This week's Democracy Notes
Welcome back!
The democracy space is making its way over to Bluesky (the Twitter alternative), and we’re there to welcome you!
We put together a “starter pack” with lots of great US democracy folks. If you’d like to be added, send me a note at Gabe@Democracy-Notes.org.
A few other great starter packs:
Democracy philanthropy by Democracy Fund president Joe Goldman
Civil rights, privacy, and tech policy by David Brody from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
Global deliberative democracy by Thorsten Sterk from Mehr Demokratie e.V.
I should mention, not everyone is riding the Bluesky wave!
As Lilia Dashevsky shared, if your work involves reaching across the political spectrum, maybe fleeing to an echo chamber isn’t the right move.
Over at Democracy Takes, we published our two most-read pieces to date:
After a fairly devastating election for RCV, FairVote’s CEO and senior legal fellow wrote about the path forward.
Lilia Dashevsky (yes, the same one as above) and Scott Warren penned an open letter to the field. They make the case for better comms for democracy (and more).
Okay, on to this week’s poll!
Democracy Notes 11/21
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
Press Forward’s open call on local news infrastructure is officially live!
They’re investing $20M in field infrastructure across four priority areas: audience, operations, people, and revenue.
Most grants will range from $500K to $1.5M over three years.
Why infrastructure? They explain here.
Will there be money for pro-democracy efforts during the second Trump administration? TBD.
Are you a BIPOC leader or organizer within the pro-democracy movement? Democracy Fund wants to hear from you!
Take their survey on leadership development opportunities.
For any questions contact Bethel Tsegaye at hello@betheltsegaye.com.
What to read:
(The big news)
Coolest thing I saw this week: Protect Democracy made a website where you can track apportionments.
WTF is an apportionment, you ask? Once money is appropriated by Congress, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) apportions funds to agencies.
Why does this matter? Administrations of both parties have abused this authority to halt or cut off funding for enacted programs.
Researchers! Call for papers (due 11/24) for Caltech’s Information and Misinformation in Elections conference.
Deadline per this post.
Um, yes!! Paris Hilton was awarded Future Caucus’s 2024 Generational Changemaker Award (alongside others).
In the House, Blue Dog Democrats Jared Golden (ME-02) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) took aim at winner-take-all elections.
They introduced legislation to establish a bipartisan select committee on electoral reform.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
What do exit polls tell us about race and democracy in America? Check out this event with Harvard professors Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Leah Wright Rigueur.
Check out Campaign Legal Center’s post-election podcast episode with CLC President Trevor Potter and others talking about what the election means for our democracy going forward.
For local government folks! (And others, if you’re interested!) Local Policy Lab is hosting a session on promoting civil dialogue. Info here. Registration here.
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
Technical Projects Group (Office of Eric Schmidt) Senior Full Stack Software Engineer — NYC (Hybrid), $180K-$220K
Very neat gig for a senior software engineer — there’ll be lots of democracy-related projects in this role!
Urban Rural Action Senior Director of Communications — remote, $110K-$122K (deadline is today!!)
Generation Citizen Graphic Designer — remote, contract, up to $1.5K
Free Press Development Manager — remote, $75K-$83K
New_ Public:
Community Engagement Lead, Local Lab — remote, $78K-$92K
Head of External Engagement — remote, $140K-$160K
Tufts University Program Manager - CIRCLE, Tisch College — Medford (MA), $71K-$107K
Lumina Foundation Director, Journalism and Digital Strategies — Indianapolis (hybrid), $152K-$180K
Future Caucus Coordinator, Development — DC (hybrid), $58K-$64K
Center for Popular Democracy Payroll and Benefits Manager — remote, $68K-$78K
Online News Association Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer — remote, $160K-$175K
Deputy Director at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential (Program Management Officer) — Simi Valley, CA, $142K-$185K
Staff Data Engineer — remote, $120K-$135K
Associate Director, Data Analytics — remote, $103K-$108K
The States Project Regional Political Director — remote, $130K-$143K
Interfaith America Grant Writer — remote, $55K-$60K
City Bureau Civic Reporting Fellowship — Chicago, $6K (for 16 weeks)
Deputy Director of People, Culture, and Operations — DC, $130K-$150K
Video Specialist — DC, $55K-$70K
Digital Communications Manager, Website and Broadcast Email — DC, $85K-$100K
Legal Internship Summer 2025 — DC, $5K/month
Senior Counsel — DC, $160K-$195K+
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (all roles here):
Social Media Manager — DC (hybrid), $55K-$70K
Senior Compliance Counsel — DC (hybrid), $120K-$150K
Senior Litigation Counsel — DC (hybrid), $120K-$165K
Outreach Manager — DC (hybrid), $58K-$65K
Senior Anti-Corruption Policy Counsel/Senior Anti-Corruption Policy Advisor — DC (hybrid), $90K-$150K
Policy Fellowship 2025 — DC (hybrid), $75K
Spring 2025 Communications Intern — DC (hybrid), $700/month
Summer 2025 Policy Counsel Intern — DC (hybrid), $1.8K/month
Spring 2025 Policy Intern (Undergraduate Student) — DC (hybrid), $700/month
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
Stephanie Wang is now Senior Editor at the Lumina Foundation! She was previously their Communications Strategy Officer. Congrats!
Submit your job transitions here!
Can’t get enough of Democracy Notes? Join the Slack community!
Take care,
Gabe
This is awesome! i want to join the slack but the link is no longer active. Thank you for bringing all this info together!
Thanks, Gabe!