{"id":46349,"date":"2025-10-28T19:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=46349"},"modified":"2025-10-28T19:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T19:51:15","slug":"why-i-became-a-builder-a-message-from-our-new-executive-director-stacy-blakeley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/10\/28\/why-i-became-a-builder-a-message-from-our-new-executive-director-stacy-blakeley\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Became a Builder: A Message From Our New Executive Director, Stacy Blakeley"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Blakeley reflects on a lifetime in politics\u2014and how the future depends on building, not blaming.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I grew up in a small Texas town\u2014the kind where neighbors wave as they pass. In the \u201880s and \u201890s, politics rarely came up. My family focused on working hard and raising kids. There was a quiet pride in the Reagan years and optimism in the Clinton era. I remember a sense of dignity and unity in how people talked about the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a small-town reporter, I spent countless evenings in city council chambers, watching neighbors debate the future of their own community. In those rooms, democracy felt personal\u2014neighbors making choices that shaped each other&#8217;s lives. This ignited my love of politics, policy, and a desire to serve. Fresh off the farm, at 21, I moved to D.C. to intern for the House Majority Leader Dick Armey. During those <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Contract with America<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> days, Democrats and Republicans disagreed fiercely, but still worked together and socialized after hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That feels like a lifetime ago. Today, the extremes on both sides grow louder while dignity and character fade from public life. Instead of real debate and the pursuit of truth, we see blame and dehumanization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet there are still reasons for hope. I spent the last five years traveling across the country, meeting local civic leaders. Their courage to serve and build community renewed my faith. Now, as the Executive Director of Builders, I see even more possibilities\u2014to rebuild trust, renew civic life, and refocus on citizen-led solutions. From D.C. to city hall, the will of the people must come first.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I am a Builder because I believe in the goodness of Americans and the promise of our communities, states, and the nation. We\u2019re imperfect, but with our freedoms come responsibilities. Builders lift others up, refuse to divide, and don\u2019t fall into the trap of \u201cus vs them\u201d thinking. I am a Builder because I am confident that we can hold fast to our values while cooperating to find solutions. I am a Builder because I will not give up on the American Dream\u2014for my children, grandchildren, and for all of us. This is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> moment to build unity over division. I am a Builder, and I hope you\u2019ll join me.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blakeley reflects on a lifetime in politics\u2014and how the future depends on building, not blaming. I grew up in a small Texas town\u2014the kind where neighbors wave as they pass. In the \u201880s and \u201890s, politics rarely came up. My family focused on working hard and raising kids. There was a quiet pride in the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":46351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-46349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why I Became a Builder: A Message From Our New Executive Director, Stacy Blakeley - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Executive Director for Builders, Stacy Blakeley, reflects on a lifetime in politics\u2014and how the future depends on building, not blaming.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/10\/28\/why-i-became-a-builder-a-message-from-our-new-executive-director-stacy-blakeley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I Became a Builder: A Message From Our New Executive Director, Stacy Blakeley - 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