Daniel Stid

Daniel Stid is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where his work focuses on civil society, philanthropy, and democratic governance. His fortnightly newsletter, The Art of Association, explores these themes.

Before joining AEI in 2025, Dr. Stid served as Executive Director of Lyceum Labs, a nonprofit dedicated to improving political leadership and party politics in the United States. Previously, he was Director of the U.S. Democracy Program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2020-2022) and Director of The Madison Initiative (2014-2020), where he led the Foundation’s effort to improve U.S. democracy on a nonpartisan basis, making $180 million in grants during his tenure.

Earlier in his career, Stid was a Partner at the Bridgespan Group and a Manager at Boston Consulting Group, where he helped initiate the firm’s work with the U.S. federal government. He served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives and was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wabash College.

Dr. Stid is the author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution (1998). He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and a bachelor’s degree from Hope College.