The States Forum Founders Announce Lise Clavel as Executive Director

Clavel to serve as the first Executive Director of The States Forum after the initiative’s July launch

NEW YORK – Adam Pritzker and Daniel Squadron today announced that Lise Clavel will serve as The States Forum’s first Executive Director. Clavel will lead TSF’s effort to build a network of policy leaders and experts to foster, develop, and accelerate innovative solutions to the most pressing issues of our time, focusing on where those policies can go the furthest — in the states.

The States Forum launched last month with the publication of its first journal The American Promise and a multi-day convening in Philadelphia — profiled in The New York Times — where policy leaders across politics, government, media, technology, and philanthropy gathered for a day of conversation to chart ways to protect and advance the American Promise. As the current administration attacks the very foundation of our country, fighting for improving people’s lives through fair markets, effective government, representative democracy, and personal freedoms has never been more important.

In this new role, Clavel will build on that founding network to generate and elevate bold policy ideas that advance these first principles within the national conversation. TSF will publish its ideas journal twice annually, convene policy leaders through periodic in‑person and virtual gatherings, and host regular policy accelerator forums.

“This is an opportunity to bridge ideas and action at a moment when states are shaping the direction of the country,” said Lise Clavel, Executive Director of TSF. “I’m honored to step into this role and build on the momentum of last month’s launch to advance meaningful, state-focused solutions that advance the American Promise that all people are created equal, with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“Lise’s leadership will help grow the Forum’s reach and impact as we drive new ideas that will improve the lives of real people. What’s been happening in Washington clearly isn’t working, so we’re building from the ground up,“ said Adam Pritzker, TSF Co-Founder. “Lise is perfectly positioned to elevate and amplify local lessons to make a national impact.”

“I’m excited to appoint Lise to lead this effort at a moment when states have never mattered more,” said Daniel Squadron, TSF Co-Founder and President. “The states offer the best chance to advance our country’s first principles –that all people created equal with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – through representative democracy, effective government, fair markets, and personal freedom. Guided by these core values as we think in fresh ways about the problems we face today, I know we can win a supermajority of Americans — and I can’t imagine anyone better than Lise to build this effort.”

Before joining TSF, Clavel was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a practitioner fellow at the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia. She served in the Biden Administration as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor at the White House, and as Chief of Staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Clavel previously worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Director of Public Engagement for then-Vice President Biden, and held leadership roles in the Obama and Biden presidential campaigns. She began her career working for Tom Perriello in Virginia and holds a degree from Yale University.

If you’re interested in discussing this transition, or in connecting with Lise, please don’t hesitate to reach out to press@statesforum.org.

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About The States Forum

The States Forum is dedicated to advancing the American Promise: that all people are created equal with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the government secures these rights with the consent of the governed. To realize this foundational promise and the four key principles that derive from it—representative democracy, effective government, fair markets, and personal freedom—The States Forum is building a network of thinkers and practitioners from across the country who are working on solutions to today’s most pressing issues. Our goal is to foster, develop, and refine innovative policy solutions focused where they can go the furthest—in the states.