Rockridge Institute

The Rockridge Institute was a non-profit, "non-partisan think tank dedicated to strengthening our democracy by providing intellectual support to the progressive community. The organization "partner(s) with advocates, activists, and policy professionals to articulate the system of American values and ideas and reframe public debate."

The institute's stated goal was "to empower people to effect positive change by reframing the public debate and facilitating consensus toward progressive policy goals." It tried to acomplish this by "applying the discipline of cognitive linguistics to reveal the underlying frames and assumptions that structure American political discourse."

Rockridge Institute was made up of "a team of scholars and researchers committed to American progressive ideals, working under the direction of Senior Fellow George Lakoff."

The institute closed in April of 2008.

Thinking Points

Thinking Points: Communicating our American Values and Vision is a handbook by George Lakoff and the Rockridge Institute described in the website as "systematic account of the progressive vision, for the morals and principles that apply across issue areas, and for all the essentials of framing.". [1] The book is available as a free download or as a hardcopy book for $10.

• George Lakoff, Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 2006. ISBN-10: 0374530904 and

ISBN-13: 978-0374530907

Personnel

Staff

• Bruce Budner, Executive Director
• George Lakoff, Senior Fellow and Founder
• Glenn Smith, Senior Fellow
• Eric Haas, Senior Fellow
• Evan Frisch, Technology Strategist
• Joe Brewer, Fellow
• Scott Parkinson, Fellow
• Christina Smith, Summer Research Intern
• Arianna Siegel, Project Assistant
• Sherry Reson, Director of Development
• Nick Harmon, Research Intern

Advisory Board

Rockridge Institute was a project of Tides Center.

Funding

The Rockridge Institute was a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization the currently receives funding from:

• Wallace Global Fund
• Open Society Institute

Past funders have included:

• Marguerite Casey Foundation
• Nathan Cummings Foundation

Contact

The Rockridge Institute
Telephone: (510)204-0646
Email: info At rockridgeinstitute.org
Web: http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org is defunct, an archive of their articles is available at http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/rockridge-institute/

SourceWatch Resources

• George Lakoff
• Moral Politics
• Lawrence Wallack, first President
• David Brodwin - former executive director