About Me

Tyler Fisher is an experienced leader in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and advocacy sectors. With over a decade of experience as a jack-of-all-trades in the U.S. election reform movement, he is finding new ways to contribute to the democracy field — focused on directing philanthropy to high-impact places and catalyzing action on neglected but impactful ideas. Meanwhile, he is building relationships and new expertise within the mental health field. Tyler’s work on these issues spans policy, politics, philanthropy, and programs. He works with organizations as a fractional executive and/or strategic advisor.

Tyler is the Principal of Trailmark Strategies. Trailmark’s clients include philanthropists, advocacy organizations, and early-stage startups. Trailmark’s name acknowledges that any social change actor — whether a philanthropist, advocacy professional, elected official, entrepreneur, civil servant, or someone else — is on a journey. That journey must be marked by signs that you are on the right track, benchmarks to indicate how far you have come, and maps to guide your future trek.

Tyler is also a Senior Advisor to Dalberg, a global consulting firm that collaborates with local communities and global networks of change makers. Dalberg provides strategic advising, data insights, design thinking, implementation capacity, media expertise, and research capabilities to governments, nonprofits, philanthropists, and companies.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, Tyler Fisher is a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation. He is writing a series of essays on “Neglected Ideas in Democracy Reform.”

Before founding Trailmark, Tyler spent 7.5 years building Unite America, a philanthropic pooled fund that advances nonpartisan election reforms in the United States, including open primaries, independent redistricting commissions, vote-by-mail, and ranked-choice voting. He was the second employee when the organization’s budget was < $500k. By the time Tyler founded Trailmark in 2025, Unite America was a philanthropic pooled fund with 150+ investors, 50+ grantees, and a $60M+/yr budget.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Tyler has sought to normalize mental health conversations and advocated for changes that put patients first. He is the author of the “Bipartisan and Bipolar” newsletter, and speaks publicly on his experience as a patient.

Tyler grew up in upstate New York and graduated with degrees in government and economics from George Mason University. He also studied international development and British/EU relations at Oxford University. Tyler lives in Edgewater, Colorado, just outside Denver, with his wife, Stephanie, and son, Theodore. He advises his city’s elected leaders on mental health, housing, policing, and democracy issues — over coffee and periodic comments at sparsely attended city council meetings. He is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys skiing, biking, golfing, camping, and running.

Sr. Director, Policy & Partnerships; Unite America

I currently lead three organizational functions: effective philanthropy; movement building; & research.

I manage, coach, and develop a team of four full time staff and four part-time, core consultants.

Effective Philanthropy | Make the organization the most effective grantmaker possible, including to:

Facilitate quarterly grant cycles to evaluate 100+ grantee requests per year; run internal standing meetings and semi-regular deep dives to build consensus among staff on grant recommendations;
Collaborate with internal stakeholders to set annual grantmaking budgets (e.g., 2024 = $50M);
Coach other staff members on how to be effective Program Officers and develop resources for them;
Stood up a v1 Planning, Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning function to evaluate grantee impact.

Movement Building | Coordinate the election reform movement in the United States, including to:

Manage a $8M/yr grantmaking budget to 25+ movement building grantees;
Conduct due diligence on grants, advise grantees on strategy, provide in-kind value, set benchmarks;
Host convenings, coalition calls, and trainings to facilitate collaboration and shared learning;
Develop shared resources for campaigns across the country (e.g., template RFPs, budgets, job descriptions)
Build and run programs for our organization and movement, including: a right-of-center research initiative; a fellowship program; aggregated messaging insights; a job board; and a resource library.

Research | Run a small think tank that conducts and commissions research on the impact of election reforms:

Authored six white papers full of original research and syntheses of other scholars’ findings — each of which has been used to attract media attention, educate donors, and lobby policymakers;
Approve new research products; help direct reports formulate arguments; review and edit work products;
Regularly publish research work products to keep up with the news cycle. My research has been cited in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Real Clear Politics, The Hill, Chicago Tribune, and many more;
Commissioned 25+ individual papers and provided grant support to 10+ think tanks;
Built a community of 50+ university scholars and think tankers who regularly meet & collaborate;
Do outreach to distribute research findings via media, donor briefings, and legislator education.

Deputy Director; Unite America

Hired as the second employee and facilitated growth from 2 to 20 employees and from $300k budget to a $15M annual budget within three years; we now have 30 employees and a $60M+ annual budget;
Oversaw a diverse portfolio of work streams and departments, including: grassroots organizing; political data; operations and compliance; finance and budgeting; digital content; and key stakeholder engagement;
Served as Board Secretary, working closely with the Executive Director to prepare quarterly board materials;
Led hiring processes and contributed to 20+ hires, including recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding candidates;
Worked directly with the Executive Director to pivot the organization from an operating organization to a philanthropic venture fund, and transitioned to a more external facing role with our grantee community.

Business Transformation Consultant; IBM

Drove multiple weekly internal and client meetings, ensuring projects remained on schedule;
Integrated a global team of 150+ team members working across six different time zones;
Developed and tracked staffing plans, weekly reports, program budgets, quarterly goals.
Briefed clients on project milestones, deliverables, and roadmaps;
Received training on Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, the Internet of Things, Design Thinking, Proposal Writing, and Project Delivery.

Speaking to the 41st Annual Mental Health Colorado Gala

Civic Engagement

Publisher, Bipolar and Bipartisan | Write a newsletter sharing my mental health story and public policy analysis.

Advocate, Mental Health Colorado | I have testified, written, and spoken on behalf of advocates for mental health policy change in my home state

Participant, Impact Denver | Improved leadership skills and awareness of Colorado issues through a local program.

Board Member, Alaskans for Better Elections | Oversight of a leading organization in the democracy reform space.

Volunteer, The Ability Experience | I have ran marathons and rode thousands of miles to raise money for, and share experiences with, people with disAbilities

Coach, Edgewater Basketball | I volunteer time at the local recreation center to coach basketball

Board Member, National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers | I chair a trade association of non-profit democracy reform organizations

Member, Jefferson County Advocacy Network | I am working with neighbors to advocate for affordable housing in Jefferson County, CO

About Me

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Philanthropic Advisor & Fractional Executive