Programs & Agenda
The 2026 Braver Angels National Convention is a call for courageous citizenship. Together, we will deepen our beliefs in the effectiveness of courageous citizenship and our bonds with each other as we renew our founders’ sacred pledge they mutually made to each other 250 years ago.
The style will be participatory. Experts in attendance will be on tap, not on top. The convention will be co-chaired by one conservative and one liberal leader who will use adapted parliamentary procedure to ensure equal participation.
In the coming months, we will be announcing our full slate of programs and activities. We will have inspiring speakers, interactive workshops, stirring debates, and much more.
Please see our 2024 Convention Programs & Agenda page for examples of what kinds of things will be in store.
Check back for more details soon!
Meet Our Convention Co-Chairs
Diego Sánchez
Blue Co-Chair
Vice President of Policy and Strategy at the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, where he leads the organization’s policy team and legislative and administrative agenda. An immigration lawyer and policy strategist with over 15 years of experience, he works at the intersection of higher education, public policy, and government relations, helping college and university leaders navigate policy developments affecting students, campuses, and communities. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at Cornell University’s Center on Global Democracy.
Before joining the Presidents’ Alliance, Diego directed the federal immigration portfolio at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Across his career, he has led strategy, coalition engagement, and policy advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. His areas of expertise include higher education and immigration policy, tuition equity and college access for immigrant students and Dreamers, and engagement with policymakers, campus leaders, and partner organizations.
Diego serves on the Leadership Team of the Citizens Commission on Immigration, an initiative of Braver Angels dedicated to finding durable areas of common ground on immigration policy and advancing civil discourse across political differences. He holds a J.D. and bachelor’s degrees in psychology and philosophy from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. His commitment to expanding educational opportunity for immigrant students is deeply personal, shaped by his own journey as an undocumented college student and former DACA recipient.
Jim Robb
Red Co-Chair
Jim Robb is Vice President of Alliances at NumbersUSA, the largest-member immigration group in America. The group supports modernized, more sensible immigration, which it defines as no illegal immigration and lower immigration levels geared toward protecting America’s workers.
Jim helped found NumbersUSA 30 years ago, where he pioneered web-based political activism tools, which group members have used to send 50 million messages to Congress.
He is especially interested in Hispanic political development in the U.S., having authored Political Migrants: Hispanic Voters on the Move, the first book to trace the shift of Hispanic voters into the Republican Party.
A member of Braver Angels’ Citizens Commission on Immigration leadership team, Jim frequently speaks with fellow convention co-chair Diego Sà nchez. They will appear together at the University of California–Irvine in early May, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this September.
Step into Courageous Citizenship
At the 2026 Braver Angels National Convention, we’re inviting delegates to step into courageous citizenship.
What does that actually look like? And how does it show up in our politics? That’s what we’ll explore together over the course of the convention.
In 2024, nearly 800 delegates came together to vote on the issue Braver Angels would take on next. We considered healthcare, free speech, gun rights and regulation, the economy, and more. But delegates overwhelmingly voted for immigration.
Since then, we’ve launched the Citizens Commission on Immigration (CCI), bringing people from across the political spectrum together to find shared solutions and present them to their congressional representative. We’ve also expanded our work beyond the grassroots level, convening an Immigration Policy Roundtable with leading voices in the field, including our Convention Co-Chairs.
CCI is what courageous citizenship looks like in practice: people who disagree, working together to find common ground and move the country forward. Join us in 2026 to see that work up close and to take part in it yourself.
Featured Speakers
New York Congressman
Pennsylvania Congressman
Current holder of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary
ABC News Contributor & Host of Advisory Opinions
Host of A Braver Way Podcast and Author of I Never Thought of It That Way
Founder and President of the Woodson Center
Author, Journalist, and Co-founder of Good Conflict
Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
Executive director, Center for Immigration Studies
President and CEO, National Immigration Forum
Chief Impact Officer for UNITE and co-creator of the Dignity Index
Co-Founder and CEO of BridgeUSA
Featured Conversations
When Immigration Rivals Break Bread Over a Year
Martin Luther King Jr. called upon Americans to be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. But does not seeing color also mean we blind ourselves to the racism against which King fought? Monica Harris (President of FAIR), John Wood Jr., and more confront the arguments for and against colorblindness in this exciting conversation on race in America.
Navigating Threats to the 2026 Elections
What points of difference and possible commonalities exist between populist conservatives and more mainstream, Reagan-era conservatives? Should the future of conservatism basically reflect Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric on immigration, trade, and other important issues, or should the movement should be guided by Reagan-era principles that emphasize free markets and limited government?
What points of difference and possible commonalities exist between progressives and more moderate Democrats? Should the Democratic Party move in a more progressive direction, or should it follow more traditionally liberal principles that have guided the party for decades?
Can We Really Do Nothing About Immigration?
Immigration is now the number one issue on voters’ minds. But is it really an unsolvable issue? What if we started with leaders on both sides talking with each other? In this session, we’ll hear from a conservative leader at one of America’s largest grassroots organizations, Jim Robb from NumbersUSA (an organization advocating for immigration restrictions), in conversation with a leader on the other side of the immigration issue. This session is moderated by Peter Skerry, a professor at Boston College and a leading scholar and writer on immigration issues.
Can We Have a Better Pandemic?
What can America learn from the Covid pandemic so that we can do it better the next time? And what would that improved response look like? Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration and one of the leading critics of the government’s response to the pandemic, will take up these issues with a leader who disagrees with him in a full and free conversation. We’ll discuss missed opportunities, lessons learned, and how we can have a better pandemic response in the future.
Donald Trump’s election in 2016 shed light on a growing reality: many people in America’s working class feel as if they have been left behind and disconnected from the rest of America. Many distrust that America’s political class is looking out for working men and women. Is this growing class divide an even bigger challenge than the partisan divide? And what can be done to bridge this class divide? Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of the new book, Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women and Newsweek opinion editor, discusses these issues with red and blue working-class Americans featured in her book.
Can We Trust
Our Elections?
The Civic Renewal Playbook: How to Take Action & Build Hope
Learn a practical playbook of resources for Civic Renewal that generates hope and engagement by volunteers and communities who take leadership, as citizens, in addressing public problems.
Community Debate
Featured Events & Activities
Braver Angels
Got Talent
Step up to the mic and show us what you got! Join us for an evening of inspiration and entertainment as our leaders (yes—we mean you!) share their skills, passions, and creative talents. Songs, stories, hobbies – whatever talent you want to share! This won’t be your usual song and dance.
Red/Blue Watch Party:
Trump-Biden Debate
Civil War
College Debates &
Discourse Symposium
The College Debates and Discourse Alliance of Braver Angels, ACTA, and BridgeUSA has launched hundreds of campus and classroom debates at higher ed institutions across the nation. In this four-hour symposium, the CD&D team will showcase the program’s best practices, success stories and case studies on the campus and curricular front, research findings and metrics, and much more.
Grab your popcorn and join us to watch an exclusive screening of Coddling of the American Mind, a movie based on the book written by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff.
Common Ground
Songwriting
Want to learn to write songs? Then record and perform them? Guided by professional musicians eager to teach and inspire you? Here’s your chance! Led by the Braver Angels Music Team, Red and Blue delegates will participate in a fishbowl and then write original songs.
Step into the Exhibit Hall and immerse yourself in a celebration of our movement’s progress, showcasing the remarkable achievements of Braver Angels alliances and field leaders alongside organizations in the Braver Network.
Founders Fireside:
Ask ‘Em Anything!
Speak with Braver Angels Founders David Blankenhorn, Bill Doherty, and David Lapp about whatever’s on your mind.
After the Convention, you’ll have an opportunity to ask the founders anything—whether it’s about the Convention, the election, or the future of Braver Angels in 2024 and beyond.
Closing Night
Concert
On the final night of the Convention, join us for a concert to celebrate our work together. We’ll hear songs from the Braver Angels Music Team and the Common Ground Songwriting Workshops, as well as a special performance from the house band Sons of Serendip.
Come Early, Stay Late
- Tour Carthage College
- Visit the Convention Exhibit Hall
- Attend a symposium on college debates and public discourse
- Interdenominational Chapel Service
- Open Discussion: “Ask Braver Angels Founders Anything”
