"...nothing will ever change."

"...nothing will ever change."

Hello Everybody, it’s Morgan.

I’ll never forget a heartwrenching school board meeting back when I had just joined the board in Akron, Ohio.

One mom stepped up to the microphone, nervous but passionate, and spoke about a problem in our schools that was affecting her family. Then she sat down, and the next person got up. One by one, people shared their stories. And under board policy, my colleagues and I sat there, silent.

After the meeting, that same mom came up to me. Tears slid down her cheeks as she || said, “No matter what I say, nothing will ever change.”

My heart sank. I could see her despair. And honestly? I felt it too. The system wasn’t built for problem-solving. It was built for letting citizens vent and then moving on.

Years later, I joined Unify America. In 2023, our team led a Citizens’ Assembly in Montrose, Colorado. For 12 weeks, 46 residents from across the political spectrum rolled up their sleeves, learned from one another, and worked together on real solutions to the shortage of childcare in their community.

At the final public presentation, I noticed one of the delegates crying. I braced myself and asked if she was okay. She smiled through her tears and said, “That’s the first time I’ve felt like I could really make a difference in my community. My fingerprints were all over that presentation. All of ours were.”

Those two moments, one of futility, one of agency, stick with me. They show how different it feels to simply speak versus to truly shape what happens. Too often, we’re treated as spectators in civic life, when what we really want is to be participants who matter.

That’s why I believe so deeply in what we’re building at Unify America. Everyday Americans are stepping into the center of decision-making. Not just to feel heard, but to feel powerful.

Thank you for being part of this community that’s putting the “We” back into “We the People.”

Together, we’re proving that solving problems as Americans isn’t a dream. It’s something we can, and will, do.