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Democracy Notes · Aug 13, 2026

This week's Democracy Notes

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Democracy Notes · Democracy Notes

Vacation. What a concept!!!!

Before we dive in, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the haters (constructive criticizers) of my summer reading recs from last edition.

Apparently it isn’t cool to ~only~ read non-fiction??? Who knew.

Clearly I’m in need of fiction recs…send ‘em my way! (I just started “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson.)

Our COO peer-learning cohort is back for round 2!!

If you’re a COO looking for a high-trust environment to build community with your peers, apply here by September 7th!

($$$)

  • Congratulations to the Trust for Civic Life’s 2026 Civic Hub grantees!

    • The Trust awarded $7.6M via 20 grants of $300K-$425K (over three years) to organizations working in rural areas to strengthen trust and agency.

  • Two op-eds in The Chronicle of Philanthropy call on democracy funders to do things differently:

    • Ben Chou, Program Officer for Democracy, Rights, and Governance at the Packard Foundation, lays out an alternative strategy to “base building” — “majority activation.”

      • He defines majority activation as working “across ideological lines to reinforce the democratic values already shared by the vast majority of Americans.”

      • He estimates that among the top 15 c3 democracy grantmakers (per 2024 990 filings) $359M went to base building and $84M to majority activation.

      • That gap is driven by funders’ discomfort with investing in “organizations that are led by or work with people who hold different policy views, even if they share a deep commitment to democratic values,” he asserts.

    • Rachel Pritzker, philanthropist and co-founder of Democracy Funders Network and Patriots & Pragmatists, argues that democracy funders may be making things worse by:

      • Backing adversarial advocacy which further polarizes the country.

      • Assuming “that our positions are both morally obvious and broadly popular — that we represent the public because we invest in public goods.”

      • Underinvesting in “an affirmative vision that a broad majority of Americans recognize as their own,” rather than defending institutions that haven’t delivered.

  • $20K in research funding from the Institute of Humane Studies! (8/31 deadline.)

    • Funding is for faculty studying “the nature of liberal civic virtue: what qualities citizens need to sustain a free, pluralistic, self-governing society, and how those qualities are grounded in the liberal tradition.”

  • $250K for local communities to engage in civic action!

    • The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) launched a community mini-grant fund, “What’s Next, America?” There are two types of grants:

      • Spark Grants — $1K, applications now open

      • Civic Action Grants — $2.5K-$5K, applications open 9/17

  • Funding for service! (Think: national service.)

    • Schultz Family Foundation and Andrew Carnegie Foundation committed $10M to the Service United Fund to help states and territories expand opportunities for service.

      • States and territories can apply for grants ranging from $100K to $1.5M.

    • This investment pairs with the National Governors Association’s 2026–2027 chair’s campaign, Service United (driven by chair Governor Wes Moore).

      • This effort was also supported by the Hewlett Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, and others.

(Events, podcasts, and more)

  • 8/18 at 9:30am ET — join Rich Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP LDF, for “From Representation to Repair: Building a Healthy Democracy.”

  • 8/19 at 11am ET — join Bridging Divides Initiative for a briefing on their new research, “Threats and Harassment Against Local Officials in 2026.”

  • Pro-Democracy Narrative Playbook is hosting a six-part webinar series on the intersections of democracy and other issues!

    • 9/8 — Public Health and Democracy

    • 9/10 — Higher Education and Democracy

    • 9/16 — Environmental & Climate Justice and Democracy

    • 9/17 — Limits on Power and Democracy

    • 9/24 — Human & Civil Rights and Democracy

(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)

^ 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!

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

  • Becca Hartman-Pickerill is now Director of Civic Health at CFLeads!

  • Ravi Garla is now Chief Program Officer at Voting Rights Lab!

  • New faces and promotions at Press Forward Chicago:

    • Taylor Moore has been promoted to Program Manager!

    • Amanda Miley has joined as Director of Strategic Partnerships!

  • Katy Launius is departing Lumina Foundation after four years!

    • Connect with her to talk higher ed transformation (or improv)!

  • Mike Piel is now Director of Philanthropy at American Promise!

  • Jim Lauckhardt is now Chief Impact and Evaluation Officer at Citizens & Scholars!

  • Paul Osadebe has joined Democracy Forward as a Senior Attorney and Editor at Red Line for Civil Rights!

  • Sarah Valor has joined Civic News Company as VP of Philanthropy!

Submit your job transitions (or promotions!) here.

See you soon,

Gabe

Read the original on democracynotes.substack.com ↗

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