Momentum: Chain Reaction 2021

Join us to commemorate 40 years of bold action by Ploughshares Fund to promote peace and security around the world and to celebrate the momentum we carry forward to position people—not nuclear weapons—at the forefront of our national security and budget priorities.

We envision a peaceful, secure, and just world for all. To move steadfastly in that direction takes collaboration with people working on other issues critical to our shared future. Together we can reshape the debate on global priorities.

A series of events so related that each one initiates the next is known as a Chain Reaction. Every year we gather leaders in our field, devoted partners, and new advocates to generate a nexus of ideas, opportunities, and strategies to advance policies that promote the elimination of nuclear weapons. Each partner in these efforts represents a key ingredient in our formula for change.

REGISTRATION IS FREE!

Program

Pre-Show with San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
4:45pm PT / 6:45pm CT / 7:45pm ET
A special pre-show event curated by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, also founded in San Francisco just over 40 years ago to inspire activism and create a global movement for a safer, more secure future.

40 Years of Ploughshares Fund
Terry Gamble Boyer, Board Chair
A tribute to the history of Ploughshares Fund, from our founding in a San Francisco living room in 1981 to our national presence and impact around the globe today.

Pathways Forward
Dr. Emma Belcher, President
A special message about the future of the nuclear policy field.

Modern National Security
Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama
Tanya Somanader, Chief Content Officer at Crooked Media
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editorial Director and Publisher of The Nation
A keynote panel on the intersection of nuclear weapons with other issues critical to our shared values, such as climate change and racial justice.

Ending the Nuclear Age
President Ernesto Zedillo, Member of The Elders
Elizabeth Warner, Managing Director
A conversation about the year The Elders spent tackling nuclear disarmament in 2020, which marked the 75th anniversary of the creation of nuclear weapons and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Zero is Possible
Derek Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of Global Zero
An address on the world’s greatest nuclear threats and how we—the audience—can be champions for a safe and secure future.

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SPEAKER BIOS

Dr. Emma Belcher, PhD is president of Ploughshares Fund. Previously she spent nearly a decade at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she led the foundation’s Nuclear Challenges grantmaking program. Belcher has served as a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, an advisor in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security and international affairs, and a public affairs officer at the Australian embassy in Washington, DC. In the Spring of 2019, Emma delivered a TED Talk on the importance of confronting, humanizing, and ultimately solving the existential threat of nuclear weapons.

Terry Gamble Boyer is a writer and philanthropist. Along with her husband Peter, she cofounded the Caldera Foundation that concentrates on energy and the environment. She has served on the boards of the Ayrshire Foundation, the Urban School of San Francisco, The San Francisco School, Project Open Hand, and The Magic Theater. Along with Ploughshares Fund, she currently serves on the board of Island Press and the advisory boards of Mesa Refuge and The Truman National Security Project. Passionate about leaving a more just, secure, cleaner world for future generations, Terry is also the author of three novels: The Water Dancers, Good Family, and The Eulogist.

Derek Johnson is Chief Executive Officer of Global Zero, co-founder of Beyond the Bomb, a Nuclear Innovation Fellow with N Square Collaborative. Johnson is a Gender Champion in Nuclear Policy and member of the Munich Young Leaders and the European Young Leaders group. Derek has been quoted or published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, CNN, NBC, BBC News, The Nation, Politico, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Vox, Kommersant, Time Magazine, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Mother Jones, Pacific Standard, The Hill, The Independent, Mic, and more.

Ben Rhodes is an author, political commentator, consultant with the Obama Foundation, and co-host of the popular Crooked Media podcast, Pod Save the World. He served as President Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting from 2009 to 2017 and continues to advise the former president on international issues today. Rhodes led secret negotiations with the Cuban government that resulted in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and served as an advisor on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.

Tanya Somanader is Chief Content Officer at Crooked Media and former Director of Digital Rapid Response in the Office of Digital Strategy for President Obama. Before joining the White House, she served as the New Media Director for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, a digital writer for the Obama for America 2012 campaign, and a reporter/blogger for ThinkProgress.

Elizabeth Warner is Managing Director and Chief Development Director at Ploughshares Fund. She has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management and fundraising. Prior to joining Ploughshares Fund in 2012, Elizabeth served as the Major Gifts Officer at Paul Newman’s Camp Boggy Creek, a summer camp for children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editorial director and publisher of The Nation and former editor of the magazine from 1995 to 2019. Vanden Heuvel writes a weekly column for The Washington Post and is a frequent commentator on US and international politics for ABC, MSNBC, CNN, and PBS. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Century Association. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, and she is the author of several books, including The Change I Believe In: Fighting for Progress in The Age of Obama, and co-author (with Stephen F. Cohen) of Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev’s Reformers.

President Ernesto Zedillo is a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, who work together for peace, justice, and human rights. He is a former President of Mexico (1994-2000), current Director of the Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University, and a renowned economist. Since his presidency, President Zedillo has been an advocate of multilateralism, inclusive globalization, nuclear nonproliferation, drug policy reform, and universal healthcare. He’s a member of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR) in response to COVID-19 and the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

 

Registration for this event is free. If you’re able, please consider supporting the event with a sponsorship, by purchasing a ticket, or by making a donation of any amount. No gift is too small to have a big impact on a nuclear weapons-free future.

Sponsor the event

Chain Reaction sponsors receive recognition on all print and electronic event materials, onscreen during the program, on the Ploughshares Fund website, and in the 2021 annual report. Sponsors also enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that this year’s Chain Reaction—Momentum—can be offered free for anyone who wants to join because of your support. 

40th Anniversary Sponsor – $40,000

Help us celebrate 40 years of progress toward a safe and secure future with a special Anniversary Sponsorship. Support at this level will help ensure that the momentum of the last 40 years carries forward and provides essential funds needed now to reduce and eventually eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons.

Sally Lilienthal Sponsor – $20,000

A Sally Lilienthal Sponsorship honors the legacy of our founder. A gift of $20,000 allows us to make grants that respond to urgent needs, such as those that deepen and expand relationships with communities impacted by the production, use, and testing of nuclear weapons.

Advocate Level – $10,000

As an Advocate, you support activities to better understand and shift public perspectives about nuclear weapons. For example, $10,000 is the average cost of surveying nuclear weapons issues, like recent polling on current plans to spend $260 billion to modernize the ICBM.

Activist Level – $5,000

An Activist Level sponsorship helps educate and support the next generation of activists working to eliminate nuclear weapons. For example, $5,000 covers the cost of three fellowships to develop new voices focused on the interconnection of nuclear weapons and other issues and training for talking to the public about policies like No First Use.

Expert Level – $2,500

As an Expert, you help amplify the work of respected experts and analysts working to demonstrate safer, saner nuclear policies. For example, $2,500 covers the cost of one educational briefing for policymakers and their staff on critical topics like re-entry into the Iran nuclear deal.

Purchase Tickets

President’s Ticket – $1,000

As the new president of Ploughshares Fund, Dr. Emma Belcher is reinvigorating the nuclear weapons policy field with a bold vision for peace and security. Show support for her leadership with a President’s Ticket.

Single Ticket – $250

General admission for this event is typically $250 per person. If you're able, please consider supporting Chain Reaction at this amount.

General Admission – Free

Registration for this event is free. If you're able, please consider sponsoring the event or making a donation.  Your gift allows Ploughshares Fund to fund the smartest people with the best ideas for eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons.