This week's Democracy Notes

Lots of democracy, lots of notes.

Hello again!

I promise I’m not offended that none of you want to hang out with me on Zoom…😭

Regardless, last week’s poll results were super interesting.

Some folks want nothing, some want an email listserve, and some want a messaging group. Since most people who wanted something were looking for a messaging group, let me know which platform you’d prefer:

As always, if Democracy Notes is useful to you, share it with a democracy friend or colleague!

If you’d like to see something included in Democracy Notes, submit it here (or reply to this email).

Democracy Notes 5/8

What’s happening in philanthropy:

($$$)

• Jewish institutions! Apply for Ignition Grants (focused on a free and fair 2024 election) from the Jewish Partnership for American Democracy.

  • $1K for individual organizations, $2K (per partner) for collabs.

• The Carnegie Corporation of New York announced its 2024 Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows — 28 academics studying polarization.

  • Each receives $200K, part of a $6M per year ($18M total) commitment by the foundation to help find solutions to polarization.

  • To me, the polarization frame can miss much of what ails our democracy. That said, the research that Carnegie has chosen to fund is super nuanced. (Gotta scroll down in the announcement to see researchers’ project titles.)

• In this recap of the Lenfest Institute and the AP’s Democracy Demo Day I came across a Knight Foundation initiative to gather resources for newsrooms seeking to better cover elections, protests, and more.

  • If you’d like to reach newsrooms with a resource, submit it here.

• Luminate is an Omidyar Network foundation focused on democracy outside of the US. (They’re London based and operate in LatAm, Africa, and Asia.)

  • They recently highlighted a great opportunity for reporters from their grantee Unbias the News.

  • 500 euros per reported article per person for their Democracy Playbook initiative.

What to read:

(The big news)

• Something fun from Protect Democracy…a book club!

• Do you have democracy-curious kids (or friends) aged 16-20? Here’s a neat paid summer opportunity!

• Republicans who are defending the integrity of elections! We love to see it.

  • Great coverage of wins coming from the SNF Agora Institute / R Street Institute collaboration.

• The League of Women Voters is partnering with Macy’s, Lyft, Microsoft, and other big-name brands to encourage voter engagement in the 2024 election.

What to watch/listen to/attend:

(Events, podcasts, and more)

• Do you love TED Talks?? Do you love democracy? (I know you do!) Check out this collection of democracy TED Talks (billed as TED’s “Democracy Lab”).

  • This civics education initiative is funded by Arnold Ventures, the Arthur M. Blank Foundation, and others.

• Apparently I’m the only person who has never seen an A24-produced film. Maybe this year’s the year.

  • A24 and Change Content recently premiered THE SIXTH, a documentary about 1/6. (You can watch wherever you stream your movies.)

  • If you’d like to get involved or host an impact screening, contact info@changecontent.com.

• Applying for Press Forward’s open call? Attend tomorrow’s info session!

• Harvard Rebooting Social Media event today (!) 4-5pm ET. Both virtual and in-person (Cambridge, MA).

• Recap videos are available for the 2024 Othering & Belonging Conference.

Where to work:

(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)

• Center for Tech and Civic Life:

  • Program Associate — Chicago (remote), $59K

  • Organizing Manager — remote (heavy travel), $75K

• Effective Institutions Project:

  • (Senior) Research Manager — remote, $75+ Research Manager level/ $90K-$120K Senior Research Manager level

  • Senior Research Collaborator — remote, honorarium

• Moonshot (countering violent extremism online), all roles remote with pref for DC

  • Head of Communications — $100K-$120K 

  • Head of U.S. Threat Intelligence / Senior Manager for Threat Intelligence — $100K-$120K 

  • Senior Program Manager — $100K-$120K 

  • Analyst (Quantitative Methods) — $45K-$70K 

  • Analyst — $45K-$70K

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Innovation Scholar — DC (hybrid), $65K 

• More of a philanthropy job than a democracy job, but…Lever for Change Outreach and Engagement Associate — Chicago, $90K+

• Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) Outreach and Engagement Specialist (Texas) — Texas, $65K-$85K

• Citizen University Civic Saturday Fellowship — cohort in Seattle, stipend up to $300 (apps due May 17)

• The 19th Vice President — remote, $225K-$260K

• America’s Promise Alliance Vice President of Development — remote, $165K-$200K

Thanks, as always, for your attention. If you found this valuable, please forward it to a democracy friend or colleague!

Take care,

Gabe