Richard and Joe welcomed Ira Lechner a San Diego lawyer who has long been involved in nuclear non-proliferation issues and politics. He has traveled extensively on study tours and for international seminars. Ira Lechner served as Chairman of the Board of the Council for a Livable World from 2008 to December 2014 where he traveled extensively across the country to raise citizen awareness of President Obama’s vision with respect to the dangers to America and to the world of nuclear proliferation.

Lechner has been involved in Democratic politics since 1960 and has extensive Washington experience

Lechner has been involved in Democratic politics since 1960 and has extensive Washington experience, having served as Counsel to the Employment and Productivity Subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources as a member of the staff of former United States Senator Paul Simon of Illinois. He practiced labor law for over 40 years in Washington, D.C., representing federal employees and local labor unions. He now lives in San Diego but remains involved in Democratic political campaigns and continues to practice law in Washington. He was the original organizer of the Obama for President campaign in San Diego and later served as a fundraiser.

Lechner was elected to the Virginia State Legislature from Arlington/Alexandria, 1973-77. Thereafter, he was a Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor of Virginia and was the Democratic nominee for Congress in the Tenth Congressional District of Virginia in 1982 vs. Republican incumbent Frank Wolf.

Mr. Lechner is Chair of the Board of Directors of his family foundation, “Project High Hopes,” which has initiated a successful program of nonpartisan high school voter registration in schools across the country. Student leaders in each high school also lead the way in civic engagement projects with respect to education about the effects of climate change and nuclear proliferation. Project High Hopes has initiated cutting edge medical/biotech intervention and discovery programs in collaboration with research physicians at Yale, Harvard, and Massachusetts General to find new pathways to control cholera and dengue; to discover innovative alternatives to antibiotics; and in a bold experiment to train thousands of Cuban doctors to reduce the incidence of infectious disease in hospitals throughout Cuba and the rest of Latin America, as well as in Africa.

Mr. Lechner graduated with a B.A. in History from Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia and received his J.D. from Yale Law School.

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