Introducing Policymakr

In the weeks since I last wrote on this site, I’ve been incredibly busy working on a new exciting project, and I believe the time is ripe to share it with you.

In the summer and autumn of 2016, which I spent in the US and in Israel, I became increasingly preoccupied with the disappearance of civility from online, and also from real-life politics.

The aftermath of the Brexit referendum, which left me in a state of complete shock, and directly witnessing, away from the sanitized East Coast where I spend most of my time, the acrimony and hard words that marred the US primaries, and then the presidential election itself, left me reeling in disbelief.

In the last few years, there has been a growing realization that the model for the formulation, enactment and implementation of public policy had become broken. It took me two years after that initial, violent confrontation with the tangible reality of that phenomenon, and with its consequences, that I decided to push ahead with turning the solution I believed existed into reality.

While there is a very wide consensus that the Information Age and, in particular, the rise of social media, is responsible for this trend, no robust solution has been put forward to this problem.

Policymakr, the start-up that was incorporated on 14th December, 2019, has been built from the ground up as an answer that harnesses technology to restore civility, together with a sense of the general interest and of long-term purpose to our severely degraded democratic model.

The best thing you can possibly do to find out more about Policymakr, I suppose, is to read about it directly. People say the website, which I designed and coded myself, as I always do, is quite informative.

To give you an idea of my state of mind as I embark on this new project, let me reproduce here the answers to the short questionnaire I filled in for my Angel.co profile.

What’s your favorite non-business book?

Adolphe, by Benjamin Constant.

If money were not an issue, what would you be doing right now?

Saving the Planet from destruction.

What words of advice would you give your younger self?

Time is the one parameter that can never be reset.

What’s the most creative thing you’ve ever done?

Clearly, the Policymakr project.

Which founders or startups do you most admire?

Not very original, but it’s always been Steve Jobs. 

What’s the best way for people to get in touch with you?

donaldjenkins.com/contact

What words of wisdom do you live by?

Compassion is the necessary radicalism of our time.

What aspects of your work are you most passionate about?

Public service and serving the general interest.

What was the most impactful class you took in school?

Incredible as it may seem: administrative law.

What’s something you wish you had done years earlier?

Become a vegan.

What’s an obstacle you’ve overcome?

Living in denial of the reality of evil.

What’s the most useful business-related book you’ve ever read?

I don’t believe business is about reading books.