The challenges defining this moment — a national housing crisis, a strained clean-energy transition, an infrastructure deficit — didn’t emerge overnight. They are the accumulated result of decades of underbuilding, overcaution, and institutions designed for a different era. At a time when movements of scarcity are gaining ground, a compelling new argument is emerging: that the answer to our most pressing problems isn’t protection or preservation — it’s building. Derek Thompson, staff writer at The Atlantic, host of Plain English, and co-author of Abundance, is one of the most incisive voices making that case.

In Abundance, Thompson and Ezra Klein trace the political, economic, and cultural forces that have eroded our collective capacity to solve problems at scale. One generation’s solutions have become the next generation’s obstacles. Rules designed to prevent harm have made it harder to act. And our ability to see what’s broken has far outpaced our ability to fix it. At this NationSwell Signature Dinner, we’ll gather an intimate group of senior leaders across business, finance, philanthropy, policy, and the social sector for an open conversation with Derek on these ideas — and what a politics of abundance might look like in practice.

This is a Chatham House Rule conversation — candid, peer-to-peer, and designed for the kind of exchange that only happens when remarkable people come together in a room.

To encourage open and candid discussion, this event follows the Chatham House Rule – attendees may share insights from the conversation but cannot attribute statements to specific individuals or organizations. This ensures a trusted space for thoughtful dialogue and deeper insights.