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

Register for the event here.

Join Democracy Funders Network and Trusted Elections Fund to learn about critical work taking place around the country to safeguard democracy and promote a free and fair election. Enjoy cocktails and networking from 4:00-5:00, followed by brief remarks and a rich discussion about how Bay Area funders can play a vital role in 2024 and beyond. 

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Too often, democracy in America is discussed only through the narrow prism of elections. It can be hard for the field to consider what civic engagement and civic infrastructure look like outside of this frame, particularly in a major election year. And yet the practice of democracy extends far beyond periodically exercising the right to vote. In a time of deep polarization and disaffection, people’s trust in government and their fellow residents is directly related to their believing they have agency, that government will be responsive to their preferences, and that government at all levels will deliver materially for them in their everyday lives.

A broad set of actors around the world are applying and testing new methods of participatory governance, and there is growing interest in the United States. Collaborative governance – or “co-governance” – models such as participatory budgeting and citizens assemblies offer more responsive and equitable structures for engaging the public in collective problem solving and in making and implementing policy. What is this “deliberative wave,” and how is it emerging in the United States? What models have been tested so far, what is still unknown, and how might funders support these types of experiments? Finally, what might be possible if thinking beyond elections and adopting a more expansive definition of civic engagement became the norm in the United States?

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(*Note: This session is not a 501(c)(3) friendly conversation.*)

Election season is upon us. Although we know we need to cultivate a long-term agenda for democracy that thinks well beyond election cycles, we are approaching another election where the stakes for democracy could be dire, possibly irreversibly so. The Republican Party and mainstream conservatism in the U.S. have been largely captured by the far-right autocratic movement, and the former president at the center of that capture appears to have a viable path to another term. In order for right-wing extremism to recede in the U.S., it will need to suffer consistent electoral defeat, which will require strategic and sustained opposition from a broad pro-democracy coalition from left to right. Electoral success will also require new strategies that help both major political parties speak to key constituencies who may feel disillusioned or abandoned by the parties as they have been operating. Join us for this Winning Coalition series, in which you will hear from 4 high-performing groups across the political spectrum working in creative ways to ensure that democracy wins at the ballot box in 2024 and long-term.

Briefings:

• December 12, 11am-12pm PT/2-3pm ET: Welcome Party

• January 9, 9:30-10:30am PT/12:30-1:30pm ET: Republican Accountability Project

This Eventbrite date is only set to the third session on December 12. If you sign up for the series, you will receive Google calendar invites for the third and fourth sessions. Please try to let us know if you are not able to make one of the sessions. Password-protected recordings (including the first and second sessions, with The Rural West Project and Mormon Women for Ethical Government) will be available for a limited time to series registrants who need to miss an individual session. Because we will be discussing electoral politics, no session will be 501(c)(3)-friendly.

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Whether they are elected, appointed, or career civil servants, the people who make up our local-, state-, and federal-level institutions make a considerable impact on representation and trust in government. We entrust these individuals to make our government more effective, responsive, and accountable to the diverse constituencies they serve. Yet all too often these officials do not share the identities or lived experiences of the communities they represent. This includes gender, race, and ethnicity as much as it does education level, geography, and class. Political distrust is intertwined with failure of representation; people’s trust in government actors goes down when they perceive that those actors do not share their values and interests.

While the federal workforce as a whole is actually about as racially diverse as the U.S. population, people of color are underrepresented in senior-level positions in the federal government. Women are over 50% of the U.S. population yet only around 30% of local, state, and federal elected officials. In the U.S. Senate alone, there are three times more men named John than there are moms of minor children, and Diane Feinstein’s replacement Laphonza Butler will be only the third Black female Senator ever. Some identities are even less well represented in government, including individuals living with disabilities or who are LGBTQ, making up only 10% and .2% of elected officials at the local, state or federal level respectively.

Structural and institutional barriers perpetuate existing inequities and make it harder for underrepresented groups like women and people of color to get into and stay in government service, leaving decision-making tables devoid of their critical perspectives. What are philanthropy and civil society doing to impact representation in government at the state and federal levels? How can structural reforms that address everything from campaign funding rules to electoral systems make an impact on representation? How can philanthropy transcend the distractions of “identity politics” controversies, and instead reframe diversity in government as a nonpartisan democracy issue?

Featured Speakers:

• George Cheung, More Equitable Democracy

• Liuba Grechen Shirley, Vote Mama Foundation

• Larissa Martinez, Women’s Public Leadership Network

• Jenny Mattingley, Partnership for Public Service

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Liberal democracy relies on checks and balances to ensure that political majorities do not trample the rights of political minorities. The United States has the opposite challenge today, however: countermajoritarian institutions—some written into the Constitution and others developed by custom over time–-are preventing political majorities from being able to translate public will into public policy. The Electoral College means that a candidate winning millions more votes than their opponent will not necessarily be elected president. The small-state bias in the Senate leads voters in populous states to be underrepresented in that body, and the filibuster means that even being in the majority is no guarantee of being able to enact policy.

While many revere the wisdom of the Constitution and other countermajoritarian institutions, Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky point out that the U.S. is a global exception for how little and infrequently we have updated the “pre-democratic” elements of our founding document. Ziblatt and Levitsky, authors of the best-seller How Democracies Die and the new book, Tyranny of the Minority, will join us for a discussion about the minoritarian crisis that threatens American democracy and the imperative of reforming some of our most historically-revered institutions—including the Constitution itself.

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This program is co-hosted by Patriots & Pragmatists and Democracy Funders Network. Members of both networks are invited to attend. If you have any questions about your membership status or eligibility, please reach out to Hillary Hooke. Participants are requested to adhere to Chatham House Rule.

Over the course of American history, the labels used to describe political ideologies have evolved as much as political parties have redefined their positions and membership. In some cases, these labels are even co-opted and begin to take on new meaning. The language we use to describe these developments don’t always keep up with reality; we are in one of those moments now.

In his latest book,  The Struggle for a Decent Politics, On “Liberal’ as an Adjective, political theorist Michael Walzer advocates for a renewed use of "liberal" as a modifier signifying an openness to pluralism and an element of self-restraint brought to one's various identities and views. He asks and answers: what do we gain by deploying "liberal" as an adjective rather than as a noun indicating a moral and political stance? What values does "liberal" imply, and why is it necessary that a broad community join together in defense of them?

Learn more about Michael Walzer here.

This program is co-hosted by Patriots & Pragmatists and Democracy Funders Network. Members of both networks are invited to attend. If you have any questions about your membership status or eligibility, please reach out to Hillary Hooke. Participants are requested to adhere to Chatham House Rule.

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Local journalism plays a key role supporting a thriving democracy: it can drive voter turnout and educate voters about the issues and candidates they’re voting on, build trust and cohesion within communities, and act as a key check on government power.

However, in recent years, the local journalism field has faced deep challenges. Many local papers have closed, leaving their communities without access to trusted information. And even at many remaining papers, overstretched staff don’t have the time or resources to produce reporting on democracy issues that meets their communities’ needs. Meanwhile, as the internet and social media reshape our information landscape and mis- and dis-information spread like wildfire, access to trustworthy local news is more important than ever for our democracy’s health.

With support from philanthropy, a stronger local news ecosystem is rising, driven by new business models, enhanced collaboration, and innovative approaches to meet the needs of different communities. Join DFN and MIF to learn more about the promising solutions in this space. How can philanthropy ensure every community has access to local news and information? How can we ensure that newsrooms are able to cover democracy issues well? What would a thriving news ecosystem for the 21st century look like?

Featured Speakers:

• Jennifer Brandel, Co-Creator, Democracy SOS

• Sue Cross, Executive Director & CEO, Institute for Nonprofit News

• Angelica Das, Associate Director, Public Square Program, Democracy Fund

• Jessica Huseman, Editorial Director, Votebeat

About Democracy Funders Network:

Democracy Funders Network (DFN) is a cross-ideological learning and action community for donors concerned about the health of American democracy. DFN serves new and existing funders in the democracy field, and actively seeks to grow the democracy funding community by creating a network for donors who want to learn together, build and strengthen relationships, and ultimately identify opportunities for coordination and collaboration. DFN’s mission is to ensure that the United States remains a robust liberal democracy a century from now.

About Media Impact Funders:

Media Impact Funders is a national membership organization that advances the work of a broad range of funders committed to effective use and support of media in the public interest. Media Impact Funders informs, convenes and mobilizes a growing network of funders around the crucial role that media and journalism plays in democracy and social change through tailored programming that explores a broad range of issues and opportunities in the media funding field; facilitation of peer collaboration and resource-sharing to create or expand media effectiveness; collaboration with other philanthropy serving organizations (PSOs) to showcase the power and impact of storytelling through media; and more.

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Free speech, once seen as a core ideal of American democracy, has been under fire from all fronts in recent years. On the political right, politicians have taken to weaponizing governmental power to suppress protests and threaten and punish businesses that oppose their favored policies. Meanwhile, activists, students, and academics on the left have developed a reputation for wielding social and cultural power to mete out severe professional and personal repercussions for what they see as unacceptable speech.

These attacks are shrinking the space for robust debate, dialogue, and problem solving, but they also raise legitimate questions about the norms of free speech in the modern era. Meanwhile, the advent of new technologies has also raised thorny questions around the responsibilities of private companies in this area.

Join DFN to explore the role philanthropy and the pro-democracy movement can play in a principled defense of free speech. What are the most serious threats to free expression in America today? How can we support conceptions of free speech that appropriately balance free expression and preventing potential harms from dangerous speech? What parts of classical conceptions of free speech are still critical for our democracy to thrive, and what parts may need to be rethought in our current moment? How can we bring balance and nuance to an issue that is often seen as just one more battleground in a polarized political arena? And what are the risks if we don’t?

Featured Speakers:

• Monica Kim, Program Associate, Piper Fund

• Summer Lopez, Chief Program Officer - Free Expression, PEN America

• Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow - Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution and author of The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth

• Nabiha Syed, Chief Executive Officer, The Markup

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While questions about the size and role of government are highly politicized, most Americans agree that our federal government should be effective and efficient. Yet our national governing institutions have been weakened by years of neglect and underinvestment, and public trust in these institutions is deeply eroded. As we reenter the familiar territory of divided government, the risk remains great that our national governing institutions will be mired in too many internal obstacles to govern efficiently and effectively.

While questions about the size and role of government are highly politicized, most Americans agree that our federal government should be effective and efficient. Yet our national governing institutions have been weakened by years of neglect and underinvestment, and public trust in these institutions is deeply eroded. As we reenter the familiar territory of divided government, the risk remains great that our national governing institutions will be mired in too many internal obstacles to govern efficiently and effectively.

American democracy is under threat, and many pro-democracy actors have been appropriately focused on defending it. The problem is that defense, while critical, is insufficient. It can narrow our aperture of what’s possible and, eventually, lead to burnout and disengagement. There are also limits to using fear and threat to motivate the public. Put simply, preserving the status quo is unlikely to be a durably winning strategy, especially at a time of accelerating and disruptive change.

How can a field so focused on defense learn to add an offense that inspires and energizes the American public? In this program, we’ll share the findings of our new report, Imagining Better Futures for American Democracy, which tackles this question head on. In this conversation we will hear from democracy experts and practitioners, and we’ll discuss the perils of not being aspirational or imaginative enough and what it would take to start shifting the mindset of the pro-democracy community.

This program is for funders who are interested in expanding their thinking about the future of America’s democratic experiment, becoming more aware of the narrative and structural constraints that make it hard to imagine better futures ahead, and learning about the people and organizations who are thinking boldly and longer term about the future.

Speakers:

• Farbod Faraji, Counsel, Protect Democracy

• Nils Gilman, Senior VP, Programs, Berggruen Institute

• Suzette Brooks Masters, Lead, Better Futures Project, and report author

• Julia Roig, Founder & Chief Network Weaver, Horizons Project

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As we reflect on the election cycle, it is clear voters are signaling a desire for a more participatory, responsive and accountable local government with 44% of voters stating the future of our democracy was a top concern.

In addition to important defensive work against anti-democracy forces, there have been important wins on proactive reforms efforts to strengthen the health of our democracy and mitigate the corrosive impact on money in politics. This has included the overwhelming approval of a democracy voucher program for public financing in Oakland - now the second such program in the nation.

Much of this work has been years in the making, requiring early investment for organizing and the development of equitable coalitions. As we celebrate these wins, it is essential that we examine the lessons learned and discuss the important work ahead to build on this momentum and ensure proper implementation.

Please join us with co-sponsors Haas Jr Fund, Bay Area Democracy Funders, Akonadi Foundation, California Donor Table, and Oakland Fair Elections for a money in politics webinar Strengthening Democracy: Oakland’s Win and Looking Ahead.

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In a socially cohesive society, people can count on access to trusting social networks and a shared sense of solidarity, inclusion, and belonging. In America today, we don’t have that. We are dangerously polarized, but many are starting to see the imperative of building solidarity among Americans across lines of difference. What will it take to thrive as a democracy in which many different identities and belief systems are able to coexist?

There are myriad ways funders can help build a more socially cohesive democracy, but many are wrestling with fundamental questions. Is it possible to advance justice and social cohesion at the same time? What is the range of approaches needed to achieve social cohesion? And finally, what do we know about what actually works to do this (and do it well)?

Democracy Funders Network recently released a guide to help funders think through these and other questions and orient to an issue area that is critically important for the future of democracy. We hope you’ll join us in discussion with peers and experts in the field on this topic. This program is for funders who are interested in finding ways to build social cohesion, those who are unsure about how or whether to invest, and even those who are a bit skeptical of this work.

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Join DFN members in conversation with Rachel Kleinfeld on her new report, Five Strategies to Support U.S. Democracy.

The decline of American democracy is a complex challenge with numerous causes. Crafting philanthropic strategies to address this challenge is therefore an immensely difficult undertaking. This is especially true given the severity of near-term threats and the need to develop strategies that look beyond the next few election cycles to fundamentally change the trajectory of American democracy.

Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Senior Advisor to the Democracy Funders Network, has published a new paper, Five Strategies to Support U.S. Democracy, that offers one of the most comprehensive explorations of the kinds of strategies that can achieve our objective of revitalizing American democracy for the century to come. Even as we approach a critical mid-term election, we hope you’ll join Rachel in conversation with DFN members to discuss what we’ll need to do in the days, months, and years after this election to keep our democracy alive.

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Many groups are now considering litigating in state courts rather than federal courts. Their efforts will only be successful if state courts are not rigged by special interests that are actively working to gerrymander state courts, create new levels of courts (and hand-pick judges who hear those cases), or reduce the authority of state courts.
In part two of our state court webinar series, we will hear from advocates who successfully pushed back against attacks and learn about efforts to reform state courts with the goal of justice, not politics.

Speakers

• Evan Gates, Kansas Values Institute

• Speaker TBD, Arkansas Public Policy Panel

• Melissa Price Kromm, Executive Director, North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections

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In this era of grave and complex threats to American democracy, defending and strengthening our democratic systems requires a thriving ecosystem of organizations with grassroots organizing capacity.

Alex Tom, Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Politics, will be joining BADF on July 21 to share key learnings from the Center’s recent survey and needs assessment of grassroots organizations in the Bay Area and his own experiences helping create an ecosystem model for building grassroots capacity in marginalized communities.

Alex will help us explore key questions for the future of grassroots organizing in the Bay Area and around the country: What are the current strengths and most critical needs of the Bay Area grassroots organizing field? What key democracy issues will these grassroots organizations be addressing in the next few years? What ripple effects do we expect Bay Area organizing to have around the nation? How can c3, c4, and other organizational structures work together to achieve critical goals? And what roles can philanthropy plan in supporting a strong grassroots ecosystem?

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The first two years of the Biden Administration have seen dramatic developments in U.S. humanitarian policy, from the historic commitment to admit 100,000 Ukrainians, to the resettlement of 80,000 Afghan refugees, to fights against the Title 42 executive order and mass deportation of Haitian asylum seekers.

But throughout U.S. history, humanitarian response has often been distorted by inequities including racism, Islamophobia, and militarist foreign policy. And initial commitments to refugees have faded over time and left communities on their own - underserved, under resourced, and marginalized. These patterns are playing out again and will only escalate over time due to climate migration and other crises.

Join advocates and funders for a timely conversation that asks: what would it take to achieve a truly inclusive and equitable humanitarian response? How can we uphold the current standard set for welcoming Ukrainian refugees as a new standard for humanitarian migrants, including those from the Global South? What role do programs like refugee resettlement, Temporary Protected Status, and asylum play? How can we support BIPOC immigrant and refugee communities to thrive, and empower them to lead a broader movement? And why is humanitarian migration important to the future of multiracial democracy? How are these issues inextricably linked to the ongoing struggles for democracy, racial justice, climate change and criminal legal reform and why is an intersectional lens necessary to answer the question of “Who gets to be an American”?

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Please join on Thursday, June 2nd at 4pm ET / 1pm PT to hear from organizations from Fair Elections Oakland. This briefing is for funders interested in understanding the implications for Oakland and the national money in politics landscape, the coalition structure, the c3 public education plans and the implementation work that will need to happen. This briefing is co-sponsored by Piper Fund, Haas Jr. Fund, Voqal, Akonadi Foundation & Bay Area Democracy Funders.

Modeled after Seattle’s successful Democracy Voucher program created in 2015, Oakland's Democracy Dollars effort aims to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities and mitigate the influence of corporate and extreme monied interests in our democracy. The public education work happening in Oakland was built by a coalition harnessing energy and expertise from many local groups and is an exciting local opportunity with national implications.

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The 135-year-old law that provides the primary legal framework for casting and counting electoral votes is badly in need of an update.

On April 21, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) will host a panel discussion about updating the Electoral Count Act (ECA) to protect the will of the people. They'll talk about why updating the ECA is essential to protecting our democracy, what loopholes need to be addressed and dive into the current proposals to update this 135-year-old law.

The panel of experts includes:

• Genevieve Nadeau, Counsel, Protect Democracy

• Adav Noti, Vice President & Legal Director, CLC

• Paul Smith, Senior Vice President, CLC (moderator)

CLC President and Founder Trevor Potter will launch the event with a special introduction.

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When California’s recall system was first put in place in the 1910s, it was part of a package of reforms intended to safeguard democracy by putting power directly in the hands of voters.

Join Bay Area Democracy Funders for a 501(c)(3) discussion to explore the roots of California’s recall system and the proposals to ensure it once again becomes a safeguard, not workaround, for democracy. We’ll hear from experts who bring a variety of perspectives on both the well-intended origins and the unfortunate consequences of our current recall system, the pathways to possible reform, and ways in which philanthropy can engage.

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Learn how RCV played out in the NYC mayoral primary, particularly how it impacted democratic culture surrounding the election. Join Democracy Funders Network, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, and Philanthropy New York for a pragmatic look at how RCV played out in the primary.

Funders will review exit poll data on voters’ experience with RCV and hear speakers reflect on the impact of RCV on the culture of the election, including candidate behavior, media coverage, and the voter experience (particularly among communities facing more barriers to participation). Using this historic election as a jumping off point, donors will be able to reflect on some of the nuances of implementing structural democracy reform and the implications of those nuances on a broader democracy reform agenda.

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Experts discuss the urgency, nuances, and practical challenges of reforms intended restore checks and balances and strengthen accountability in the post-Trump era.

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American politics has evolved (or devolved depending on your point of view) into a duopoly with two parties dominating the space. The only thing they seem to have in common is mutual distrust and antipathy. Meanwhile, an exhausted majority of Americans feel like we have to swear allegiance to one side or the other while meaningful compromise and discourse seems more distant than at any point since the Civil War.

We’ll focus on the specific steps we can take to incentivize politicians to serve the greater public interest and productively work across the aisle. In addition to the public event, we hope you can join us for a private conversation with the guests immediately afterwards!

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This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Find Part 1 HERE.

If American Democracy is broken, who can fix it? This two-event series, moderated by Didi Kuo, Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, will educate and challenge the GSB community to understand our country’s political structures and highlight where they need modernization to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

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This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Find Part 2 HERE.

If American Democracy is broken, who can fix it? This two-event series, moderated by Didi Kuo, Stanford Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, will educate and challenge the GSB community to understand our country’s political structures and highlight where they need modernization to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

REGISTER HERE>

Politics have never been far from the Supreme Court. Are there dangers in changing traditions of the highest court, or has the time for reform arrived? The panel will explore questions such as: Does lifetime tenure for nine justices offer the best construct for the Court? Why are there calls for reform now, and what are the merits of the various proposals being put forth? Is retaining the fixed structure of the Court essential to sustaining its legitimacy?

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