John is a long-time electoral reform advocate supportive of a more level playing field for candidates outside the two major parties. He sits on the boards of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR), an umbrella organization for democracy reform, and currently chairs the Board of Rank the Vote, an organization promoting the adoption of ranked-choice voting (RCV) nationally. John and his wife Mary were significant financial supporters of The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the Maine-based organization that led the 2016 passage of the first statewide use of RCV.
John has supported various other democracy reform organizations and efforts, including American Promise, Fairvote, The ProRep Coalition, RepresentUS, and UniteAmerica, among many others.
Professionally, John is co-founder of Hanover Partners, a San Francisco private equity firm. John currently serves on the boards of two companies in Hanover’s portfolio, and has served on the boards of twelve previous Hanover companies.
John and Mary live in San Francisco with three children, and they spend significant time in Maine during the summer.
Connect with John and David on LinkedIn
As one of the initial driving forces behind the Bridge Alliance and as chairman of the board, David Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process.
As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action.
He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded any one organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.”
Nevins is also co-publisher of The Fulcrum, a daily new publication committed to protecting democracy by educating the public on issues that matter. The Fulcrum is a key piece of a larger strategy to build a pro-democracy constituency of millions of Americans by making it easier to find and act on civic engagement opportunities. The Bridge Alliance, The Fulcrum, and Citizen Connect are all interconnected in their support of the ecosystem of our community of pro-democracy organizations and concerned and engaged citizens.
He established and continues to work with The Nevins Fellow program at The Mccourtney Institute of Democracy at Penn State University. The Nevins Fellows program allows students to complete internships at organizations that bring people together to solve common problems. In this program students begin by taking a Democratic Leadership class that introduces them to a different side of democracy—one that focuses not on campaigns and elections, but on bringing people together to work on common problems. Students learn about organizations doing this kind of work, and develop the skills necessary to facilitate conversations about community issues.
He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership.
Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971. He continues as President of Nevins Real Estate Management. Nevins is married to Catherine Moyal Nevins. They currently reside in Palm Beach Gardens Florida and Cape May New Jersey.
