Leadership
Don Hazen
Executive Director
Don Hazen is executive director of the Independent Media Institute and executive editor of AlterNet. The former publisher of Mother Jones magazine, he has written dozens of articles and edited several books including "Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics." He holds an MA in counseling from the University of Massachusetts and a BA in politics from Princeton University.
Liz Mullaney
Associate Publisher
Liz Mullaney is AlterNet's associate publisher. With both fundraising and online advertising experience, she has helped AlterNet become a more financially self-sufficient non-profit organization. In addition, she has played a key role in shaping the site's advertising program into an effective advocacy vehicle for progressive issues. Liz holds a BS in Human Development from Cornell University.
Organization’s Objective
AlterNet recognizes the need to energize, motivate, and inform citizens in order to engage them in the political process. Getting people involved means giving them quality information on the issues they care about -- information that helps them understand how those issues directly affect their lives.
As an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of dozens of other independent media sources, AlterNet is positioned to play a key role in inspiring citizen action and advocacy on major issues like energy independence and affordable healthcare.
We know that one of the major ways to produce social change is through voting and elections. Yet the voting process in America has become an obstacle course; our country has turned what should be an emphatic, positive expression of democracy into an experience that instead leaves voters disempowered and disenfranchised.
Corporate money continues to dominate the American political system, while various troubles with voting procedures and machines fail to guarantee citizens that their vote will count. Anti-democratic tactics like “robo calls” and push polls alienate some voters, while others are blocked from having access to the ballot box at all. Furthermore, antiquated laws and policies cause long lines, voter discouragement, and disenfranchisement.
AlterNet has recognized the need for voter education around these issues. During the “Nov 2” campaign in 2004, AlterNet was an acknowledged leader in the effort to increase voter participation across the country, particularly among younger voters. In addition to a 2004 Election Super Site that showcased dozens of election-related issues to millions of readers, AlterNet also reached out to tens of thousands of individuals on-the-ground, through a grassroots publishing project and mini-magazines aimed at young voters.
Moving ahead, AlterNet understands that achieving success on the many fundamental issues crucial to the health of our nation -- reforming our political system, fighting global warming and making healthcare affordable, for example -- will require four main components: comprehensive campaigns with targeted goals, wide-reaching messages, creative leadership, and grassroots support. And in the coming two years, AlterNet is well-positioned to support all of these pieces.
