This week's Democracy Notes

Howdy, partners!

(Idk…who ~doesn’t~ need some cowboy energy on a Thursday afternoon.)

Quick ask for y’all: we’re cooking up some new initiatives and we’d love to:

1. Better understand what you find useful about Democracy Notes (and how you consume it), and

2. Get your thoughts on some new stuff we’re exploring.

If you’re interested, two ways to share your thoughts:

• Sign up for a 20 min chat with me and the team, OR…

• Fill out this ~5 min Google Form.

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Democracy Notes 3/13

Emergency resources:

(Help! 🎵)

• New jobs/resources added to the USAID Resource Hub!

  • Weekly roundup by Alec Shannon here.

  • Submit stuff to be included here!

    • (No individual job postings, just job boards, etc.)

• Intriguing new initiative — Former Gov — to connect former federal, state, and local government pros designed to private sector entities who need their expertise.

• Fabulous coverage of all the USAID lawsuits by Sabrina M. Segal.

• Another great explainer on translating your skills to the private sector here.

• The Pennsylvania wants you!! I’ve seen similar calls from MD and other states.

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What’s happening in philanthropy:

($$$)

• A leadership transition at the Skoll Foundation!

  • After six years at the helm, Don Gips is transitioning to senior counselor and CEO emeritus. (Don’s LinkedIn post here.)

  • Current President and COO Marla Blow has been selected by Jeff Skoll and the Board to serve as the foundation’s next CEO.

    • Semi-separately, I wonder what Jeff Skoll’s close association with Elon Musk (and Trump) will mean for the foundation’s democracy work here and abroad.

• The conversation we covered last week about the role of philanthropy continues.

  • Super substantive exchange between MacArthur Foundation president John Palfrey and philanthropy rabble-rouser (in a good way!) Vu Le.

  • Another brief exchange on the same topic.

• Congrats to New Profit’s newest Build cohort!!

  • City Bureau, Future Caucus, and four other orgs each will receive $1.5M in unrestricted funding and strategic support over four years.

• Are you a grantee of the The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation (PMAFF)? You’re in luck!

  • They’re doing a $1M Rapid Response Fund for current grantee partners.

  • Grants will range from $1K-$25K and can support increased community outreach, planning, communications, cybersecurity, legal counsel, advocacy, and more.

• Cool new comparative study of five pooled funds that backed civil society in backsliding democracies in Eastern Europe.

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What to read:

(The big news)

• Congrats to democracy space superstars Eric Liu, john a. powell, Layla Zaidane, and Eunice Lin Nichols for being named to the Eames Institute’s The Curious 100!

• Y’all. The SAVE Act could eliminate nonprofit voter registration nonprofits.

  • Among other deleterious effects on voter access (brief rundown here), the act would end all third party voter registration drives.

• Hot off the presses from Data for Progress — new polling on how Americans view democracy!

  • Also, polling on Americans’ perceptions of whether the US is heading towards an oligarchy.

• Do you lead, manage, convene, or facilitate a network? Third Plateau is starting up a new Network Leaders Learning Cohort!

  • More deets and the program application (due 3/28) here.

• “One Nation Under a Groove”: Funkadelic’s Lessons for Democracy. Enough said.

  • By Alex Lovit at Kettering, who wants us to listen to more classic funk music. Hell yeah.

• How can bridgebuilding programs be more effective?

  • Check out the final installment of Allison Ralph and Michelle Garred’s 3-part series on that question!

  • This one highlights two tools—Do No Harm (DNH) and the Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP) Matrix—that can help bridgebuilding programs navigate unintended effects and expand their impact.

• Election administrators! The Center for Civic Design just launched Designing Election Websites, a new nonpartisan guide for building great election websites.

• It’s Civic Learning Week!! Here’s a roundup of great stuff from this week.

  • Full slate of events here, including the National Forum (today!), and tomorrow’s conversation with Sonia Sotomayor.

  • New polling showing surprising bipartisan support for civics ed.

  • Resource planner for teachers.

  • Great piece in The Hechinger Report by iCivics’ Shawn Healy.

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What to watch/listen to/attend:

(Events, podcasts, and more)

• Tomorrow!! I’ll be attending this one. All-star panel on how civic media is rising to meet the moment.

  • (Featuring the local news policy agenda developed by Media Power Collaborative and Free Press.)

• What can philanthropy do to strengthen US democracy? Check out the Bridgespan Group’s event on 3/27! (And the report it’s based on!)

• A new unicorn emerges: the Community Steward. (Full 11 min vid here!)

• Inspired by this spicy piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, all-star panel at this 3/19 hybrid event (DC).

• A double feature on public records requests from American Oversight as part of Sunshine Week 2025:

  • 3/19, at 1pm ET — State records requests training for grassroots organizations.

  • 3/20, at 2pm ET — FOIA-specific training, including how to draft effective requests and engage with agencies.

• New podcast alert! When the Wolves Came: Evangelicals Resisting Extremism. Check it out.

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Where to work:

(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)

• Work for America Civic Match Program Director — remote, $150K

• Pennsylvania Alliance Foundation:

  • Deputy Director — PA, $100K-$125K

  • Grant Manager — PA, $65K-$90K

• Hewlett Foundation Communications Officer, U.S. Democracy and Economy & Society — Menlo Park (CA), $165K-$205K

• Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement Director of Member Engagement & Network Development — DC, $90K-$115K

• Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation Civic Engagement Director — Baltimore, $99K-$195K

• MoveOn Executive Director — remote, $275K-$310K

• Federation for Innovation in Democracy Program Manager – Advancing Deliberative Democracy in North America — remote (DC preferred), $65K-$80K

• Rebuild Local News Director of Development — remote, $120K-$140K

• Integrity Institute Chief Executive Officer — remote, $150K

• Public Citizen Technology Accountability Advocate — DC, $76K-$127K

• University of Southern California Co-Director of the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and Practice-Track or Teaching-Track Faculty Position in Political Science and International Relations — LA, $175K-$250K

• Independence Public Media Foundation Program Officer — remote, $105K-$144K

• League of Women Voters:

  • Executive Director — remote, $140K-$150K

  • Community Organizer — Trenton (NJ), $45K-$50K

• Common Cause:

  • California Executive Director — CA, $125K-$140K

  • Senior Organizer, New Mexico — NM, $70K-$87K

  • Organizer, Oregon — Portland, $62K-$78K

• The Washington Post Democracy Editor — DC, $122K-$204K (lol this should be an interesting job)

• Issue One Research Intern — DC, $18/hour

• The American Political Science Association Communications & Marketing Assistant — DC, $26-29/hour

• R Street Institute Associate Director and Fellow, Governance — DC, $120K-$135K

• Unite America Sr. Director of Finance & Strategy — Denver, $150K-$175K

• Constructive Dialogue Institute:

  • Director of Communications — remote, $130K-$160K

  • Research Scientist — remote, $90K-$105K

  • Chief Growth Officer (Non-profit) — Remote, $220K-$250K

  • Senior Finance Manager — remote, $100K-$115K

  • Marketing Manager, Demand Generation — remote, $90K-$110K

• National Conference of State Legislatures Senior Policy Specialist - Legislative Staff Services — Denver, $80K

• Code for America Public Sector Growth Lead — San Francisco, $140K-$171K

• Rural Democracy ​​Program Manager — remote, $80K-$90K

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

  • Senior Manager of Development — DC, $82K-$94K

  • Local Legal Initiative Director — DC, $151K-$170K

• City Bureau Documenters Site Success Director — remote, $105K

• McCain Institute Development Coordinator — DC, no $ info :(

• Bridging Divides Initiative, Princeton University:

  • Collaborations Coordinator — remote, no $ info :(

  • Senior Research Specialist I/ Wisconsin State Lead — remote, no $ info :(((

• Search for Common Ground Resilient States Project, Evaluative Study — remote, no $ info :(

• Dialogue Vanderbilt Executive Director — Nashville, no $ info :(

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Transitions, transitions:

(Where the movers are moving and the shakers are shaking)

• Daniel Stid is joining the American Enterprise Institute as a Nonresident Senior Fellow on the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies team led by Yuval Levin.

  • His work at AEI will focus on civil society, philanthropy, and democratic governance. Congrats!

• Vera Zakem, former USAID Chief Digital Democracy and Rights Officer has been appointed by Governor of California Gavin Newsom as State Chief Technology and Innovation Officer. Congrats!

• Diego Andrades joins the USC Center for the Political Future as their new assistant director.

  • He was previously a political appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration, serving as the special assistant to the CEO of AmeriCorps.

Submit your job transitions here.

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Take care,

Gabe

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You made it to the end! I’m proud of you ❤️

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