The Democracy Communications Collaborative (DCC) is a funder-practitioner partnership that empowers pro-democracy forces across the ideological spectrum to build durable public support for liberal democracy through communications. Together, the DCC Leadership Group, Partner Table and Democracy Communications Fund engage funders, coordinate practitioners, and invest in urgent research, persuasion, and shared resources. These mutually reinforcing efforts are preparing the field for the next decade of work by increasing donor confidence and expertise, building practitioner capacity and capability, and developing infrastructure.

The DCC was created to address widely-shared concerns that the pro-democracy field has not reached beyond the choir to new persuadable audiences. Cooperation and coordination are rare, capacity and reach have been limited, and technical, novel, and expensive communications projects have challenged funders. Addressing these challenges is necessary to prepare the field for the decade of strategic investment that is required.

The DCC’s Shared Baseline Research Program provides top-tier public opinion research to a Partner Table of 80+ nonpartisan democracy organizations, cost-effectively ensuring that the democracy communications field has the data to identify, reach, and persuade their target audience. The program includes ongoing quantitative and qualitative research and a comprehensive democracy voter segmentation.

This session will help funders orient themselves to the public opinion landscape that democracy advocates face in 2024. We will share results from an initial survey and focus groups, review current understanding of the movable audience, and preview plans for our next round of research. Finally, we’ll discuss how this research can guide the funder community: What kind of election trust initiatives might merit investment based on what we have learned? And are there important outstanding questions that still need to be answered?

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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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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 last few years, the relationship between faith and democracy has been of growing interest to funders. While there has long been a robust debate in America about the proper relationship between government and religions, there is also a sustained and evolving relationship between faith and democracy. Plenty of headlines have spotlighted the ways they are influencing each other–both positively and negatively.

How are grantmakers to make sense of it all?

A newly released Funding Guide for Faith and Democracy aims to explore the role of faith communities in shaping and making American civic life, while providing a framework for funders to engage with faith communities as partners in advancing a stronger and more inclusive democracy. This guide is meant for funders who are focused on democracy and civic life and can increase their impact by engaging faith communities. It is also for funders who are already investing in faith-inspired organizations but who are seeking a deeper understanding of the unique role those organizations play in the health of democracy and civic life.

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Getting voters to the polls for an election is no easy feat. It requires ensuring that voters are registered, that they are knowledgeable and engaged around the issues on the ballot, and that they have all the information they need about how, when, and where to vote. Adding to the challenge now are widespread mis- and dis-information and dwindling trust in elections and in government more broadly. Join BADF for a happy hour where we will explore the fundamental question: what does it take to mobilize voters?

Joined by Luis Lozada, CEO of Democracy Works and Tatenda Musapatike, CEO and Founder of Voter Formation Project, we’ll explore the innovative ways each of their organizations are using technology in their efforts to inform and turn out voters. Luis and the team at Democracy Works focus on providing reliable voting guidance through the websites, apps, and groups voters trust. In preparation for the 2024 election, Democracy Works will also turn their expertise towards a new challenge: making sure generative AI tools are sharing accurate information about how to vote. Meanwhile, Voter Formation Project uses long-term digital advertising strategies - including some of Democracy Works’ tools - to engage, register, and mobilize new and infrequent voters of color. For the 2024 election, VFP will be working to increase the participation of hard-to-reach Black and Latiné audiences in battleground states. Using innovative ad buying targeting techniques, VFP will place culturally relevant content directly in front of people who would otherwise not be exposed to online civic engagement and voting information.

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We hope you can join us for this special discussion on Friday, Sept. 15—Democracy Day—that will highlight efforts in philanthropy to support election reporting.

In partnership with Media Impact Funders, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), Democracy Funders Network (DFN) and Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP), Democracy Fund will hold a one-hour virtual briefing on the intersection of democracy, elections, and journalism.

Earlier this year, Democracy Fund hosted listening sessions with a wide cross-section of journalism and elections grantees and partners. The goal was to hear directly from the field about the threats and opportunities for local and community journalism anticipated in upcoming and future election cycles. The result was powerful messages about what’s at stake in 2024 and how philanthropy can support. 

In this virtual meeting, the team will unpack major themes and takeaways with newsroom leaders, and encourage a dialogue with funders who are engaged in democracy, civic participation and have an interest in building capacity for journalism in and beyond election cycles.

Featuring:

• Dana Coester, Editor In Chief, 100 Days in Appalachia, and Professor, West Virginia University Reed College of Media

• Angelica Das, Associate Director, Public Square Program, Democracy Fund (moderator)

• Jin Ding, Chief of Staff and Operations, Center for Public Integrity

• Shaun Griswold, Editor, Source New Mexico

This member briefing is organized in partnership with Democracy Fund and co-hosted with PACE, DFN and FCCP.

Democracy Fund is an independent and nonpartisan, private foundation that confronts deep-rooted challenges in American democracy while defending against new threats. Since 2014, we have made grants of more than $275 million in support of those working to strengthen our democracy through the pursuit of a vibrant and diverse public square, free and fair elections, effective and accountable government, and a just and inclusive society.

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) is a member-centric philanthropic laboratory for funders seeking to maximize their impact on democracy and civic life in the United States. Our members share a belief that America will be healthier and more successful, resilient, and productive, if democracy is strong and the office of citizen is treated as central to how it functions. We believe that American democracy will thrive when all of its people are informed and engaged in the process of creating it.

The Democracy Funders Network (DFN) is a community for donors who want to learn together, build and strengthen relationships, and ultimately identify opportunities for coordination and collaboration. We convene and connect funders, curate programs, develop informational materials, and advise donors on their democracy investments. DFN serves new and existing funders in the democracy field.

The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) is an innovative and thought-provoking network that shares an underlying conviction that all people deserve a voice in the democratic process. We serve leaders in the philanthropic community working to further this vision with heightened attention to sociopolitical inequity and the systemic disenfranchisement of underrepresented communities. FCCP values transparency, encourages a diversity of opinion, bases our work on sound research, and encourages experimentation to improve impact.

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Led by Thessalia Merivaki and Mara Suttmann-Lea, based on their research under the Learning from Elections project, and hosted by the MIT Election Data + Science Lab.

This webinar brings together researchers, election officials, and organizations dedicated to supporting the work of election officials for a series of panels reflecting on lessons learned about voter education and outreach during the 2022 midterm election cycle. 

Panels will feature an analysis of trust-building practices used by election officials during the election cycle, a discussion with select officials about their experiences using social media for voter outreach, and spotlight resources available for officials to develop, share, and learn from one another’s communication practices.

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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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About this program:

Free and fair elections are a key part of America’s democratic processes, and in recent years, our ability to administer them is under threat. In the past few years, dozens of states have passed laws making it harder to vote. Voting rights organizations have challenged these laws  and other threats to democratic elections, and many of those cases are now making their way through the court systems. 

BADF will be joined by Trevor Potter, President of the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) to explore key questions about the election law landscape: What are the biggest potential changes to election laws making their way through legislatures and the courts this year? What trends in election law are promising for democracy, and what are some of the biggest threats? How do national organizations like CLC work alongside local and state players in the election reform and voting spaces? And what strategies are most critical to ensuring every eligible voter can meaningfully participate in democratic processes?

As with all BADF happy hours, there will be plenty of time for conversation with both our speaker and with your fellow funders. We hope to see you there!

Covid Safety:

This event will be hosted outdoors. We request that all attendees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

About Campaign Legal Center:

Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonpartisan organization that advocates for every eligible voter to meaningfully participate in the democratic process. Focusing on campaign finance, ethics, redistricting, and voting & elections, CLC uses tactics including litigation, policy advocacy, partnerships, and communications to make systemic impact at all levels of government.

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The Trusted Elections Fund and Democracy Funders Network are pleased to invite you to join expert practitioners in conversation on how to reduce political violence and strengthen our democracy. On this webinar, you will hear from Western States Center, Common Ground USA, and Over Zero, who will share their innovative collaboration and strategies to prevent and mitigate political violence. This work will mobilize a broad cohort of local leaders from civil society, faith, business, government, and other sectors as thought partners, conveners, and advisors to build greater resilience in at-risk states, including Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and others. We are eager to share this work with you.

At this briefing, we’ll discuss:

• Why the growing localization of political violence is concerning, and how a whole-of-society approach is the solution. 

• Our approach to empowering local leaders to engage in this work. 

• How collaboration is key to our theory of change, and how our organizations each strengthen our collective work  

Now, more than two years after the January 6th insurrection, the risk of political violence and the energy of bigoted and anti-democracy movements has not dissipated but rather spread throughout the United States. Local communities and institutions are facing the brunt of political violence, authoritarian organizing and dangerous narratives. 

 To match the urgency of this moment and scope of these dynamics, these three organizations are leveraging decades of combined experience confronting bigoted and authoritarian movements in the U.S. and preventing political violence around the globe. These groups, and funders like TEF, are working together to strengthen our approaches by drawing from our collective tools and knowledge, covering more ground, and connecting leaders across states to learn from each other.

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Join Voting Rights Lab and Democracy Funders Network for an *urgent* briefing on March 22 at 12:00 PM ET/ 9:00 AM PT with David Becker, Executive Director and Founder at the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

This past week, Secretaries of State in Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, precipitously withdrew from ERIC, a reliable and essential national system for maintaining accurate and comprehensive voter rolls. Among others, Ohio and Texas are also considering leaving ERIC.

David and Megan will be sounding the alarm on what this could mean for the administration of the 2024 elections.

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Join us for the launch of the 50th edition of Freedom in the World, which has been tracking global trends in political rights and civil liberties annually since 1973. The event will feature researchers presenting key findings from the 2023 report, followed by a panel discussion on the implications of those findings and the state of democracy worldwide.

Featured Speakers:

• Michael J. Abramowitz, President, Freedom House

• Nury Turkel, Chairman of US Commission on International Religious Freedom

• Leopoldo López, Venezuelan political leader, pro-democracy activist and Sakharov Prize laureate 

• Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Freedom House Trustee

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Now is the time to come together to cultivate people as informed, engaged, and hopeful citizens. Creating a common knowledge base and practices to measure civic readiness and opportunities will enable us to chart the course to a healthy and robust democracy that works for all. 

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars presents a comprehensive civic measurement landscape review and a first-of-its-kind framework for mapping civic readiness and opportunities. Mapping Civic Measurement: How are we assessing readiness and opportunities for an engaged citizenry? features a collection of measurement tools, rubrics, and more than 200 resources in use by practitioners across education, business, philanthropy, community institutions, media, government, and civil society. 

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At their best, faith communities can drive civic engagement, build cohesion across political lines, provide civic education, and play key roles in pro-democracy movements as they did during the civil rights era. At their worst, they can sow the seeds of discord, polarization, and violence in ways that gravely threaten democratic principles.

Recently, various groups have sought to understand the ways that faith communities impact democracy. PACE’s Faith In/And Democracy initiative and DFN’s recent webinar on the role of faith communities in preserving democracy are just two examples.

Throughout these efforts, funders have asked: “What is the evidence of faith’s positive influence and impact on democracy and civic life?” We believe there is an untold story about faith communities’ role in supporting positive character development, responding to crisis, bolstering the social safety net, holding political leaders and institutions accountable to moral standards, and organizing community members to civically participate.

Join PACE and DFN for a look into newly developed evidence, such as:

• Chris Stackaruk of Neighborly Faith will share results from a national survey that demonstrates the extent to which Evangelical Gen Z’s (specifically ages 18-25) civic activities and beliefs are shaped by their faith leaders, compared to other leaders in their lives.

• Sabina Mohyuddin of American Muslim Advisory Council will review new research on how civic engagement initiatives (like advocacy training and candidate forums) that are endorsed and hosted by mosques influence Muslims’ engagement with elected officials and voting.

• Aaron Dorfman of A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy will recap their efforts to mobilize the Jewish community to ensure free, fair, safe, and accessible elections in advance of the 2022 midterms.

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Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) launched the Civic Language Perceptions Project in November 2021 to understand Americans’ perceptions and associations of terms commonly used in democracy and civic engagement work. In March 2022, PACE released data from a nationally representative sample of 5000 registered American voters, and over the last six months, they led a broad effort that invited many people and organizations to dig into the data with them, including through deep dive sessions, focus groups, mini-papers, mini-grants, infographics, and more. With all of this analysis collected, PACE now turns to making sense of what they learned about civic language; the findings in the data were rich and plentiful.

On October 19th from 12-1pm PT, join PACE for Making Sense of Our Civic Language: Provocations from PACE’s Civic Language Perceptions Project. In this webinar, PACE will release America + Civic Language, a synthesis of their most compelling insights about civic language, and share the major findings, including:

• The assumptions we hear about civic language that the data affirm. Teaser: Civic education makes a difference.

• The assumptions we hear about civic language that the data challenge or complicate. Teaser: Words are not necessarily “owned” by certain people or groups.

• Findings about civic language that the civic field needs to face.Teaser: "Civic" as a descriptor is not landing.

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Alice Rivlin was a trailblazer in the field of economic policy and a civil servant of unparalleled devotion. She was famous for her optimism, but toward the end of her life, she was alarmed at the state of American politics and policy. In response, she began to write “Divided We Fall: Why Consensus Matters,” which was completed after her death by her son and daughter-in-law Allan Rivlin and Sheri Rivlin. Although she did not live to see the unprecedented and violent turmoil following the 2020 presidential elections, these events underscore the importance of her long and detailed list of ways government insiders and concerned citizens can become involved in the defense of fair and trusted elections, effective policymaking, and truth-based, respectful civil discourse.

“Divided We Fall: Why Consensus Matters” is for Americans across the political spectrum who are agonizing over partisan warfare, incivility, and policy gridlock and looking for ways to get our democratic policy process back on a constructive track before it is too late.

An event on October 3 will launch this important book and feature opening remarks by Amy Liu, interim president of The Brookings Institution, followed by a conversation with Sheri Rivlin and Allan Rivlin and moderated by Cathy Minehan, Brookings Board of Trustees. A panel will then discuss today’s political polarization, the outlook for the future, and the urgent lessons for America the book contains.

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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 the past, many funders considered state courts to be a remote concern, and often mysterious and impenetrable. However, as many learned after the 2020 elections and are learning post-Dobbs, state courts are where democracy and rights could live or die. In fact, 95% of court decisions in the United States happen in state courts. Recognizing their importance, for years extremist forces have worked to bend them to their will. What are these common and new attacks against judicial independence in state courts? Who are the special interests behind the attacks? And who are the under resourced heroes successfully fighting back against those attacks against all odds?

Speakers

• Alicia Bannon, Director, Judiciary Program, Brennan Center for Justice

• Lisa Graves, Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief, True North Research

• Kadida Kenner, Chief Executive Officer, New Pennsylvania Project

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Join Over Zero, the Trusted Elections Fund, the Democracy Funders Network, and More in Common for a virtual session on Thursday, August 11, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm ET, focused on trends, risks, and opportunities related to preventing political violence in the US in 2022 and beyond.

It will feature a brief update on new trends and relevant research on risks of political violence, an update and deeper dive into Over Zero’s landscape mapping for the violence prevention field, and opportunities to connect with a wide range of experts, practitioners and funders.

The goals for this session are:

• To create space for experts, practitioners and funders to check in and connect with others in the field;

• To help generate a shared understanding of relevant trends and findings on political violence and the current field landscape; and,

• To identify high-priority opportunities for collaboration and alignment across the field in the lead-up to the 2022 midterms and 2024 general election.

This session will bring together a wide variety of experts, practitioners and funders, and will build on the scenario planning and other planning exercises many groups have been a part of in 2022.

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We invite you to join the Roadmap for American Democracy Action in a webinar on July 28th at 2PM focused on urgent efforts to expand and protect voting rights at the ballot box. Come discuss how we can make a real difference in protecting voters’ right to cast their ballots.

States and cities across the country have changed the rules that govern elections in ways that make voting more intimidating, challenging, or potentially outright impossible for eligible citizens – especially citizens of color and young people.

At a moment when there are rampant efforts to limit voters’ rights, ensuring that voters can cast their ballots is one of the most potent forces for protecting democracy. To guarantee voters can cast their ballots freely, elections must be governed by fair rules and administered by nonpartisan officials.

We will highlight the measures that organizations are taking to protect democracy immediately, including ballot measures underway in Arizona and Michigan as well as recruitment of nonpartisan election workers.

Speakers will include leadership from Promote the Vote, working on the first ever effort to enshrine in Michigan’s state constitution protections for the fundamental right to vote and providing for safe, secure and fair elections; Arizonans for Fair Elections, organizing for a critical ballot measure in Arizona that would remove barriers to voting, make the vote-by-mail list permanent again, reduce the influence of money on our elections, and bar legislators from overriding election results; and additional organizations.

To succeed, this work requires time-sensitive support now, for this election (and beyond), and speakers will provide details from the ground on the realities of the field.

This webinar will reflect c4 organizations working on pro-democracy efforts.

This event is being co-hosted by the Pro-Democracy Campaign.

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Join TMC CEO Julia Barnes and special guests for a briefing on TMC's plans to build and maintain critical shared infrastructure to facilitate effective Vote-By-Mail (VBM) programs in this crucial year. Featuring contributions by:

• Samantha Conyers, Advisor on Vote By Mail, The Movement Cooperative

• Emma Einhorn, Director of Strategic Initiatives, MoveOn

• John Malloy, Vice President of Data Systems & Analytics, Voter Participation Center

• Alex Niemczewski, CEO, BallotReady

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For our democratic system to work, our leaders, institutions (both public and private), and citizens need to value facts and truthfulness. In recent years, however, we have witnessed mass disagreements over what is true and how to separate fact from fiction. We’ve also learned the consequences can be deadly. The Levin Center is sponsoring a three-part series of panels to delve more deeply into how facts become established in the public mind and how truthfulness might be restored to our public discourse.

Our second panel, coming up on July 21st, will hear from three former Senators who led oversight investigations. They will discuss the unique role played by Congress in resolving factual issues confronting the country, how committees conduct factual investigations, how committee members attempt to reach consensus on the facts, what happens when they can’t reach consensus, and how investigative hearings and reports affect public perceptions of what is true.

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Political violence poses a growing threat to democracy, from high-profile events like the January 6 attack on the US Capitol to local threats of violence to election workers and school boards.

In response to this growing concern, The Joyce Foundation, Trusted Elections Fund, and The Klarman Family Foundation initiated a new public opinion research project on the problem of political violence. This project sought to understand the public's view of​ political violence and armed political extremism, if and how threats of political violence may impact the public’s likelihood to participate in (or avoid) civic activity, gauge the public’s support for targeted policy reforms, and provide guidance on effective messages and messengers for talking about these potential threats in a way that doesn’t scare people from voting or participating in other civic activities. The project was led by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR) and included national surveys with state and demographic oversamples, focus groups, and social listening. Dave Walker from GQQR will present their findings.

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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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Political candidates used to tout their bipartisan credentials on the campaign trail to earn votes. Today, “bipartisan” is almost a dirty word. Yet practical and legislative realities have remained the same—to advance lasting and meaningful policy solutions, compromise is essential.

Learn how advocates and funders have achieved progress on a range of issues—immigration, criminal justice, and climate—at the state and federal levels by working with groups from across the political spectrum, and hear how their experiences can be applied to other policy areas. For your review, please find Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Building Bridges on Immigration report on support for alliance building on immigration, the history of this work, and opportunities for the future.

What will you learn?

• The importance of using the right message (and messenger) for the right audience

• Building trust among advocates across political ideology

• Avoiding the pitfalls of extreme partisanship among policymakers

• Where and how philanthropy can play a role in partnering with advocates towards success

Speakers:

• Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition

• Tanya Coke, Director, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice, Ford Foundation

• Amy Fuerstenau, Principal, AC Strategies

• Andrew Geraghty (Moderator), Program Officer, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Register by emailing register@philanthropynewyork.org with your name, title, organizational affiliation, business mailing address, and phone number. Please indicate that you heard about this event from Democracy Funders Network. Registration deadline is March 2nd.

Join Protect Democracy, Unite America, and R Street on Wednesday, February 2 at 12:00pm ET/ 9:00am PT for a discussion panel on how features of the U.S. electoral system are exacerbating America’s authoritarian threat. While those concerned about U.S. democracy justifiably focus on the current far-right campaigns to curtail voting rights nationwide and interfere with election administration, the roots of antidemocratic extremism run much deeper. A new report by Protect Democracy argues that, unlike most other major democracies, the U.S. electoral system—single-member plurality—is structurally and uniquely advantaging authoritarianism: diluting minority voting power, weakening competition between the major parties, preventing an electorally viable new center-right party, and rewarding extreme factions at the ballot box.

This briefing will address the following questions:
>How is America’s electoral system anomalous?
>What challenges does this system present to democratic resilience?
>How can we structurally reverse the authoritarian tide?

At a time when it's easy to feel bleak about the state of our democracy, our panelists will explain why they're still hopeful.

The Speakers for this event include:

• Didi Kuo Associate Director for Research and Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development @Stanford University

• Lee Drutman Senior Fellow, Political Reform Program @New America

• Nick Troiano Executive Director @Unite America

• Matt Germer Resident Elections Fellow, Governance Program @R Street

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