restoring open dialogue

The Foundation for Independent Voter Education

FIVE, as a proud partner of IVP, publishes news and information from independent-minded perspectives.

About FIVE

The Foundation for Independent Voter Education (FIVE) is a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to restoring the importance of open dialogue in our democracy.

Who We Are

The Foundation for Independent Voter Education (FIVE) is a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to restoring the importance of open dialogue in our democracy.

FIVE strives to:

strengthen independent-minded citizen engagement in politics,
educate key stakeholders within our political system to the importance of constructive compromise, and
to do so in a way that is unfiltered by the partisanship that often drives larger public dialogue.

What We Do

FIVE is committed to the belief that democracy functions best when the most people participate. Unfortunately, today’s political climate discourages such a participatory democracy and alienates independent-minded voters, who feel out of touch with the extreme partisanship of today’s politics. The news currently being presented by traditional media outlets only furthers to alienate independent-minded voters by presenting only right-wing and/or left-wing perspectives to truly complex, multifaceted political issues.

FIVE created the Independent Voter Network (IVN) to be a new kind of news network. IVN provides unfiltered political news and policy analysis across the political spectrum. IVN has a unique, multi-site platform that allows independent contributors from all sectors of industry and all walks of life to publish their own stories, which then reach a large, national and international audience. IVN also provides a forum for users to engage in political dialogue and rational commentary, in hopes of elevating the level of our public discourse.

Have questions? CONTACT us

Board Members

Laiza Negrete

Board Member

Laiza Negrete is the VP of Political Affairs for the California Association of REALTORS®, the most politically influential business trade association in the state representing over 200,000 members. In 2010 Ms. Negrete worked for the Independence Party of New York where she served as an advocate to open up the primary election to nonpartisan voters and also contributed to the “Hankster” a blog about nonpartisan political participation.

Mario Munoz

Board Member

Born and raised in South Texas, Mario is a 1985 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Spanish. Mario was a legislative consultant for over 25 years in Texas and has recently retired.

Steve Peace

Chairman

From 1982 through 2003, Senator Peace served in the California State Capitol as a member of the State Assembly, a State Senator and as the State’s Director of Finance. In 2010, as Co-chair of the California Independent Voter Project, Mr. Peace wrote the Constitutional Amendment subsequently passed by voters to require California to abolish its semi-closed partisan primary system in favor of open nonpartisan primary elections.

Dan Howle

Board Member

An East Coast native, Dan Howle is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he majored in history and political science. Dan recently retired after 16 years as Director of State Government Relations for a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Company. Mr. Howle serves on the boards of the California Governor’s Cup Foundation, the Foundation for Independent Voter Education, and the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers.

The Other Side Documentary

FIVE partnered with independent film-maker Joe McGovern to produce “The Other Side: A Liberal Democrat Explores Conservative America”.

In times of extreme partisanship, Joe demonstrates the value of talking to one another, as opposed to talking against one another. And he does it in a way that is lighthearted, engaging, and informative. FIVE provided technical support, outreach, and funding for the production and we could not be more proud of the final product Joe has put together.

Our affiliations

founding member

co-publisher

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