The Chamberlain Network mobilizes veterans to strengthen democracy

For the latest in our series on organizations that inspire us to take action to build a stronger democracy, Democracy Group community manager Jessie Nguyen caught up with The Chamberlain Network Founder Chris Purdy.

The Chamberlain Network seeks to mobilize and empower veterans to protect democracy through civic engagement programming and education. From learning about the government to writing op-eds and showing up at town halls, The Chamberlain Network is teaching one of the most trusted communities in America how to use their voices for good.

Tell me about yourself and The Chamberlain Network.

Chris: I’m the CEO and Founder of The Chamberlain Network. I’m an Army veteran. I’ve served and I’ve been doing veteran organizing for about a decade now. Before that, I was an educator and our mission at The Chamberlain Network is to organize that trend around pro-democracy initiatives.
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We view democracy as having three pillars: A constitutional framework centered in the rule of law and supported by representative elections. Our goal is to organize veterans locally to ensure that those institutions are supported.

What unique perspectives do veterans bring to the conversation about democracy?

Chris: Like a lot of Americans, veterans are feeling disillusioned with democracy because they don’t see it working for them and they see their national leaders telling them it’s not working. But that’s not unique to the veteran community. The veterans are unique in that they signed up to serve knowing that they could face real danger; we signed up because we believe in this idea of this country.

People have lots of different reasons — money for college, job security — but all those things are secondary to the fact that you have to believe in a set of ideas that this country was founded on to put on the uniform and be willing to go die for that.

There are other types of service that serve the country… but we put ourselves at risk for this country in a way that many people don’t do. So that credibility comes with a certain amount of responsibility. We have to know how to use our voice for good and The Chamberlain Network is teaching veterans how to use their voice to protect democracy.

Learn more about The Chamberlain Network

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