{"id":4402231138564,"date":"2025-10-28T19:48:37","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/qcokkxrxvtjc\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T11:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:18:56","slug":"ashleigh-gardere-new-founding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philanthropy.com\/news\/ashleigh-gardere-new-founding\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Fight for DEI Should Take the Long View \u2014 Back to the Founding Fathers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The most recent amendment to the Constitution<\/u><\/a> was ratified a generation ago, in 1992. It addresses an issue that matters to exactly 535 Americans \u2014 when salary changes for members of Congress can take effect.<\/p>\n

The time has come, according to PolicyLink<\/a> president Ashleigh Gardere, for the country \u2014 nonprofits and philanthropy specifically \u2014 to focus on bigger changes and the original promise of the nation\u2019s founding documents. Words like \u201cdiversity,\u201d \u201cequity,\u201d and \u201cinclusion\u201d may be under attack, she says, but such language is simply an expression of the country\u2019s 250-year-old commitment to a just, fair society in which all people can participate and prosper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is: Will we govern for all or just a few?\u201d she said in a recent Chronicle<\/i> interview. \u201cAnd then, will we hold ourselves accountable for delivering for all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardere joined Chronicle<\/i> deputy opinion editor Nandita Raghuram for the latest episode of our Commons in Conversation series<\/a>. She discussed PolicyLink\u2019s work to champion a \u201cnew founding\u201d of the country.<\/p>\n

Gardere didn\u2019t offer specifics about potential constitutional amendments but suggested that policy groups like hers need to expand how they pursue equity. Advocates tend to focus too narrowly on law and regulations when they could be reimagining our governing institutions, she said. \u201cIf the invitation was to continue to perfect this union, then why don\u2019t we imagine bigger?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Major changes to the Constitution, she noted, followed the Civil War, the suffragette movement, and the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

Watch the interview on the <\/u>Chronicle\u2019<\/u><\/i>s YouTube channel.<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

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