This week's Democracy Notes
Howdy!
Are you an ops professional? Have an amazing ops person on your team? We’ve got something fun for you!
EDs and CEOs have lots of opportunities for peer learning. But what about COOs and other ops folks?
We’re launching two peer-learning cohorts for ops professionals in the coming months:
One for COOs and other senior-most ops leaders. (Application here, deadline: 8/8.)
And one for non-exec ops leaders. (Application here, deadline 8/30.)
Some additional deets:
Cohorts will run for ~9 months.
Each cohort will be capped at 15 people (we’ll have a waitlist thereafter).
Funders! Please feel free to share this with your democracy-focused grantees (and let us know if you’d like to support this type of thing!).
P.S. Long-time readers may know that we’ve run a peer-learning cohort for fundraising professionals for the past year and a half. More on that in the coming months!
Out of curiosity…
Alright, on to the good stuff!
Democracy Notes 7/24
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
Nifty ~civic science media~ grant opportunity! The Center for Cooperative Media (with support from the Rita Allen Foundation) is offering up to $15K for:
“Experimental, collaborative media projects that help people engage with science in meaningful ways.”
Application here. Deadline is 8/31!
In a typical year, the Marguerite Casey Foundation gives out about $25M. Since February, they’ve moved over $85M (!!)
As their President and CEO Carmen Rojas writes in Inside Philanthropy, “If not now, when?”
Their board committed to spending $130M this year in February.
In a similar vein, the Stupski Foundation (in spend-down mode) is awarding 76% of its lifetime remaining grant funds this year.
This means an additional $23M to existing grantees, bringing their total projected 2025 grantmaking to over $57M.
The president of the center-right F. M. Kirby Foundation is a fan of civic infrastructure!
What to read:
(The big news)
Our fave fellow Substackers over at Connective Tissue launched a membership model!
I can’t overstate how intentional they were. I mean…look at this FAQ doc.
“Mamdani won, but ranked-choice voting lost” by Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director of the Institute for Responsive Government, in The Hill.
Sam might like the results of the Portland city council’s single-transferrable vote RCV election better, though.
Researchers found that the system “delivered strikingly well on its promise of better proportionality for the voters of Portland.”
Too much deliberation, not enough capacity to enact change? That’s what scholars of democracy innovation argue in this paper.
From Thomas Carothers, Rachel Kleinfeld, and Richard Youngs at Carnegie: what might the future of international democracy support look like?
(Part 3, in particular, is interesting.)
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
A new democracy movie?? Neat. Check out the trailer for “American Troubles: A Tale of Two Democracies” from More Equitable Democracy here.
P.S. If you’re in Chicago on 7/31, you can attend a special preview screening!
Call for proposals! The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Annual Meeting theme is: “Answering the Call for Constructive Engagement.”
Session proposals are due 7/31!
There’ll be a program track: “Educating for a Democracy in Question.”
Campus leaders! Join Unify America and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge for a virtual event on incorporating their “Deep Dive” into your civic engagement strategy.
August 6 at 1PM ET!
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
Human Rights Foundation Digital Marketing Lead — NYC, $90K-$100K
National Trust for Local News Head of Development — remote, $200K+
They’re looking for an August start, so apply soon!!
Creating Citizens at Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California School Partnerships Manager — San Francisco, $65K-$75K
Protect Democracy:
Major Gifts Officer — remote, $84K-$94K
Legislative & Advocacy Specialist — DC, $72,400-$81K
Institute for Citizens and Scholars Communications Manager — remote, $75K+
^ 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!
The School of Civic Leadership at UT Austin is looking hire several professors!
They’re also looking for an Events Manager!
George Washington University Multiracial Democracy Project Director, Emerging Technologies Initiative — DC, $83K-$140K
URL Media Advertising Sales Account Executive — remote (NY, NY, CA, PA, or IL), $65K-$75K + commission
Human Rights Foundation (NYC):
Editor — $70K-$80K
Press Officer — $70K-$80K
Syracuse University Postdoctoral Researcher Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration (PARCC) — Syracuse, $62K-$70K
Constructive Dialogue Institute:
VP of Strategic Communications — NYC, $175K-$195K
VP of Development — remote, $175-$195K
Free Press Civic Media Campaign Manager — DC/remote, $80K-$85K (priority deadline 8/10)
Open Secrets:
Researcher — remote, $45K-$47K
Python Developer, Data Acquisition & Scraping — remote, no $ info
City University of New York Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice Chief of Staff — NYC, $165K-$175K
Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG) Project Administrator — remote, 20-25 hrs/week, $18-$22/hr (due 7/31!)
America Votes National Director of Engineering and Product — DC, $125K-$135K
Media Democracy Fund Executive Director — remote, $190K+
Eight (!) roles over at the MacArthur Foundation! All Chicago-based.
Lots were posted ~a month ago.
Impactual LLC:
Program Manager — remote, $65K-$105K
Associate — remote, $50K-$75K
Eden Prairie Local News CEO/Publisher — Minneapolis (preferably Eden Prairie), $75K-$90K
Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
Director of Major Gifts — remote, $112K-$132K
Donor Engagement Manager — remote, $76K-$93K
Interfaith America:
Director of Community Service Partnerships — Chicago preferred, $100K-$110K (apply by 8/4!)
Director of Educational Partnerships — Chicago/remote (DC, MA, MD, MI, NC, NY, OH, VA, and WI only), $100K-$110K
Bridge Grades Contract Web Developer Technical Internship — remote, 20 hrs/week, 3-4 weeks, $1500
Unite NY Executive Director — remote, NYS-based, no $ info :(
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
Huge congratulations to Jean Friedman-Rudovsky who was just named Executive Director of the Center for Community Media at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY!
While Future Caucus CEO Layla Zaidane is on maternity leave, Reed Howard and Rochelle Colburn are interim Co-CEOs! Congrats all around!
Janice Jackson, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, is now Executive Director of the The Aspen Institute’s Education and Society Program!
Samantha Ragland is now Interim Executive Director of the American Press Institute.
Work for America has added three to its team! Congrats to:
Chantel Baker Williams, Data and Operations Coordinator.
Hope Williams Rahill, Chief of Staff.
Sophia McGrath, Communications Coordinator.
Submit your job transitions (or promotions!) here.
Can’t get enough of Democracy Notes? Join the Slack community!
See you soon,
Gabe