Doug Sprei

Vice President of Campus Partnerships and co-founder and Director of the College Debates and Discourse (CD&D) Alliance

Doug Sprei is Vice President of Campus Partnerships and founded ACTA’s national College Debates and Discourse (CD&D) Alliance with David Blankenhorn, the founder and former CEO of Braver Angels. In all respects, the initiative aligns with ACTA’s core issues of academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability.

Doug leads a team of four full-time staff, a few interns, and 50+ faculty and student fellows who co-design and implement CD&D’s expansive campus and classroom programming. He and his CD&D colleagues travel to college and university campuses, train faculty, and lead Braver debates and dialogues for thousands of students. They also run symposia for audiences in the higher education space; guide program development and fundraising; speak on or moderate thought leader panels at conferences; and represent the program to college presidents, trustees, allies, and supporters.

The CD&D initiative is cross-partisan and has engaged nearly 30,000 students, faculty, and higher ed leaders from across the political spectrum. CD&D partners with a dynamic set of affinity groups, including Braver Angels, the Council on Foreign Relations, Disagree Better, the Democratic Erosion Consortium (DEC), BridgeUSA, Interfaith America, Heterodox Academy, and scores of civic institutes situated on campuses from coast to coast.

Doug also produces ACTA’s “Higher Ed Now” podcast and serves on the organization’s leadership team, shaping events and programming around building a culture of free expression on America’s college campuses. In his free time, he is an active guitarist, musician, and songwriter.