American liberal democracy persists against a backdrop of rapid societal evolution. The Democracy Funders Network launched the Better Futures Project to urge democracy donors and practitioners to move beyond reaction and critique towards creation and change. In 2022, we published the Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy report. The report challenges the field to consider the future of our democracy beyond the next election cycle.
Jolts in the 2020 and 2024 presidential election cycles underscore the fragility of the democratic norms and processes we have taken for granted. These shifting sands can foment unease or a hopeless sense of predestination for democracy funders. One path forward is to use futures thinking and strategic foresight to look beyond the short term and stretch the imagination.
This October, we are publishing a funder toolkit: Becoming Futures-Ready: How Philanthropy Can Leverage Strategic Foresight For Democracy. This toolkit showcases practical applications of how strategic foresight can be incorporated into philanthropic strategies and practices. This toolkit highlights our conversations with leading-edge strategic foresight practitioners and funders. It also parses the burgeoning publications devoted to the intersections of philanthropy and strategic foresight.
Featured Speakers:
Suzette Brooks Masters, Senior Fellow, DFN and Director of DFN’s Better Futures Project
Keesha Gaskins-Nathan, Program Director, Democratic Practice–United States, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Liz Ruedy, Senior Advisor to the President, Democracy Fund