This week's Democracy Notes

Jul 24, 2024

Greetings from an airport near you

Delta wasn’t kind to me this week, but thankfully United got me to DC in time to cover Future Summit for all of you!

More from my interviews with the young legislators of Future Caucus (formerly the Millennial Action Project) next week.

Out of curiosity…

If you’re looking for ~even more~ from Democracy Notes:

Biiiig announcement from Omidyar Network yesterday. They’re nixing their economy and belonging program areas and doubling down on tech.
- The new strategy will be in full swing in 2025 and they’ll be sharing more details early next year.
- As for their current grantees, they are making unrestricted general operating support grants to ease the transition. 1/4 of their 2025 programmatic budget is earmarked for that purpose.
$50K-$250K grants available from the American Arbitration Association (deadline 9/9) for initiatives that:
- Bridge community conflict,
- Prevent and reduce violence, and
- Support diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Democracy Fund surveyed its grantees, released the results, and publicly committed to improvements where needed. Damn!
- The good: in 2017, Democracy Fund was in the 98th percentile of all funders in the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s dataset regarding pressure felt by grantees to modify org priorities to create a successful grant proposal. (Bad!!!)
  - Now, based on grantee sentiment, Democracy Fund is in the 15th percentile. 🎉
- The bad: despite strong and trusting relationships with program officers, grantees felt left out of Democracy Fund’s strategic pivot.

*Voice of Dos Equis most interesting man in the world* I don’t always recommend other Substacks, but when I do, I prefer The Ticket.
- Why? (1) I’m bullish on fusion voting because it gets us closer to a multiparty system — enabling smaller parties to play a non-spoiler role — and (2) I’m a fan of the Center for Ballot Freedom.
- What is fusion voting? Check out their great explainer here.
Made By Us’s Civic Season — July 4th to Juneteenth — was (again) a big success!
- The campaign reached 24 million Americans on social media and garnered 515 press mentions, including hits in Teen Vogue and CNN.
- 570 organizations participated in hosting events or sharing resources online.
For all you lawyers out there looking for continuing ed credits…
- The ABA is hosting a 3-part series on "A Lawyer's Role in Protecting the Rule of Law, Civil Discourse, and Election Integrity."
The Washington Post editorial board with a great endorsement of national service and the Unity Through Service Act.

Big event tomorrow (2:30-4pm ET) co-hosted by Freedom House and the Ronald Reagan Institute.
- Both the House and Senate intel committee chairs will be speaking about foreign influence operations and US elections.
What other events should be on my radar? Lmk by replying to this email or on the Slack events channel.

Western States Center Momentum Program Director — remote, $82K-$90K
Issue One Technology Reform Intern (Fall 2024) — DC, $17.50/hour
Greater Good Science Center Belonging Colorado Project Manager — Colorado, $90K-$100K
Governors’ Action Alliance Policy Director, Democracy — remote, $150K-170K
Democracy Forward Social Media Manager — DC, $70K-$80K
Pivot Fund Portfolio Associate — remote, $68K
Tons of open roles at Rise (organizing roles, in particular).
American Journalism Project (all remote):
- Director, Philanthropic Partnerships, $141K-155K
- Head of Emerging Markets, $189K-208K
- Vice President, Newsroom Strategy, $153K-168K
MapLight Senior Product Manager — remote, $100K-$150K
Aspen Institute Director, Social Trust Initiative — DC, $155K-$175K
Unify America:
- Senior Marketing & Communications Manager — remote, $70K-$90K
- Executive Assistant to the CEO — Evanston, IL (part-time), $50/hr
Ronald Reagan Foundation Director, Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity — DC, no $ info 😡

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Take care,

Gabe