New Liberal Highlight: Karl Nielsen

Karl is the Chapter Lead of the DC New Liberals, he is originally from Seattle (where his brother leads that chapter). He works as a Spacecraft Systems Engineer and has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University. When not planning or attending CNL events, Karl enjoys exploring the DC area with his girlfriend, trying new restaurants, and watching sports.

What drove you to the Center for New Liberalism, and what does it mean to you to be a New Liberal?

I got involved with New Liberalism in 2020, when everyone was loosing their collective minds, it was really refreshing to find a group of pragmatic technocrats discussing wonky policies. Though, as I said in the Washington Post Magazine, the main draw was the Shill Contest and quality memes. Being a New Liberal means accepting that pragmatic progress is about incremental change, often at small scales and over small issues but collectively, those small changes create massive impact.

The DC New Liberals have been up to a lot in the past year. Can you talk a little bit about what you've done to advance New Liberal values in the DC Metro area, and what the DC New Liberals have for the rest of the year as election day draws closer?

So far this year in DC, we've been very busy. Most notably, we helped stop a multi-billion dollar taxpayer arena subsidy in Virginia, keeping two sports teams in DC. We also helped pass comprehensive public safety legislation through the DC Council that is already having real impacts to make our neighborhoods safer. Right now, we're working on a series of primary endorsements in Maryland, DC, and Virginia for Senate, City Council, and the House. Looking ahead, we will be on the ground in all three states to advocate for our center left candidates through the November election.

Why should people get more involved with their local CNL chapter?

Getting more involved in the DC Chapter was something I initially hesitated to do but has easily been the most rewarding decision I've made since college. Not only are our events really fun but we get to have real impacts on our communities even in a major area like DC. But the best part is getting to work with some amazing and passionate people.