This week's Democracy Notes
G’day!
Happy (almost) end of January to those who celebrate.
(Whenever it snows I still get a ~flurry~ of excitement that we’ll all get a day off school.)
On a wholly unrelated note…I’m intrigued by last week’s poll results!
Neat!
A brief reminder: the launch event for Democracy Notes 2025 Trends is tomorrow! Join the 220+ folks who have already registered!
Democracy Notes 1/27
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
CivicLex gets $1M from a local donor for an endowment to fund their youth civic education programs in perpetuity…IF they can unlock it (by raising another $1M). Exciting!!
From the Department of Public Transformation, the Activate Rural Learning Lab! (Funding courtesy of the Mellon Foundation.)
The Lab is a 2-year curated cohort experience for teams of creative entrepreneurs, artists, community activators, elected leaders, and small business owners to cultivate creative third places in rural communities.
This cohort is for folks in rural parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
The 10 selected projects will receive $50K each. Applications are due on 2/20!
Congratulations to the second cohort of Keseb Democracy Fellows!!
Keseb selected twelve democracy entrepreneurs and organizations from Brazil, South Africa, and the United States.
The U.S. awardees are:
Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director, American Oversight
Tiana Epps-Johnson, Founder and CEO, Center for Tech and Civic Life
Mary-Pat Hector, CEO, Rise
Layla Zaidane, President & CEO, Future Caucus
New philanthropy gigs!!!
Dan Vallone is now Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the President at the Carnegie Corporation of New York!
Nicholas Turner is now Executive Vice President at the Ford Foundation!
Speaking of the Ford Foundation…former CEO Darren Walker is now President and CEO of Anonymous Content (the company behind Oscar winners like “The Revenant” and “Spotlight”).
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, has joined the Kettering Foundation board of directors!
Tim Murphy joined the Board of Directors of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)!
Jenn Baez joined the Knight Foundation as Director of Operations for Community Impact!
What to read:
(The big news)
I was pleasantly surprised to see that 60+ corporations (!!) signed the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce’s open letter on Sunday.
They include the CEOs or leaders of: the Minnesota Vikings, 3M, Best Buy, Cargill, General Mills, Land O’Lakes, and Target. Damn!
Good roundup of chamber of commerce statements on ICE’s impact here.
I ~LOVE~ a good chart. And this piece, “The ICE Storm: a year-long escalation” has a bunch.
“We’re taking notes, Minneapolis!” from Grace Odel, who was part of a clergy delegation to the city this past week.
She wrote an incredible recap of the organizing lessons she absorbed while there.
MAGA isn’t a monolith! A new report from More in Common, “Beyond MAGA: A Profile of the Trump Coalition,” provides a detailed segmentation of 2024 Trump voters.
Here’s a quick summary from More in Common’s Substack, and here are takeaways from Daniel Stid in The Art of Association.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Routine federal agency outreach could soon be treated as lobbying for small businesses.
Join Integrity Matters on Friday, 1/30 at 1pm ET for a conversation with Protect Democracy on this.
2/10 at 2pm ET — Join Voting Rights Lab and Secure Democracy USA for an overview of the SCOTUS cases and state legislative sessions impacting voters in 2026.
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
FairVote Director of Major Gifts — Silver Spring, MD, $113K-$138K
PA Alliance Foundation Grants Manager — PA, $65K-$90K
Civic Nation Digital Manager — remote (DC preferred), $73K-$80K
American Journalism Project Vice President, Growth Investments — remote, $175K-$193K
Issue One:
Vice President, Communications — DC, $130K-$150K
Philanthropy Operations Manager — DC, $68K-$78K
Citizen Engagement Manager — DC, $70K-$85K
Citizen Engagement Fellow (part time, six months) — DC, $500/month, 20hrs/month (they’re hiring for two-three fellows!)
Whistleblower Aid Communications Director — DC, $100K-$120K
^ 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!
BIG opportunity, BIG paycheck:
Rockefeller Brothers Fund President and CEO — NYC, $700K-$750K
Here’s a LinkedIn post from Chair of the Board of Trustees, Joseph Pierson.
Heartland Fund Senior Director of Finance and Operations — remote, $170K-$200K
Interfaith Alliance Program Operations Associate — DC, $70K-$90K
Kettering Foundation Director of Human Resources — Dayton, OH, $120K-$140K
Pivotal Senior Director, Strategic Philanthropy & Platforms — Seattle or DC (remote considered), $316K-$333K
MIT Election Data and Science Lab Senior Research Support Associate — Cambridge, MA, $22-$30/hr
NEO Philanthropy Vice President and Executive Director, Four Freedoms Fund/Four Freedoms Action Fund — remote, $250K-$285K
Ford Foundation Director, Office of the Chief Innovation Officer — NYC, $212K-$230K
Work for America Talent Accelerator Workshop Delivery Partner RFP — remote, Feb.-June ‘26 (with option to extend)
National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation 2026 Spring Intern Cohort — remote, (1-15 hrs/week)
Common Ground USA is hiring independent contractors for their Resilient States Project across three states:
Georgia Trust for Local News Executive Director/Publisher — GA, no $ info
Transitions, transitions:
(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)
Megan Irving Tyler has joined America Votes as Deputy Executive Director, Network & Partnerships!
Abigail Bellows is now Senior Policy Director for Anti-Corruption & Accountability at Common Cause!
She was previously Director for Anti-Corruption at the National Security Council at the White House.
Nicole Weir joins CivicLex as their new Director of Impact!
Katie Evans is now Managing Director at the Tech & Society Initiative at Georgetown University. Congratulations!
Ron Garcia-Fogarty is now the Eastern NC and Latine Campaign Manager for You Can Vote!
Submit your job transitions (or promotions!) here.
Talk soon!
Gabe