79 JFK AND BEYOND

Breaking Away

Dal LaMagna MPA 2002 wants to infiltrate the government. Not with spies or CIA operatives, but with progressives. Working across the street from the Kennedy School with his new Progressive Government Project, LaMagna’s goal is to fill the unelected executive branch workforce with people who believe in transparency and who think of war as the last resort. “Our government is, ultimately, a business,” he says. “Who does everything? It’s not the members of Congress. They’re the board of directors. It’s the 2 million people who work for the government. They’re the managers.” So LaMagna and his small staff track the government every day and help others stay informed so that they can insist on change. But why, after 25 years of running a successful business (Tweezerman) and currently building a new home in Washington State, does he want to take on such a big goal? He jokes on the Progressive Web site that when he was young, good aliens must have inserted a chip in his brain that has made him obsessive about saving the world. “I don’t know why I can’t just chill out,” he says.

To learn more about the project, go to www.progressivegovernment.org.