Governing Takes Center Stage
by Rachel Pearson, Engage Founder & CEO
We hosted the 2025 engage awards on October 28th in Washington DC. The federal government was closed. The machinery of government was stalled and yet that evening Members of Congress came together in a bipartisan spirit to celebrate working across the aisle and making progress for American women and their families.
This is what we believe in at Engage. The tough work of governing that never trends on social media but is the glue that holds America together.
The 2025 winners of the public service awards embody the truth that bipartisanship should not be confused with centrism. Indeed, of the nine Members of Congress who took the stage that evening only one or two might claim to be “centrists.” As Senator Warner remarked from the stage, “Bipartisanship doesn’t necessarily make an idea better, it makes it durable. Both teams buy in, and both are responsible for fixing it when it’s imperfect.”
Senator Deb Fischer, Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, and Chief of Staff Elizabeth Falcone are feisty and partisan in their politics. Yet they each nobly demonstrate empathy, openness, and common sense in their governing and interactions with colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
I first heard the phrase “public/private partnership” early in my career from one of my mentors the late Governor and Senator of Ohio George V. Voinovich. The civic responsibility of business to improve society by filling gaps and partnering with government was on full display at the Engage Awards. Microsoft’s commitment to the economic security of the disability community in their workforce sets a standard and worthy example for all corporate America. Vanessa Broadhurst and Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to nurses and community health workers assuredly improves care. It recognizes that these pivotal Americans often do the hardest work with the least support.
The leadership of the public servants and corporations on stage at the Engage Awards is what makes our democracy work. We are proud to be the only organization dedicated to advancing women and their families’ economic security by spotlighting bipartisan and pragmatic policy solutions. Immense gratitude is also owed to the seven Members of the Congress who presented the Engage Awards and offered personal and heartfelt remarks in honoring their friends. All are featured in this issue.
Today the government has been reopened because a group of senators decided to put governing above politics. The overwhelming headlines they received in doing so were focused on the political aftermath of their actions and not the hard governing choice they made on behalf of all of us.
Bipartisanship isn’t just an occasional option for governing or one we should allow ourselves to speak about with wistful nostalgia – it is the only way for a future that will corral 340 million opinioned and promising Americans headed towards our nation’s potential.
I’m wishing you all a joyful and peaceful New Year and a healthy 2026. Let’s Engage together.
