The South Carolina Forum is a cross-partisan, statewide effort that empowers South Carolinians to set the agenda on the issues that matter most to us. We aim to mobilize thousands of our state's residents to share perspectives with each other on how South Carolina should improve, and to create pathways for people-powered legislative change. 

In 2026, using simple text, voice, and video tools, we will gather input from South Carolinians across the state. Using all these ideas, we will identify solutions that more than 70% of us support. We will then convene an in-person civic assembly with 50-100 South Carolinians to deliberate, generate, and publish recommended actions for change.

Throughout this process, The South Carolina Forum is building relationships with bipartisan legislators who are inspired to draft, sponsor, and publicly champion enabling bills. Backed by plain-language briefs, district-level data, and resident testimony, we'll advocate to ensure our collective voice shapes real policy outcomes that reflect what South Carolinians across the state truly want and need.

We are building a better way to raise our voices, identify our shared priorities, and help our elected leaders understand and act on what matters most to the people of South Carolina.

We are supported by a diverse group of nonpartisan philanthropic funders to help cover the cost of staffing, outreach, facilitation, technology, and a civic assembly. We also accept small-dollar charitable donations from South Carolinians who are inspired by our work, to help defray our project costs. The South Carolina Forum does not accept funding tied to political parties, candidates, or special interest groups. Participation is free and we never sell your data.

The South Carolina Forum is led by a politically diverse state team, with guidance from a legislative advisory council, a civic advisory council, and regional ambassadors drawn from local faith, education, veteran, civic, rural, and business communities. A nonpartisan national team provides technical, marketing, and program support.

South Carolina has the right mix of strong civic identity, diverse communities, and practical leadership—from rural towns to growing cities, from veterans to students—and is ready to show how residents can find common ground on tough issues.

We aim to spotlight South Carolina as a leader among states in using accessible online and offline deliberative approaches to produce trusted, >70% majority-backed solutions across political, economic, racial, religious, and geographic lines of difference.

We want you involved! Please sign up for our newsletter below to stay updated as we continue to build The South Carolina Forum. As soon as we launch, we'll invite you to the table. Stay tuned.