This week's Democracy Notes
Helloooo!
As always, I’m feeling curious. Indulge me…
Separately…do you steer strategy for a small family foundation?
We’re looking to gather a few people in that position to build community and strategize together! Send me a note at Gabe@Democracy-Notes.org if that sounds like you.
Funders!! Join Rhizome’s Funder Brief with four youth organizers, Cecilia Conrad of Lever for Change, Lucien Rothenstein of Educational Foundation of America, and Amy McIsaac of PACE at 12pm ET this Friday! More deets below!
P.S. For some reason a TON of foundations decided to hire democracy program officers/directors this month! Check out the jobs section!
Democracy Notes 5/7
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
New funding opportunity from New Profit! They launched an open call for “Connected Futures” — a cohort for orgs whose core work helps bridge divides and bring people together to solve problems collectively.
Members of the cohort will receive:
$100K in unrestricted funding,
$10K leadership development stipend, and
A year of strategic advising, capacity-building support, and peer learning.
Discovery Form deadline is 5/26! Selected orgs will then be invited to officially apply in June.
Grants, grants, grants!
Blandin Foundation awarded a three-year $490K grant to the Department of Public Transformation to strengthen civic engagement in rural Minnesota.
MacArthur Foundation awarded a three-year $100K general operating grant to Media Impact Funders!
Einhorn Collaborative awarded $10M (!) to C&S (formerly the Institute for Citizens and Scholars) to support campus initiatives to counter polarization.
Hear from Heather Gerken of the Ford Foundation on Daniel Stid’s podcast, “The Art of Association.”
Brian Eule, the Heising-Simons Foundation’s new President and CEO announced a new grantmaking initiative focused on journalism!
The classifieds:
(Share what you’re up to!)
The classifieds are back! If you’d like us to include something, our pricing is here.
Join Rhizome’s Funder Brief with four Youth Organizers, Cecilia Conrad of Lever For Change, Lucien Rothenstein of Educational Foundation of America, and Amy McIsaac of PACE at 12pm ET this Friday!
Rhizome was co-founded by 90 (!) young people across the country in 2021. Their purpose is to build collective power for young people to create the safer, happier, healthier world they want to live in. They use democratic decision-making systems, with young people designing long-term civic infrastructure this spring:
What Authoritarianism Does & Youth Campaign For a Free and Fair Democracy: their midterm action and narrative campaign.
Visionary Platform: the long-term issues Youth Organizers and Fellows focus on organizing around.
Power Analysis: the levers of power Rhizome focuses on to create change.
What to read:
(The big news)
A deep dive into strategy, impact, and learning for democracy orgs, from folks with international experience (Brendan Halloran and Suvarna Hulawale)!
Check out their discussion paper, published in Expand Democracy.
A big thank you to Lisa Quay for shouting out Democracy Notes’ field-building efforts! Woo!!
From Rachel Kleinfeld, the facts on political violence in the U.S. in 2026.
Congrats to D-HUB on the launch of their new “Anti-Authoritarian Toolkit!”
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Narrative nerds! Four-part series on “building narrative power for solidarity and systems change” from Race Forward:
5/7, 5/14, 5/21, and 5/28 all at 3pm ET!
What comes after the algorithmic feed? Join New_ Public on 5/12 at 1pm ET for the launch of new research on how AI will reshape the information environment.
The Civic Information Index project is mapping civic information and health in every county in America across 27 indicators. Damn!!
For more, join this webinar on 5/13 at 1pm ET from Next City.
Featuring folks from the Information Futures Lab at Brown University, National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Listening Post Collective, and Minnesota Council on Foundations.
In DC!!
5/14 at 4pm ET — a conversation on philanthropic freedom hosted by the Cato Institute with MacArthur Foundation’s John Palfrey and and DonorsTrust President and CEO Lawson R. Bader.
5/18 at 5pm ET — join Issue One for a book talk and reception with Glen Galaich (Stupski Foundation) about his new book Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short.
The program includes leaders at Charitable Independence Initiative, Democracy Fund (Joe Goldman), Grantmakers in Health, and the Marguerite Casey Foundation (Dr. Carmen Rojas).
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
Voting Rights Lab Senior Director, Individual Giving (Major Gifts) — remote, $135K-$170K
The Chamberlain Network Operations Associate — remote, $65K-$80K
American Futures Communications Director — remote (part-time), $10K/month, three months
Issue One:
Special Assistant to the CEO and COO — DC, $60K-$70K
Strategic Communications Manager — DC, $70K-$80K
Common Ground USA Officer, Procurement — remote, $57K-$67K
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Litigation Counsel/Senior Litigation Counsel — DC, $145K-$190K
Citizen University Communications and Outreach Manager — remote, $76K-$86K
The Viewpoints Project Director of Strategic Partnerships — remote, $28K-$40K (part-time, ~20 hours/week)
OutVote Fellowship — IA-01, MI-07, and NC-11, $1,500 + $500 resource fund
They’re looking to bring on ten Fellows + one State Organizer/district!
Protect Democracy:
Counsel (Early Career) — remote, $100K-$110K
Counsel — remote, $138K-$150K
^ 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!
Campus Compact HR Partner (RFP) — remote, $30K-$70K annual budget
Democracy Fund Program Officer — remote, $124K
Democracy Rising Collaborative Summer Fellowship — remote, $10K-$15K
Democracy Forward:
Director of the Future of Government Talent Program — remote, $150K-$170K
Director of Government Workforce Reform, Democracy Works 250 — remote, $150K-$170K
Oversight Counsel — remote, $155K-$165K
Parallax Innovations Chief of Staff — Denver, $150K
A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy Operations and Special Projects Summer Intern — remote, $500-$700/week
Interactivity Foundation Program Coordinator, Collaborative Discussion Project — remote, $60K
Constructive Dialogue Institute Business Development Representative — remote, $70K-$80K
Unify America Senior Partnerships Manager — remote, $80K-$90K
Center for Democracy & Technology Elections and Democracy Fellow — DC, $62K-$72K
BridgeUSA Special Assistant to the CEO — remote, $70K
Recoding America Fund Chief Digital and AI Officer — remote (DC or SF preference), $230K-$300K
MacArthur Foundation Associate General Counsel — Chicago, $175K
The Henry Luce Foundation Program Director - Democracy and Civic Life — NYC, $200K-$230K
One America Movement Executive Associate — Bowie, MD, $53K-$69K
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Vice President, Communications — DC, $211K-$245K
Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership Executive Director — Cambridge, $121K-$216K
The Klarman Family Foundation Program Officer — Boston, $115K-$130K
American Promise Strategic Communications Specialist — remote, $95K-$105K
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Program Officer, Civil Society — Flint, MI, $125K-$150K
Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics Public Relations Specialist II — New Brunswick, NJ, $60K-$88K
Greater Good Science Center Bridging Differences Facilitator — remote, $100K-$106K
California Voter Foundation Program Manager — remote, part-time, no $ info
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
The Citizen Service named Rashawn Davis as Executive Director!!
LOTS of promotions over at Generation Citizen! Congratulations y’all!
Megan Brandon is now Executive Director, South!
Sarah Kelly is now Chief Development & Growth Officer!
Kate Mentz is now Senior Program Manager, Mid-Atlantic Region!
Adam Westbrook is now Senior Program Director, New England!
Faith Carbon is now Program Director, New England!
Sunaina Rao is now Senior Director, Strategic Learning and Evaluation!
Teresa Mozur is now Senior Manager, Media Relations at Democracy Defenders Action!
Hadar Harris is transitioning from PEN America to Executive Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA Law School!
Andrew Ansel is now Vice President of Philanthropy at Issue One!
Ross Weisman is now Communications Manager at Committee of Seventy!
Joy Lin and Luba Mullen have joined the Development & Strategic Partnerships Team at Allbritton Journalism Institute!
Barbara Davimora is now a Senior Research Manager at the Center for Tech and Civic Life!
Demelza Baer joined Campaign Legal Center as Senior Director of Policy!
Submit your job transitions (or promotions!) here.
See you soon,
Gabe