About Us

Common Good is a nonpartisan reform coalition with one basic goal—to restore the freedom of officials and citizens to use common sense. We propose practical, bold ideas to simplify bureaucratic structures so that Americans can roll up their sleeves and get things done. Common Good’s philosophy is based on a simple but powerful idea: People, not rules, make things happen.

Common Good was founded in 2002 by Philip K. Howard and respected thought leaders. Our Advisory Board includes former elected officials Bill Bradley, Alan Simpson, and Tom Kean. We work from New York and Washington, D.C.

Our People

Trustees

Philip K. Howard →
Chairman of the Board
Senior Counsel, Covington & Burling

Anthony C. M. Kiser
President, The William & Mary Greve Foundation

John E. Messervey
Founder & CEO, National Family Business Council

Lawrence J. Mone
Former President, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

James O’Shaughnessy
Chairman & CEO, O’Shaughnessy Asset Management

Alan Siegel
CEO, Siegelvision
Founder & Chairman Emeritus, Siegel+Gale

Scott F. Smith
Senior Counsel, Covington & Burling

Advisory Board

Hon. Bill Bradley
Former U.S. Senator
Former National Basketball Association Player

Dr. William R. Brody
President, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Former President, Johns Hopkins University

Hon. John C. Danforth
Former U.S. Senator
Ambassador to the United Nations

Christopher Demuth
Distinguished Fellow,
Hudson Institute in Washington D.C.

Alain C. Enthoven
Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management, Emeritus, Stanford University

Prof. Francis Fukuyama
Director, Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law, Stanford University

Hon. Newt Gingrich
Former Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

Prof. Mary Ann Glendon
Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Prof. Jonathan Haidt
Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, NYU Stern School of Business

Heather R. Higgins
President and Director, The Randolph Foundation

Prof. Robert A. Kagan
Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law (Emeritus), Professor of Political Science (Emeritus), Professor in the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley

Hon. Tom Kean
Former President, Drew University
Former Governor of New Jersey

Prof. Steven Kelman
Albert J. Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professor of Public Management, Harvard University

Charles Kolb
President, French-American Foundation

Shelly Lazarus
Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Dan Lufkin
Co-founder and Former Chair, Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette, Inc.
Director, Peter Jay Sharp Foundation

Margaret O'Kane
President, National Committee for Quality Assurance

Prof. Edmund S. Phelps
Director, The Center on Capitalism And Society, Columbia University; Winner of The 2006 Nobel Prize In Economics

Prof. Stephen Presser
Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History, Northwestern University Law School

Dr. William A. Peck
Director, Washington University Center for Health Policy

George Rupp
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; Former President and CEO, International Rescue Committee; Former President, Columbia University; Founding Principal at Next: Network for Executive Transition

Hon. Alan K. Simpson
Former U.S. Senator

Shelby Steele
Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

C. Eugene Steuerle
Economist, Urban Institute

Larry Thompson
Former Deputy U.S. Attorney General

Staff

Matt Brown
Executive Director
mbrown@commongood.org

Andrew Park
Director of Research
apark@commongood.org

Ruth Mary Giverin
Assistant to Philip K. Howard
Administrative Director
rmgiverin@commongood.org
212-681-8199

Donna Thompson
Director of External Affairs
dthompson@commongood.org
203-609-1831

Henry Miller
Media Relations
hmiller@highimpactpartnering.com
917-921-8034

Ron Faucheux
Senior Consultant
rfaucheux@aol.com

Seth Karecha
Consultant
seth@commongood.org