ABOUT US
OUR GENESIS AND THE PROBLEM WE SEE
We are a non-partisan organization founded by Harvard Business School Alumni, inspired by the research of Michael Porter and Katherine Gehl, on how partisan gridlock is hurting our country. We focus on reforms to break the gridlock and help government serve the interests of all the people.
Our country is badly divided. Americans’ trust in government, elections, media, and each other is at historic lows. People on both sides feel alienated from a system that has abandoned them. The two political parties are a duopoly that promotes this divide by catering to their bases, excluding moderates and independents, rejecting bipartisanship, and controlling massive spending.
OUR APPROACH
We believe that election reform is the most systematic way to reduce partisanship in government. To this end, we pursue our mission by providing our members and audiences with insightful analyses, high-return solutions, and opportunities for targeted engagement with like-minded organizations and influential leadership. We focus on pragmatic election reform initiatives that are achievable, constructive and measurable.
- We are diligently Non-Partisan in our REN activities – we can support partisan efforts as individuals, but REN as an entity must not take negative positions for or against any political party or individuals.
- We seek pros and cons for any proposed process improvements, recognizing that every initiative has potential unintended consequences and risks that should be carefully assessed and addressed.
- We prioritize our education and engagement work, recognizing time and resource constraints, but also seeking maximum return on investment, recognizing political realities and systemic constraints.
The Need to
Reform Elections Now
Our country has serious problems. We lag behind most developed countries in infrastructure, education, healthcare, and crime. The cause, according to a report by business executive Katherine Gehl and Harvard Professor Michael Porter, is that government is too polarized to get anything done. Resolution of this problem requires Election Process Innovation.
Read About Why We Need to Reform Elections Now
our leadership
Peter Siris
Peter Siris
Peter Siris is a Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board and Research Director for Reform Elections Now. Peter had an extensive career on Wall Street, in industry, and in academia. He was a financial columnist for the N.Y. Daily News and has published three best-selling books. Peter received a B.A. with Honors from Brandeis University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, where he also continued his doctoral studies. Peter was named 2019 “Volunteer of the Year” by the HBS Club of N.Y. for his work with Community Partners, HBSNY Angels, and the daytime programming committee.
Mike Otten
Mike Otten
Mike is a co-founder and President of Reform Elections Now. He is a graduate of Princeton University (BSE),
Columbia University (MS), Harvard Business School (MBA), and American University (PhD). He spent his professional career as an International Executive with IBM. He was a pioneer in the computer industry with his prophetic 1969 paper in the “Journal of the American Medical Association: The Telephone as a Computer Terminal.” He has served as President of the Scarsdale Public Schools and the Green Chimneys Board and as a member of the Harvard Business School of New York Community Partners Board. He currently is an Adjunct Professor/ Mentor at EFREI Engineering ‘Grand Ecole’ Paris and at INSEAD, ‘The Business School for the World.’
Bill Rosser
Bill Rosser
Bill is a founding member and Vice President of Reform Elections Now.
Bill graduated from Princeton University in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. After three years in the telecommunications industry, he attended HBS, earning an MBA with Distinction in 1962. He chose the computer industry as a career and worked for several computer companies before he joined Gartner Group in 1982. There he provided advice to corporate clients around the world about how to effectively use IT.
Since retirement in 2011, he has been active in several roles for the Harvard Business School of New York, is an officer of the Lyceum Group of the New York Academy of Sciences, and leads architectural walking tours of historical New York City sights.
Lucy Kennedy
Lucy Kennedy
Lucy is a Vice President at Reform Elections Now. She is a retired marketing executive with a BA from the University of Michigan, an MA from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In addition to Reform Elections Now, she is active in other political reform organizations including the League of Women Voters and Leadership Now. In pursuit of her interest in local history, she produced a website to document the history of Lenox, MA – a former Gilded Age resort.
Ron Randall
Ron Randall
Mr. Randall is a Board Director at Reform Elections Now. He is President and CEO of Dynaprice.com, Inc., a cloud-based application services provider building and operating business systems and web marketplaces for Fortune 500 firms and used equipment dealers worldwide.
Mr. Randall is an honors graduate of MIT and the Harvard Business School. He served two years in the US Army Reserve during the Vietnam War as a Lieutenant, AGC. Mr. Randall is married, has one daughter and still plays singles tennis.
Chris Piros
Chris Piros
Chris is a Vice President atReform Elections Now. He is a graduate of Northwestern University (BA,MA) and Harvard University (Ph.D.) His more than 30-year investment management career included portfolio management, investment strategy and research roles at MFS, Prudential and PNC. Chris started his career on the finance faculty at Duke University. He is the co-author on several books on investment management and strategy now commonly used in graduate level finance programs.
Jade Decker
Jade Decker
Jade is a freshman at Duke University and serves as REN’s Director of Communications. She was a Planetary Institute of Technology Intern, a Street Art for Mankind Volunteer, a pre-college voice major at the Manhattan School of Music, and a New York All-Nationals member for voice.
Robin Weaver
Robin Weaver
Robin Weaver is Vice President and Secretary-General of Reform Elections Now. She is the President Emerita of The Women’s National Republican Club founded in 1921 by suffragettes. The Club’s mission is to educate women on a wide range of political issues. She currently is the Chair of the Club’s School of Politics. Robin is also a Vice President of the New York Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and a Vice President of Reform Election Now.
She has spent most of her career in the financial services sector, most recently as Vice President and Chief of Staff to the President of MetLife’s International Operations. She has also served as an adjunct professor of Business Communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Robin is graduate of Emory University School of Law and is admitted to practice in New York, Pennsylvania and before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Harry Nam
Harry Nam
Harry is a Vice President and Director at Reform Elections Now (REN), and deeply concerned about the growing disconnect between what voters want and what our representatives can deliver. He is particularly focused on REN’s mission of rethinking and broadening our system of representation through competition and accountability.
Harry is a graduate of Yale University and received his MBA at the Harvard Business School. He currently is the managing partner of HTx Holdings, a private equity carve-out fund of which he founded.