Desmond Meade on Transcending Political Divides

Achieve Great Things

Desmond Meade is president of the Florida Rights Restoration Committee, which inspired the nation with a grassroots campaign that passed a groundbreaking constitutional amendment with a win few saw coming—a supermajority of 62% of the vote. It restored voting rights to 1.5 million people with prior felony convictions who had served their time. The campaign was unique in transcending typical political divides and mobilizing volunteers, donors, and voters across the spectrum. Time magazine called Desmond Meade one of the country’s most influential people. He’s a MacArthur Foundation Genius Fellow, a Ford Foundation Global Fellow, and his organization was nominated for a Nobel Prize. On this episode, we’ll talk with Desmond Meade about ideas you can use to create campaigns that transcend political divides to achieve great things.