This week's Democracy Notes
Welcome back!
It’s blooper season, y’all. And boy, do I have some good ones for you.
Some backstory…
When Lilia Dashevsky told me she was launching a new democracy-focused comms consultancy (Emet Strategies), I was thrilled. Even better, she wanted to announce the launch in Democracy Notes. Yay!
I, of course, said yes…for a price, that is. (Narrator: this is, in fact, sponsored content.)
But when we sat down to record, things…didn’t go as planned. (Turns out comms is hard!)
So, instead, we bring you this ~stellar~ blooper reel:
AND, if you’re curious, here are some more coherent (written) thoughts from Lilia in Democracy Notes Perspectives.
(They’re about how the democracy space can up its comms game, based on her experience working with Protect Democracy, States United, the Brennan Center, the SNF Agora Institute, and many, many more.)
Alright, without further ado…
Democracy Notes 7/17
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
Yesterday, Press Forward announced $22.7M of investments in 22 projects focused on strengthening the infrastructure that supports local news. Neat!!
Their Open Call on Infrastructure received 550+ applications. How did they select grantees? Check out this separate blog post!
The recipient projects are ~really~ cool and address four core challenges:
Building an audience, strengthening operations, cultivating a talented workforce, and generating revenue.
My (brief) two cents:
Wouldn’t it be cool if the democracy space had infrastructure like this?
Imagine…efforts to collectively strengthening our ability to generate revenue, improve our operations, build talent pipelines…could be neat!
Speaking of local news…HUGE congratulations to Media Impact Funders’ new executive director, Abby Rapoport!
Media funders can register for MIF’s August 18th Zoom to meet Abby!
The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s July edition is chock-full of democracy things, including profiles of “10 leaders who have stepped up to protect the social sector.”
They wrote about:
Protect Democracy’s Ian Bassin,
R Street Institute’s Eli Lehrer (“A Policy Wonk Building a ‘Conservative Agenda for Democracy”),
People’s Action’s Sulma Arias,
Disney heiress Abigail Disney, and more.
175 → 713. When we covered it in mid-April, the Council on Foundations’ statement asserting foundations’ First Amendment right to give was at 175 signatories.
They’re now up to 713. Neat!
Great piece in Inside Philanthropy, “8 Things to Know About the Ford Foundation’s Incoming President, Heather Gerken.”
Are you a library looking for funds? Looking to do things for America’s 250th?
Check out the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) National Initiative Tracker for the ~semiquincentennial~!
Shoutout to the American Bar Association’s 2025 “Non Profit In House Counsel of the Year,” MacArthur Foundation VP and General Counsel Joshua Mintz!
What to read:
(The big news)
Biiiig (600 org) statement yesterday denouncing “the House Homeland Security Committee’s and Senator Josh Hawley’s unfounded demands for information from hundreds of nonprofit organizations.”
Yesterday, People Powered launched the Democracy Narratives Campaign, an initiative with 30 international organizations and funders to:
Compile and develop new democracy narratives, messaging, and framing strategies,
Have more aligned and strategic communications,
And generate support ($) for the above.
Two interesting tidbits on this:
Its initial support came from Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.
To me, this basically sounds like an international version of the Democracy Communications Collaborative. They:
Run a research program to provide free, regular public opinion data to the democracy field,
Make field-building grants to develop comms infrastructure, and
Convene the field to address narrative, messaging, and rapid response opportunities.
P.S. Want to join the DCC? The interest form is here.
Also yesterday (big day!), Seth Flaxman, Peter Teague, and Ilyse Hogue launched The All American’s “Out of Many, One” collection of essays.
Essays (that I haven’t yet read) from LOTS of brilliant democracy peeps here.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Today at 1pm ET!! Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) webinar: “Extremism and Authoritarianism: What’s belonging got to do with it?”
Feat: PERIL, the Othering and Belonging Institute, and Parents for Peace.
Civic Match Live is back! These virtual events connect job seekers with state and local government hiring managers.
8/14: Communications, Public Engagement, and External Affairs
Attendees must have an active Civic Match profile. Create one here!
The FrameWorks Institute’s Culture Change Project hosts monthly briefings with insights from their research into how Americans are thinking about democracy.
Trip to Australia?? Check out this call for papers (abstracts due 8/8) from the Centre for Deliberative Democracy for their November conference.
Podcast episode from Tech Policy Press featuring authors of their series with Data & Society: “Ideologies of Control: A Series on Tech Power and Democratic Crisis.”
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
National Trust for Local News Head of Development — remote, $200K+
They’re looking for an August start, so apply soon!!
Protect Democracy Major Gifts Officer — remote, $84K-$94K
Priority deadline is 7/20!!
Institute for Citizens and Scholars Communications Manager — remote, $75K+
Democracy Works Corporate Engagement Manager — Houston or elsewhere in TX preferred (remote in US possible), $71K-$79K
^ These orgs really want to reach great candidates in the Democracy Notes community! If you’d like to promote a role with us, our options are here!
Rebuild Local News Director of Research — remote, $110K-$125K
New_ Public Frontend Engineer, Public Spaces Incubator — remote, $140K-160K
Unify America Marketing Manager — remote, $70K-$100K
Alta Futures Democracy Lead — remote (frequent travel to Chicago), $170K-$200K
Civic Roundtable:
Customer Success Associate — Boston, NYC, DC (I think?? Maybe remote? Sorry, y’all, idk.), $70K-$80K
Senior Software Engineer — same location situation as above, $170K-$200K
League of Women Voters of Houston Communications & Civic Education Manager — Houston, $55K-$60K
MoveOn Campaign Manager — remote, $94K
Interfaith America Director of Community Service Partnerships — Chicago, $100K-$110K
AFL-CIO Technology Institute Policy & Program Manager — DC, $120K-$140K
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
Huge congratulations to these recent grads!
Maia Cook, who graduated from Yale, is now Executive Director of Equal Citizens!
Shira Hoffer, who graduated from Harvard, is now Executive Director of The Viewpoints Project!
Sarah Kay Wiley, previously policy director at Check My Ads Institute, joins Tech Justice Law Project as Director of Legal and Strategic Initiatives!
Resetting the Table adds three to their team (guess they’ll have to add more chairs…lol, sorry).
Tresa Grauer is now a Senior Facilitator and Trainer!
Allison Briscoe-Smith and Dan Trippie are both now Senior Fellows!
Shoutout to FIDE-North America’s new (summer) team members!
Submit your job transitions (or promotions!) here.
Can’t get enough of Democracy Notes? Join the Slack community!
See you soon,
Gabe