Democracy Fund

"Philanthropy needs to do its part to support democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories," writes Javier H. Valdés and Winny Chen. Here's what that means:

We 📣 are 📣 #hiring: We are excited to announce that we are looking for a Director of People & Culture to join our team of HR professionals (MD of People, HR Generalist, and People Team Coordinator). This person will have a deep passion for strengthening America's democracy and be hands-on, proactive, flexible, collaborative, and innovative in shepherding initiatives that attract, develop, and retain outstanding talent. The projected hiring salary for this position is $177,124 per year. Apply now: https://lnkd.in/guwpR-Hc #Jobs #HiringAlert

Last year, we released a report titled “Democracy Hypocrisy” that shared how Americans’ views on democracy and authoritarianism have shifted over the last several years. See what we found: https://lnkd.in/egJWhGCn

“This decade has profoundly shaped our democracy, our organization, and my growth as a leader. My understanding of philanthropy’s role in empowering change has evolved along the way. In the face of rising threats to our democracy, I am sharing five lessons I’ve learned, hoping they’ll be valuable to others in the field.”—Democracy Fund president Joe Goldman

How can journalists report the news in a way that supports equity and justice? In a recent article by The Austin Chronicle, Anita Varma of the Center for Media Engagement - The University of Texas at Austin explains how solidarity journalism is a key method for reporters: “Whereas, traditionally, journalists treat ‘officials’ – elected leaders, government officials, nonprofit and private sector executives – as agenda setters when it comes to news, solidarity journalism seeks to start with the people directly impacted by the decisions various officials make.” https://lnkd.in/eDtapXzw

Local news is the backbone of democracy. That's one of the many reasons to contribute to NewsMatch's matching-gift, collaborative fundraising movement: https://newsmatch.inn.org/

This op-ed is a rallying cry for funders and advocates to step up for democracy when it’s needed most. Hear from Freedom Together Foundation's Deepak Bhargava, Open Society Foundations' Laleh Ispahani, and Democracy Fund's Joe Goldman on why we need more courage and less fear. https://lnkd.in/eByAy7qe

📊 Our January 2024 report "Field in Focus" showed that the relatively small democracy funding field is growing & changing rapidly. We explored the uncertainties of the field's future, as well as the opportunities for future impact: 🏘️ Community building — including supporting and engaging newer funders. 💬 Understanding grantee experiences — especially BIPOC-led and -serving organizations. 📝 Defining democracy work and its focal areas to bolster future efforts to map the field. ☎️ Strengthening coordination across funders and across intermediaries. 🔍 Identifying and filling gaps for key subfields of democracy work that are underfunded. https://lnkd.in/ee3mrvGn

Studies show that strong local journalism can be good for democracy. It can:  1. Encourage higher voter turnout 2. Counter polarizing narratives  3. Expose corruption 4. Lead to people feeling a strong sense of community. So how do we as funders help make sure every community has a healthy information ecosystem? We explored this question in collaboration with Impact Architects and shared our findings in a recent blog post: https://lnkd.in/gcYF2A2Q