An Honorable Profession

Today, we're sharing NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan's recent appearance on the Moderate Party Podcast – a political podcast focusing on the perspective of moderates, centrists, and Independents. Host Hillari Lombard and Debbie talk about the Biden-Harris Administration's impressive track record, what it means to be a moderate, why the topic of community is important to the Democratic party, and the...

This week, we bring you another episode of our Road to November 2024 election series, as co-hosts Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty sit down with Simon Rosenberg, a political commentator and strategist, who famously, and correctly, rejected the prediction of a red wave in 2022. He has now founded the widely read and highly informative Hopium Chronicles newsletter, where he advises readers to wor...

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Maine Assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier. They talk about how Cloutier's experiences caring for her mother influenced her to pass paid family leave in the Pine Tree State, the issue of housing affordability in her community, and how she balances her day job with family life and her role in public office. She also reflects on t...

This week's episode kicks off our Road to November 2024 election series. In this regular series, co-hosts Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty will be joined by some of the nation's top political minds to discuss key issues and trends impacting this year's elections. For today's conversation, Ryan and Debbie speak with Sam Youngman, a Los Angeles-based political consultant, former campaign reporter...

In this week's episode, host and NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan speaks with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Mayor Johnson was drawn to public service at a very young age while participating in a YMCA pre-college and service program for low-income youth in Milwaukee public schools. Now, he's making history as the city's first elected Black mayor, bringing his diverse perspective and his experience...

In today's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty sits down with Louisiana State Senator Royce Duplessis. They discuss the challenges of serving in a superminority, the senator's ability to pass core legislation in criminal justice by working across the aisle, and how he plans on helping low-income families with the earned tax income credit. Duplessis also talks about his goals to transition Louisiana off...

In this episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty gets an update on the latest debates in Washington from Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), Chair of the New Democrat Coalition. They discuss  her approach to fighting for working families and her focus on family-orientated policies that help drive economic growth, as well as  her commitment to addressing substance abuse and mental health crises in communitie...

In this week's episode, host and NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan partners with State Democracy Action Fund (SDAF) interim Executive Director Kate Stoner to convene four NewDEALers who are in state legislative leadership roles in red, blue, and purple states for a conversation about their priorities for 2024. Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Joanna McClin...

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty speaks with New York City Councilmember Nantasha Williams. They talk about Williams' career path as a community leader, social justice advocate, and political organizer, and her commitment to improving life in her community by creating economic opportunities, championing housing, and protecting seniors. They discuss what people should know about how de...

In this week's episode, host Ryan Connerty speaks with Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, who shares the state's ambitious policy goals, discusses her keys to achieving bipartisan results, and talks about how Michigan is protecting the integrity of its elections. The first woman to lead the Michigan Senate, Brinks rose to public office as the result of a last-minute write-in campaign....

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty speaks with climate activist and host of the "Living Change" podcast Andrea Learned. Andrea advises corporate, political, and cultural leaders to harness the power of social media and storytelling to drive progress and promote climate leadership. Ryan and Andrea talk about how the fight against climate change is reaching a critical point in 2024 and ab...

This week features our first episode of the year, recorded live at NewDEAL's 13th Annual Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Representative Maxine Dibert, our first Alaskan guest on the show. They talk about the state's political dynamics, such as the unique bipartisan coalition system of government and their ranked-choice voting system. Dibert, an elementary scho...

Happy holidays! While our team is off enjoying a well-deserved break, we're revisiting an episode from our September 2023 Voter Registration Month series, offering a rallying cry for voters and elected leaders nationwide ahead of next year's pivotal national elections. In this episode, host and NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan talks with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who has b...

This week, we want to take the opportunity to revisit our November 2023 conversation with political strategist and influencer Olivia Julianna. In this episode, hosts NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty talk with Oliva about living in a conservative Texas household and how she started posting her political opinions online and received national attention for her direct and practical pers...

This week features our third episode recorded live at NewDEAL's 13th Annual Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Washington State Senator Marko Liias, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and Co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Caucus. They talk about his innovative policy accomplishments, such as free transit for youth, paid family leave, and digital literacy legislati...

This week features our second episode recorded live at NewDEAL's 13th Annual Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. Host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine about his innovative efforts to give more kids access to high quality education, including through his work around college savings, alternative education pathways, a robust scholarship database, and cross-agency collaboratio...

Recorded live at NewDEAL's 13th Annual Leaders Conference in Washington, this week's episode features Oregon Representative and 2023 Ideas Challenge winner Janelle Bynum. Bynum, a 2024 congressional candidate, joins host Ryan Coonerty to talk about her decision to move to Oregon after September 11th and how her experience as a small business owner inspired her to run for office. She discusses her...

Happy Thanksgiving! While our team is out of the office this week, we want to take this opportunity to revisit our September 2023 conversation with Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison. In this special episode, celebrating 5 years and 200 episodes of An Honorable Profession , hosts NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty talk to Chair Jaime Harrison about his remarkable journ...

In this week's episode, NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan speaks with Matt Bennett, the co-founder and Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Third Way, a center-left think tank in Washington D.C. and a great partner of the NewDEAL. They talk about what we should take from last Tuesday's election results in states like Kentucky and Virginia, the recent New York Times polling on the 2024 preside...

In this week's episode, hosts NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty speak with political strategist and influencer Olivia Julianna. As a seventeen-year-old living in a conservative Texas household, Olivia started posting her political opinions online and received national attention for her direct and practical perspective on top policy issues. As her followers grew, so did the haters, in...

In this week's episode, NewDEAL CEO and host Debbie Cox Bultan talks with Georgia Representative Phil Olaleye, whose district includes parts of Atlanta and the city of East Point. Olaleye is a passionate education advocate, who also serves as the Executive Director of Next Gen Men & Women, a nonprofit that creates pathways of opportunity for under-resourced students to graduate prepared for colleg...

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty talks to Representative Leonela Felix about her journey from the Dominican Republic to the Rhode Island legislature. She discusses her career in immigration law, how she developed an interest in policy after listening to stories in her community, and how her path to public service was influenced by her work with nonprofits and mobilizing the Latino com...

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty talks policy and balancing work and family life with Virginia Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker. They discuss how Bennett-Parker uses her master's degree in food anthropology to inform fresh food programs and policies in Virginia, her continuing efforts to expand SNAP benefits for senior citizens, and the push for free, universal school meals. She expl...

In this week's episode, co-host Ryan Coonerty is joined by Cincinnati's first Asian American Mayor, Aftab Pureval, who talks about his vision to make Cincinnati the city of the future by taking "big policy swings." They delve into Pureval's major victories so far, such as his efforts to eliminate $1.4 million in medical debt for 30,000 residents, establish a baby bonds program, and start a pilot f...

In this week's episode, host and NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan speaks with Mayor Lee Harris from Shelby County, TN. Harris was first elected Mayor in 2018 and previously served his community on the Memphis City Council and as a state senator. Debbie and Harris talk about the impact of Tennessee's dramatic and nationally watched state legislative session, as well as the state's debates on gun safet...