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.
The Paul J. Aicher Foundation has an endowment of approximately $6 million, the annual income from which is devoted to supporting our own operating projects. The Foundation also receives generous support from the Aicher Family Foundation.
Everyday Democracy is the primary project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation. Additional support for the work of the Center and the Foundation derives from contracts, grants, and in-kind support from other foundations 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
Diana Johnson, Board Chair
Art Consultant. Retired Senior Vice President and City Executive, US Trust-Bank of America, Providence, R.I., and former museum curator and director
Ted Augustinos, Treasurer
Partner, Locke Lord LLP
Susan Graseck, Secretary
Retired Director, The Choices Program, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Sheri Brady, Trustee
Senior Associate for Strategic Partnerships, Aspen Forum for Community Solutions, Washington, D.C.
Archon Fung, Trustee
Winthrop Laflin MCormack Professor of Citizenship and Self-Government, Harvard Kennedy School; Co-Director, Transparency Policy Project, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
Peter Levine, Trustee
Associate Dean for Research, Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University
Bruce L. Mallory, Trustee
Senior Advisor, Co-Founder and former Co-Director NH Listens; Professor Emeritus of Education, Carsey School of Public Policy, University of New Hampshire
Jock McClellan, Trustee
Professor Emeritus, Quinebaug Valley Community College, Danielson, CT
Miles Rapoport, Trustee
Senior Practice Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
Selena Singletary, Trustee
Retired Director, Department of Neighborhood Services, Springfield, Ohio
Susan Stroud, Trustee
Executive Director, Innovations in Civic Participation, Washington, D.C.
Additional Officer of the Foundation
Martha McCoy
President, The Paul J. Aicher Foundation
Executive Director, Everyday Democracy