Ron Epstein is the Founder of Tideline.

A well-lived life should be spent one-third learning, one-third earning, and one-third returning. I have been fortunate enough to focus the next third of my life on returning to the society I live in.

There are so many worthy causes that people rightly feel strongly about, where progress and improvements to the human condition could be made. At Tideline, we will look to make an impact on some of these worthy causes. 

But where could Tideline make the greatest impact?

There is a growing sense in America that we, as a nation, are no longer tackling the big challenges in the way that America did in the 50’s and the 60’s and the 70’s.  How is this when America remains blessed with plenty of smart people, plenty of passion, and plenty of energy?   

Looking for a root cause, the common element that most often stymied progress was the rapidly growing problem of toxic political polarization. Politics is the process by which our society debates the issues that affect us. Passionate disagreement, polarization, is inherent in any political society. But when our view of those who disagree with us changes from they are wrong or misguided to they are evil and seeking our nation’s destruction, progress becomes impossible.

So I chose to make combating toxic political polarization my mission, because if we don't solve this problem, we're not going to be able to solve anything else.