparring about ideas, for creative achievement, for teasing, for caring for people, for his love for family and friends, and for his ability to reach out and take risks. But even those who never had the privilege of knowing him have been affected by his generosity and vision.
In 2004, the Board of Trustees changed the name of the Topsfield Foundation, Inc. to The Paul J. Aicher Foundation.
The Paul J. Aicher Foundation Board of Directors
Miles Rapoport, Board Chair
Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School
Bruce L. Mallory, Vice Chair
Senior Advisor, Co-Founder and past Co-Director, New Hampshire Listens; Professor Emeritus of Education, Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire
Susan Stroud, Vice Chair
Senior Fellow , Honey W Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, The George Washington University
Ted Augustinos, Treasurer and Secretary
Partner, Locke Lord LLP
Jamiel L. Alexander, Trustee
Senior Fellow, The Aspen Institute, Forum For Community Solutions CEO, E5 Enterprise
Sheri Brady, Trustee
Director for Strategic Partnerships, The Aspen Institute, Forum for Community Solutions, Washington, D.C.
Archon Fung, Trustee
Winthrop Laflin McCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Co-director, Transparency Policy Project; Faculty Director, Democracy Programs, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
Susan Graseck, Trustee
Director (retired), The Choices Program, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Diana Johnson, Trustee
Former board chair Paul J. Aicher Foundation. Retired Senior Vice President and City Executive at Bank of America; former director and curator positions at Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University.
Benya Kraus, Trustee
Co-Founder & Minnesota Executive Director, Lead For America
Peter Levine, Trustee
Associate Dean for Research, Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Tisch College of Civic Life,
Tufts University
Eduardo Martinez, Trustee
Founder/Lead Facilitator, Meridian Strategies LLC
Revitalization Specialist in Organization and Leadership Development, New Mexico Main Street Program
Selena Singletary, Trustee
Director (retired), Department of Neighborhood Services, Springfield, Ohio
Additional Officer of the Foundation
Martha McCoy
President, The Paul J. Aicher Foundation
Executive Director, Everyday Democracy
