Patrick Riccards is the CEO of the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement. He is a self-proclaimed advocate, agitator, problem solver, dreamer, and cheerleader. After leading the American History Initiative at the WW Foundation, Patrick realized the need for engaging, relevant, and thought-provoking video content on American history. 

Patrick established DFI to ensure a stream of short, relevant, and provocative American history content for today’s learners.

Where History Meets the Future of Education

The Driving Force Institute (DFI) is dedicated to making American history interesting and relevant for today’s learners. Its mission is to transform the teaching and learning of American history by exploring untold narratives, bringing inclusive history to students and classrooms, and resonating with teenage audiences. To achieve their goals, DFI produces and distributes videos on American history. The content is accurate, balanced, and accessible, offering short and engaging glimpses into the history of America.

DFI is among the largest producers of American history education video content in the country. Since 2020, DFI has produced more than 500 short-form films about the “untold history” of the United States, in large part spotlighting the role of women and the BIPOC community in the development of the nation. “We do this to help today’s learners find history education interesting and relevant to them and their future.” To date, DFI has provided films to more than 43 million users, helping learners “think like historians” by encouraging them to ask questions, delve deeper, and seek understanding.

Explaining the spirit that drives his company, DFI, he says, “When he was president of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt was known as a “driving force.” DFI was named after Teddy and that spirit. Our motto is “Dare mighty things,” a famous statement from TR.” 

What Makes DFI Unique

DFI uses short, provocative animated films to help today’s learners see the value and relevance of American history and history education. “With today’s high schoolers spending upwards of five hours a day on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, we use video to provide short bites of history knowledge,” says Riccards.

DFI differentiates itself from other companies that employ videos as instructional tools by their unique delivery of video content. All of their videos are about two minutes in length, providing learners with an opportunity to engage with topics of interest and explore further down the proverbial “rabbit hole” as they begin to question what they don’t know or what hasn’t been taught to them.

A Nationwide survey that DFI conducted a few years ago few years ago, on the thoughts of high school students regarding U.S. history education revealed that today’s learners see history as boring and irrelevant. “DFI is seeking to change that impression, demonstrating that history is interesting, valuable, and important to all of us. We are transforming the teaching and learning of history by putting the learner and her needs first,” shares Patrick.

Furthermore, the DFI videos even explore the controversial, complex, or dark moments of history. “We shy away from nothing, knowing that the more complicated the issue, the more likely we can relate to today’s learners and their interests,” Riccards states.

Patrick’s Career Trajectory

“I’m a social entrepreneur,” says Riccards. After beginning his career in government and politics, he shifted his focus to the non-profit sector where he launched new initiatives and helped struggling organizations with strong missions. During his time at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, he developed a new initiative that identified shortcomings in history, government, and civic education. Recognizing the importance of this work and the need for innovative ideas, he established the Driving Force Institute in early 2020.

“When DFI launched, we believed we could produce provocative short films that today’s high school students would love and would share virally online. That belief was only half correct. Yes, students loved our initial content. But no 17-year-old wants to take to social media to brag on the history video they just watched,” says Patrick.

Quickly realigning their strategy, Patrick and the team conducted research with focus groups with social studies teachers across the country and realized there was a hunger for engaging short video content. We quickly saw that the untold stories were the more interesting, relevant, and valuable,” he shares.

Acknowledging some risk factors in business, Patrick says, “We aren’t the first company to use film to teach. We won’t be the last. We have found a length, cadence, and approach that works with today’s learners. That provides a great deal of options moving forward.”

Recently, DFI has also started a new initiative, “Essentials,” which will provide a core video curriculum on American History 101. “We intend to produce 500 films on topics that every student needs to know about our nation’s history, all of which will be publicly available by July 2026, as our nation celebrates its 250th birthday,” Patrick says.

Funding and Growth 

Driven by the motto, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” Riccards realized that instead of raising capital by focusing on what they are doing or by how they are doing it, at DFI, they would prefer to focus on the why. “Why do we do what we do? Why is it important that we teach American history? Why does DFI need to do this work? By focusing on the why, and leveraging the investments of others, we have been able to grow each year since launch,” he explains.

The DFI’s funding model relies heavily on their partners. Their production partner, Makematic, plays an essential role in all their endeavors. The DFI’s content partners, which include the New York Historical Society, American Battlefield Trust, White House Historical Association, iCivics, Smithsonian, Bill of Rights Institute, and several others, also invest in the production of their content. In addition, the DFI’s distribution partners are dedicated to making their films available to as many people as possible. Riccards says, “Collectively, we are stronger than any one organization in this space could be.”

Riccards, The Person

“At heart, I am a writer,” says Riccards. An award-winning author, he writes and tweets under the handle Eduflack. He has written two award-winning memoirs, one about the adoptions of his two children and the other about his tenure as a cheer coach. In 2023, he published his fourth book, a compilation of essays from teachers across the country on why American history matters. His books include, “Dadprovement: A Journey from Careerist to Adoptive Father to a Real Husband and Dad”, “Dad in a Cheer Bow”, “Why Kids Can’t Read: Continuing to Challenge the Status Quo in Education” and “Why History Matters: American History Educators Speak Out.”

Patrick is also the author or editor of a dozen major education policy reports and is the executive director and CEO of Life After Hate, the nation’s leader in the violence intervention community.

He coached his daughter’s competition cheerleading team for four years, helping the squad of 19 teen girls earn a top 10 finish at nationals and a second-place spot at globals. “During those years, helping them develop as athletes and young women, I learned more than I ever thought possible. Coaching comp cheerleading was one of the most important experiences of my adult life,” Patrick shares.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

Riccards says that failures in the life of an organization are as important as successes, provided lessons are learned from those setbacks. DFI’s work was initially developed at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. However, the Foundation concluded that there was no potential in enhancing American history education. 

Nonetheless, DFI remained undeterred and used this rejection as a driving force to become one of the leading providers of history education content in the nation. The Driving Force Institute serves as a testament to the power of failure and the lessons it can teach. Successes are hard-won and all the more valuable for it.

“If one is a disruptor, they must know their North Star. They have to be clear on what they are trying to achieve and why they are uniquely suited to achieve it. Money will get tight. Products will miss the mark. You’ll make mistakes. You have to be able to learn from all of that, without wavering on your why. If you don’t believe in what you are trying to accomplish, no one else will,” shares Patrick Riccards.