CONVENE

A platform for connection, conversation, and action.

WELCOMEFEST

The largest public gathering of centrists, WelcomeFest is a showcase for the array of leaders and organizations cultivating a partisan centrist vision on the left. At WelcomeFest, we convene a community of like-minded elected officials, media figures, journalists, and thought leaders to chart a new path forward for our party – providing a platform for connection, conversation, and action. At WelcomeFest, we take lessons from candidates who overperform to craft a strong, robust, and vibrant centrist faction.

  • “If we run candidates that D.C. finds appealing, we’re probably going to lose. There’s an inverse correlation between what you guys all find appealing and what the median voter finds appealing.”

    - Lakshya Jain at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “Politics has become irrelevant to most people because it has excluded the things that touch their life. It’s about making politics more relevant to more people.”

    - Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “There’s a hunger for people to work together, to try to find solutions and to talk in common sense terms.”

    - Rep. Tom Suozzi at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “We love an argument, arguments are good, arguments are healthy. If we are ever going to have an argument as a party it needs to be right now”

    - Liam Kerr at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “You have interests groups whose main mode of action is to generate negative press for other democrats”

    - Matt Yglesias at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “How do we create and build infrastructure of people who are focused not on purity but on winning so that we can make sustainable progress on the things we care about?"

    - Lanae Erickson at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “Americans know what democrats are against, they don’t know what we are for”

    - Rep. Jake Auchinchloss at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “There are people here who have been significant leaders in the progressive movement over the last decade who know that there is a more realistic path that we have to take for our party and our country.”

    - Liam Kerr at WelcomeFest 2025

  • "The shift between 2016 and 2024 was almost entirely driven by non-white moderate and conservative voters."

    - David Shor at WelcomeFest 2025

  • "How many house seats have the progressive caucus flipped? Exactly zero.”

    - Lanae Erickson at WelcomeFest 2025

  • “Democrats have a substance issue. But we also have a style issue. We have lost a lot of alpha energy.”

    - Sen. Elissa Slotkin at WelcomeFest 2025

WELCOMEFEST 2025

This year, we heard from Senators and Members of Congress like Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Rep. Jared Golden on the importance of local leadership and authenticity when running a campaign.

Journalists and influencers like Matt Yglesias and Josh Barro shared their views on the outsized influence of far left advocacy groups on the party platform and the abundance vision for Democratic policy.

Political strategists like David Shor and Lakshya Jain took a deep dive into data, looking at where we went wrong in 2024 and what centrist candidates need to do to win back momentum in 2026.

The event was co-sponsored by our partners at Third Way, NewDEAL Leaders, The Next 50, New Democrat Coalition, Blue Dog Coalition, Future Caucus, The State's Forum, The Inclusive Abundance Initiative, and Dream for America.

WelcomeFest Co-Sponsors

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contact@welcome.team

+1 617-334-5637

1032 15th Street NW Suite 247
Washington, D.C. 20005

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