Security and Democracy
Empowering the institutions, resilience, and relationships essential to American democracy
Public Democracy America’s Security and Democracy program brings together national and local leaders and specialized expertise to address challenges at the intersection of security, democratic governance, military integrity, and the rule of law.
Led by Heather Hurlburt, PDA’s Director of National Security and Democracy, the program connects leaders across the military, law, government, civil society, philanthropy, labor, higher education, and the private sector. Through trusted networks, strategic convenings, expert guidance, and public education, PDA helps people work across traditional divides to bring new vitality to the institutions that safeguard our security and our democracy.
Building the Connections Democracy Requires
The most serious challenges facing American democracy rarely fit within a single policy area or professional community. Questions involving national security, military power, public institutions, civil society, and the rule of law are deeply
connected—but the people working on them are often separated by institutional and policy boundaries.
PDA’s Security and Democracy program helps bridge those divides.
We bring together people with different forms of experience and influence, create trusted spaces for candid discussion, and connect specialized knowledge with the civic, legal, policy, and communications infrastructure needed to act on it.
We Work to:
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Build trusted relationships across institutions, professions, and policy areas that do not regularly work together.
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Convene experts and civic leaders to anticipate emerging challenges and develop principled responses.
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Connect national-security and legal expertise with policymakers, advocates, journalists, and the public.
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Strengthen public understanding of the laws and institutions that protect military integrity, civilian authority, and democratic government.
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Help democracy defenders move from isolated efforts toward informed and coordinated action.
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Support expert-led initiatives addressing specific national-security and democratic-governance challenges.
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Spur long-term thinking about the future of effective, responsive government and security institutions for a resilient democracy.
Our Initiatives
Valley Forge Initiative
Connecting democracy defenders across traditional divides
The Valley Forge Initiative is a central pillar of PDA’s Security and Democracy program. It serves as an informal network builder, helping democracy defenders connect across policy silos and professional communities.
Valley Forge brings together experienced leaders from the military, law, government, civil society, philanthropy, labor, higher education, and the private sector. Through trusted networks, strategic convenings, scenario planning, expert guidance, and public communications, we help leaders share knowledge, anticipate emerging threats, and strengthen the resilience of American democracy. Valley Forge also aims to look deep, breaking out of over-focus on short-term crises to explore what long-term visions of competent, trustworthy, values-based leadership might look like.
Rather than launch another standalone organization, Valley Forge strengthens the people and institutions already doing this work. It provides connective infrastructure through which expertise, relationships, and ideas can move across traditional boundaries where they are needed most.
Valley Forge is proud to partner with innovative institutions including
Preventing Nuclear Testing
Building the networks needed to stop a return to nuclear explosive testing
Led by Michelle Dover, PDA’s Preventing Nuclear Testing initiative is building the local, national, and international relationships needed to help prevent a return to nuclear explosive testing.
The initiative connects nuclear policy experts with legal, civic, environmental, national security, and international partners. Together, they identify critical decision points, close gaps in the existing advocacy infrastructure, and prepare coordinated responses to actions that could weaken the global norm against nuclear testing.
Michelle directs the initiative’s strategy, partnerships, and engagement as part of PDA’s broader National Security and Democracy program.
About Heather Hurlburt
Director of National Security and Democracy
Heather Hurlburt leads Public Democracy America’s Security and Democracy program, overseeing a growing portfolio of work involving security policy, democratic institutions, military integrity, nuclear threats, and the rule of law. She convenes Valley Forge and supports senior experts who lead specialized initiatives.
Heather is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, where she analyzes the gap between the practice of international affairs and the realities of politics in the United States, and an adjunct professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
Her prior government service includes time in the White House, State Department, and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as well as in Congress and with the U.S. Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. She also
has extensive senior experience in non-profit advocacy and leadership.