The Democracy Program should continue its vigor in promoting reform if it can replace the highly respected Goldberg with a director of similar energy. The ability to thrive despite such losses has been a hallmark of the organization. While there has been staff turnover over the years, including among executive directors, the Brennan Center continues to attract the cream of the intellectual crop by finding passionate, smart, and effective leaders.

The Democracy staff is already imbued with the zeal to work long hours and weekends. “I knew I could call them on Saturday morning at home and say ‘I’m panicking, I’m not sure of my vote count.’ The staff of the Brennan Center was right there to take that call,” Haven says of her successful felony voting restoration effort. “If we had to pay for this level of expertise, we’d still be fighting the fight.”

Meanwhile, the Brennan Center remains a powerful fundraising draw in New York legal circles, with plans to increase solicitations. One sign of Brennan’s influence is its annual fundraising dinner that raises more than a million dollars.

“I know of no nonprofit that can raise as much money every year for their dinner,” Geri Mannion declares. The annual Brennan dinner has featured star attractions from symposia speaker Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Hollywood celebrity Alec Baldwin. “A who’s who of New York City’s prestigious law firms contribute to the Brennan Center,” Mannion says.

Major law firms also devote millions in free legal work as a powerful multiplier to the center staff. The roster of top-level law firm donors to the Brennan Center ranges from Arnold and Porter to Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

There’s also no question of NYU’s continued affiliation in lending not only the university’s name, but the expertise and energy of law school professors and students. John Sexton is now president of the university. “The Brennan Center is a permanent part of NYU at this point,” he declares.

In addition, the center has become an integral part of the electoral reform landscape.

The Chicago-based Joyce Foundation continues to fund Brennan, Lawrence Hansen points out, because of its efforts with Midwest state groups. These include a citizens redistricting guide “that is going to be used as a tool for a year-long public education campaign,” he says. “We watched them from a very early age mature into what I think is one of the crown jewels of public interest organizations in the area of political reform,” he observes.

“It’s not just an effective think tank,” adds Tony Mauro. “It actually litigates, advocates, and it has been much more influential than I thought when I covered its opening.”

Carnegie Corporation of New York shares in the credit for Brennan’s success, according to founder Rosenkranz. “For better or worse, the Corporation created an institution. The one thing that isn’t up for debate is that Brennan is now a force out there,” Rosenkranz states. “And it’s a force that would never have come to be without people like Geri Mannion using their position at a major foundation to place bets on a promising upstart with interesting ideas.”

To Carnegie Corporation, the impact of the Brennan Center is no longer a gamble.

“The result to me is that we put our money on a bet that has paid back in multiple dividends. And those dividends have gone way beyond the Corporation and the Brennan Center; they have been given to millions of people who would never know the Brennan Center’s name—the American voting public. That’s a public that, whether or not they know it, has the Brennan Center protecting their public interest, their vote, and their voice in this democracy.

Justice Brennan would be very proud,” Mannion declares. “While maintaining his vision and spirit, they’ve spread their wings.”