April Lawson

April Lawson is an expert in how people can use debates and dialogue to engage tough issues with authenticity and grace. She consults for universities, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, and other entities devoted to this mission. Previously, she founded Braver Angels’ Debate and Public Discourse program. Recognizing the impact of her own experiences as an undergraduate in the Yale Political Union, April designed Braver Angels Debates to help combat the polarization sweeping America, particularly on college campuses. She grew the program from its first debate to one comprising fifty volunteers and staff that regularly engages over one thousand participants per month nationwide. Before that, she provided research and editing for David Brooks’s weekly column at the New York Times, where she studied and reported on division in America. She co-founded and served as associate director for Brooks’s Aspen Institute initiative, Weave: The Social Fabric Project. She has also worked at the New Haven Mayor’s Office, the US Treasury Department, and as a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She grew up in Kansas, studied anthropology at Yale, and now lives in San Francisco with her dog June.