The Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School and director of Harvard’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness will join effort to bring ranked choice voting to Massachusetts. Michael E. Porter joins Yes On 2 as campaign Co-Chair.
For Immediate Release
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Boston, Mass. – October 2, 2020 –
The ‘Yes on 2’ campaign is honored to announce that Michael E. Porter will be an Honorary Co-chair of the campaign to bring ranked choice voting to the Commonwealth. With Katherine Gehl, Porter is co-author of, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy. The book discusses the transformational potential of ranked choice voting as a way to ensure winners have support from the broadest portion of the electorate and its power to eliminate the barrier to entry for candidates, which is often created by the plurality voting system.
“I cannot understate the value that ranked choice voting would bestow upon voters,” said Michael Porter. “We are so fortunate to have the chance in Massachusetts to be among the pioneers in adopting a simple, and straightforward way to make sure our elected leaders have the support of the broadest majority when they take office and begin to govern. Our current system does not elect leaders that fully reflect the will of the voting public, and too often it shuts out outside candidates from the process, assigning them the role of spoiler instead of contender. We can do so much better by voting Yes on 2.”
With the addition of Porter, ‘Yes on 2’ Honorary Co-Chairs are as follows:
- Deval Patrick, 71st Governor of Massachusetts and Founder and Chairman of TogetherFUND
- Bill Weld, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
- Kerry Murphy Healey, 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and President of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream
- Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and Director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
- Jason Lewis, State Senator representing the 5th Middlesex District
- Becky Grossman, Former 4th Congressional District Candidate and At Large Member of the Newton City Council
- Adrian Madaro, Representative for the 1st Suffolk District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
- Jesse Mermell, Former 4th Congressional District candidate and former Brookline Select Board Member
- Steve Pagliuca, Co-Chairman of Bain Capital and Managing Partner of the Boston Celtics
- Michael E. Porter, Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School and director of Harvard’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness
- Becca Rausch, State Senator representing Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex
- Ron Shaich, Founder and former Chairman and CEO of Panera Bread and CEO and Managing Partner of Act III Holdings
- Tanisha M. Sullivan, President of the NAACP Boston Branch
- Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, President Emeritus at Harvard University and former United States Treasury Secretary
- Andy Vargas, Representative for the 3rd Essex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Michael E. Porter is the author of twenty books and more than 130 articles. He has won many scholarly awards and honors including the Adam Smith Award of the National Association of Business Economists, the John Kenneth Galbraith Medal, the David A. Wells Prize in Economics from Harvard, and the Academy of Management’s highest award for scholarly contributions to management. He is also an unprecedented seven-time winner of the McKinsey Award for the best Harvard Business Review article of the year. In 2016, he was awarded the Sheth Medal for enduring and transformational contributions to marketing scholarship and marketing practice. Professor Porter is the recipient of twenty-three honorary doctorates and several national and state honors. He received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for his contribution to economic development, and has been elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and other honorary societies. In 2000, he was named a University Professor by Harvard University, the highest recognition that can be awarded to a Harvard faculty member. He lives in Brookline.
Contact: Charlie@sqcomms.com, 617-894-6905
About the Yes on 2 Campaign
Yes On 2 is a citizen-led, nonpartisan campaign to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for Massachusetts elections starting in 2022. Ranked Choice Voting is a common-sense reform that gives voters more voice, more choice, more power and more freedom. It will strengthen our democracy by ensuring our leaders are supported by the broadest majority of voters and reflect the true will of the people.
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