This week's Democracy Notes
Howdy!
You’ve been patiently waiting all year. I just know it.
Well, it’s finally here. I accept birthday wishes (and treats) in all forms, though paid subscriptions are preferred 😉
Funder guides from Third Plateau (home to Democracy Funders Network) are always high quality.
(See: social cohesion funder guide, strategic foresight guide, report on philanthropy, civil society, and authoritarianism, and more.)
In Democracy Takes last week, Third Plateau’s Hillary Hooke shared insights from their new funder guide on Indigenous-led civic engagement. Check it out!
Separately…
Democracy Notes 10/23
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
Top talent! Shoutout to The Rockefeller Foundation for scooping up Congressman Derek Kilmer.
He’ll serve as SVP of their newly-created U.S. Program & Policy team (after he finishes his term in January).
Minnesota’s Press Forward chapter just opened applications for its first grant round. They’ll support at least 12 Minnesota newsrooms with $40K grants.
What’s going on with the Knight Foundation??
Former ProPublica President Dick Tofel wrote a very thoughtful piece highlighting concerns about the foundation, including:
Their front loading of Press Forward funding, an unannounced strategic pause, and long administrative delays.
What to read:
(The big news)
I said it before, and I’ll say it again…we love a (thoughtful) merger! Congrats to Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.
Truly excellent piece in Bloomberg Opinion on the rise of one-party state governments. 10/10 charts and graphs.
Remember Stanford’s Strengthening Democracy Challenge? The results are official! (Published in academic papers, that is.)
One key finding: interventions designed to reduce partisan animosity don’t also reduce antidemocratic attitudes or support for political violence.
For more:
Pretty easy to read piece summarizing three journal articles in Science.
Robb Willer (the lead researcher) Twitter thread.
For all you big, big nerds, the study itself.
On Monday, Votebeat launched an election “Expert Desk”— a Slack hotline where journalists can ask 75 election experts questions to bolster their coverage.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Working to counter mis/dis/malinformation in Georgia? Boy, have I got the in-person event for you!
10/29, all day, in Atlanta. Sponsored by All Voting is Local.
All-star cast on this 10/29 webinar from Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society: Regenerating the Connective Tissue of American Civil Society.
Humor! Gotta love it.
The Horizons Project is hosting a webinar on 10/28 with movement organizers and scholars from Zimbabwe, Serbia, and the US who defended democracy with a combination of humor and “dilemma action tactics.”
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
Public Agenda Director — remote, $95K-$125K
FairVote Senior Policy Counsel & Researcher — Silver Spring (MD), $114K-$130K
New Profit Partner, Democracy — remote, $164K-$200K
Healthy Places by Design (HPbD) Equity Fellow, Collaborative Leadership Support — remote, $21-$25/hour
The Pivot Fund Community News Senior Researcher — Wisconsin, $4K/month
New_ Public Project Manager, Local Lab — remote, $80K
John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship — Stanford, $125K (applications open 11/1)
Unite America Communications Director — Denver, $95K-$135K
Campaign Legal Center (DC):
Legal Counsel/Sr. Legal Counsel, Voting Rights — $105K-$142K
Director, Major Gifts and Community Outreach — $133K-$200K
The Dodge Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer — Newark, $325K-$425K
American Connection Corps Director of Program Design and Member Development — remote, $80K-$110K
Harvard University’s Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation
Democracy Renovation Research Fellowship— Cambridge, no stipend
Democracy Renovation Policy Fellowship — remote, no stipend
newDemocracy Operations Lead — Sydney, Australia (remote considered), no $ info
German Marshall Fund Charlotte Fellow — Charlotte, NC, no $ info
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide Program Assistant — DC, no $ info
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
Marcia Johnson is the League of Women Voters’ new Chief Counsel. She was previously co-director of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Voting Rights Project
Ashley Alvarado is the new President and CEO of Texas Public Radio!
Congratulations to Alix Fraser, Issue One’s new Vice President of Tech Reform! He was previously Director of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media.
On top of her role as Chief Research officer at Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, Roudabeh Kishi is now Affiliate Faculty at DU’s Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy.
Submit your job transitions here!
Can’t get enough of Democracy Notes? Join the Slack community!
Take care,
Gabe