Executive Director
Kamy Akhavan, former CEO of ProCon.org, the nation’s leading source of nonpartisan research on controversial issues, now leads the Center for the Political Future (CPF) at the University of Southern California. As the Executive Director, Kamy oversees the operations of all CPF components including the Unruh Institute of Politics, Fellows Program, the USC Dornsife Poll, and community and global engagement.
Kamy writes and speaks on numerous topics including the origins of and solutions to political polarization, improving interpersonal communication, the awesome power of debate, nonprofit leadership, digital marketing, civics education, and how to teach controversial issues. In addition to those topics, Kamy is a moderator, panelist, and keynote speaker on elections and current political events, as well as hot topics from marijuana legalization to gun control and from the death penalty to physician-assisted suicide.
With more than 20 years of experience in bridging divides at national levels, Kamy’s work has served more than 300 million people, including students at more than 13,000 schools in all 50 states and 100 countries. He has been published and interviewed in textbooks, magazines, television, radio, newspapers, and websites including Reuters, Associated Press, Fox News, ABC, Washington Post, NPR, CNN, and CBS.
Kamy teaches six USC classes:
- Dornsife Toolkit MDA 300x class “Doing Good: How to Start and Run a Successful Nonprofit Organization.” dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/3376/class-on-doing-good/
- USC Career Launchpad class “People Skills for a Polarized World” careerlaunchpad.usc.edu
- USC SkillUp Class “Overcoming Polarization in the Workplace”
- USC SkillUp Class “Careers in Politics”
- USC SkillUp Class “Making a Nonprofit Your Career”
- POSC 395 class “Directed Governmental and Political Leadership Internship.” classes.usc.edu/term-20233/classes/posc/
Outside of USC, Kamy serves on several boards including: Bridging Movement Alignment Council (BMAC), Common Ally, Critica, Gell, Listen First Project, PERKS Inc., Psychology of Technology Institute, Team Awareness Combating Overdose (TACO), and The Society Library.
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