We’re a start up and volunteer led effort committed to identifying others interested in building for the future. Reach out if you’d like to learn about getting involved.
Board
Paula Hodges lives in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Providence. She’s a political strategist, entrepreneur, and organizer.
In her daily work she coaches and supports 36 other state donor alliances through the national network Committee on States. In 2018 she founded the NH Progress Alliance, New England’s first pooled fund donor alliance.
In Rhode Island, she helped flip the politics on abortion rights, served on the Economic Progress Institute Board and facilitated the Women’s Policy Institute at Women’s Fund RI.
She runs Anchor Strategies, a consultancy for nonprofit strategy, development and governance and is proud to call Rhode Island her chosen home.
Paula Hodges
Tara McGowan lives in Portsmouth. She is the founder and publisher of COURIER, a national news network reaching tens of millions of Americans with fact based, pro democracy journalism across eleven states.
Prior to founding COURIER, Tara led some of the largest digital advertising and marketing programs supporting democratic causes and candidates in U.S. politics, including at ACRONYM, Priorities USA, NextGen Climate, and as a digital strategist on President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She studied journalism and political science at NYU and began her career reporting and producing long-form journalism for both 60 Minutes and PBS Frontline.
Tara McGowan
Zack Mezera lives in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Providence. He recently completed five years as RI’s Political Director of the Working Families Party, leading electoral and legislative strategy statewide.
Prior to WFP, he co-founded and directed the Providence Student Union (2010-2020), winning campaigns for free school transportation, student press freedoms, and school infrastructure funding through youth-led organizing. Throughout his career, he has managed and advised key electoral campaigns that have reshaped Rhode Island's progressive political landscape.
In 2026, Zack is embarking on multiple a new journeys as a new dad, beginning studies at Harvard divinity school and working on political tech that modernizes the platforms campaigns use to engage voters.