Texas Forward Podcast

Nitish Mirchandani is the Policy Chair for the Forward Party of Texas. He worked as a Public Diplomacy Intern for the US Embassy in India and has supported campaigns at both the state and federal level while earning his Masters in International & Global Studies. Nitish spoke with Brian about his experience growing up in India as an American citizen and moving to the US as a freshman in high school, the geopolitical differences between the US, India & the rest of the world and how...

Laura Wheat was the Mayor of West Lake and President of the West Lake Academy for 16+ years, has sat on countless boards including the Gladney Center for Adoption, currently serves on the Forward Party Executive Committee and the Co-CEO of Joanna Czech Skincare. Laura sat down with Emily to discuss the power of local politics and how the two major parties are working against it, how beating breast cancer three times led her to the Nonprofit world and the challenges facing the Foster Care...

This month’s Volunteer Spotlight features Mitul Gouni. Mitul is a Junior in High School from Allen, TX and has been actively volunteering for the Texas Foward Party Communications Committee & Immigration subcommittee, working on research, social media, and policy. Mitul and Brian covered how Gen Z looks at American politics and the future ahead, what it was like being a student during the COVID Pandemic and the impact of social media has on the modern day high school student.

Trent Newell is a member of the Texas Forward Party Executive Committee and Project & Developer Coordinator for the National Forward Party. Trent spent 7 years in the US Navy as an Intelligence Officer before transitioning to a career in Finance.Trent sat down with Julie to discuss bringing back competition in politics and changing the political incentive structure, what a Grassroots strategy really means and why local politics matter, and how to break the stigma around ‘third parties’ an...

Toni Wing-Jenkins spent 30+ years as a teacher in Texas & Louisiana public schools, 3+ years at a private Christian pre-school, and has taught at DoD schools in Germany. Currently, Toni is serving on the Texas Forward Party Executive Committee and she continues to be a passionate advocate for teachers and improving public education in Texas.Today's discussion included her insights on standardized testing and the negative impact it has on teachers and students, the fight over school ...

As the 2023 Texas Legislature Session comes to a close, our podcast team Brian Lee, Julie Kornegay, and Emily Spivak looked into several notable bills that made headlines this session.The topics covered include: The fight over School Vouchers and Teacher pay (SB100)Addressing the deficiencies in the Electric Grid (SB6)New fees for Electric Vehicle owners (SB505)Imposing harsher penalties for Gun Crimes (SB23)Increasing funding for Mental Health programs (SB26 & SB30)Book Bans in Scho...

Dylan MacInerney is the Vice President of The Mach1 Group, an award-winning, Austin-based public relations firm, specializing in public affairs, crisis management and media training. Dylan spent 4+ years working as a staffer on Capital Hill and has worked in variety of public sector roles.We discussed how social media has changed communication, how the Forward Party can hone our messaging and separate ourselves from the two major parties, and what he's learned from a decade in the public sect...

This Week's Volunteer Spotlight features Alex Paluch. He has canvassed with our Austin-based Street Teams, currently serves as the Admin of our Discord Server and spent several years working for a large political consulting firm before getting involved with the Forward Party. We spoke with Alex about his experience knocking on doors canvassing for political campaigns, how the two major parties utilize voter data and the infrastructure necessary to build a political party like Forward.

Lucie Repova is the host of the Think with Lucie podcast, a State Lead for the Forward Party of California, and the Founder of Iris, an AI-driven community engagement platform used by Braver Angels and several other independent minded organizations.Born in the Czech Republic, Lucie shared her unique insights on the importance of Free Speech and Democracy, her journey as an entrepreneur and how she is working to reduce polarization and get people talking to each other again.

In Part Two of our podcast series from the 5th Annual Ally Energy Workforce of the Future Summit, Brian sat down with Governor Christine Todd Whitman & Katie Mehnert. Both Governor Whitman and Katie are deeply knowledgeable about the Energy sector, and shared their insights on current and future job opportunities in CleanTech, how the US can overcome competition from China to lead the world in Green Energy, and how the recent legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastruct...