This week's Democracy Notes

More funder strategies (Packard and JPB Foundation) and more!

Hello again!

Something neat happened last week. (And not just nearly 150 of you joining the Slack.)

To cover a great Inside Philanthropy article on Hewlett’s grantmaking, I had to get a $397 subscription. I dropped a link for folks to donate to help cover the cost…and many of you did!

That got me thinking, is there appetite to help support Democracy Notes’ curation?

(Right now, there’s no $ coming in, aside from the occasional org that pays to include a conference or a report.)

PHEW, okay, enough talk about money. Just kidding, head on down to the philanthropy section.

Democracy Notes 6/5

What’s happening in philanthropy:

($$$)

In the past week, two foundations — Packard and the JPB Foundation — publicly shared some of the thinking behind their approach to US democracy. They make for a fascinating comparison.

I was surprised by the similarities between their analyses of what’s going wrong in our democracy. And yet their funding priorities differ.

So, what will each end up funding?

• Kelly Born, director of Packard’s Democracy, Rights, and Governance Initiative, shared the following priorities:

  • Faith, veteran, and business leaders working to foster democratic values with their constituencies,

  • Work focused on strengthening democratic institutions,

  • Responsible practices around emerging tech and AI,

  • and future-oriented work “that helps the democracy field rise above any given election cycle.”

• Deepak Bhargava, president of the JPB Foundation, shared their team’s analysis to date and some areas that they are exploring funding:

  • Growing the pro-democracy coalition both by exponentially growing grassroots and workers’ groups AND by broadening the tent to less natural allies,

  • Structural democracy reforms (both state and federal) that make the system work for everyday people, particularly people of color and marginalized groups,

  • Prepare for an era of increased repression and violence against the pro-democracy coalition.

• One more point on Bhargava’s letter: it’s rich, it’s detailed, and it’s worth a read. It’s great to see JPB consistently “thinking out loud.”

• Hewlett’s Ali Noorani highlighted an important (and I think Hewlett-supported?) initiative focused on keeping civil service protections in place, counter to what’s stated in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

• The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation was not previously on my radar. They’re an LA-based foundation that recently started a Governance & Democracy Initiative.

  • They fund research in the LA area and just announced their first democracy-related grants.

• Are you looking for democracy-related $$$ as a:

  • Journalist? Up to $40K (total pool) in reporting stipends for democracy reporting.

    • This initiative was funded by Democracy Fund and is part of the amazing Democracy Day initiative.

  • Educator? $500 stipends to bring a discourse-based, nonpartisan civics curriculum to your classroom.

What to read:

(The big news)

• It’s journalism conference season! Great roundup of all the events here.

  • Another great journalism resource: LION’s regularly updated, neatly compiled collection of journalism-support organizations.

• The law firm Paul, Weiss (weird comma choices are theirs, not mine!) launched a new center to combat hate.

• The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism is keeping a (weekly) eye on Project 2025.

What to watch/listen to/attend:

(Events, podcasts, and more)

• If you watch one thing this week, check out the ever-wise Eric Ward’s PBS episode on Civil Courage.

• This is the clearest explanation of proportional representation I’ve seen. (And it’s only 10 minutes.)

• Keep Our Republic is hosting an in-person event tomorrow night in Woodruff, Wisconsin. RSVP by emailing them.

  • Great coverage of their past Wisonsin events in Waukesha County, La Crosse County, Brown County, and Chippewa Valley.

• Issue One event on what social media companies should do to slow the spread of false narratives this Friday at noon ET.

Where to work:

(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)

• The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Program Officer, Civic Partnerships — LA, $140K-$155K

• Democracy Fund Associate, Just and Inclusive Society — DC, $87K

  • Re-sharing this job with some additional info. It will cover the Weakening Authoritarianism Initiative portfolio as junior program officer.

• Free Press:

  • Democracy & Technology Campaign Manager, DC, $75K-$83K

  • Civic Media Campaign Manager, Chicago, $75K-$83K

• Unite America Head of Program — remote, $210K-$240K

• Democracy Alliance Executive Vice President — remote, $225K-$240K

• IREX Digital Rights and Civic Tech Advisor, Digital Citizenship Lab — remote, no $ listed :(

• The ACLU of Michigan Legislative Director — Michigan, $93K

• Center for Tech and Civic Life Strategy, Impact, and Learning Associate — remote, $59K

• Virginia Civic Engagement Table Executive Director — VA or DC, $120K-$130K

• Microsoft’s Democracy Forward Initiative (DFI) Project Manager (Contract) — DC or Redmond, WA, $42.50-$48.50/hr

• States United Democracy Center Project Assistant (Truth in Elections) — remote, $57K

• Foundation for Social Connection Associate Program Director, Research & Practice — DC, no $ listed :/

• LOTS of field organizer and lead campus organizer ($4K/month) jobs at RISE.

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

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

Take care,

Gabe

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