Our people are at the core of living our mission every day — and we are excited to announce a new member of our board of directors along with several internal promotions at Democracy Fund.
We are honored to welcome Vanita Gupta to our board of directors this month. Vanita is currently a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at NYU School of Law. From 2021 – 2024 she served as the 19th Associate Attorney General of the United States at the Department of Justice and previously led the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Vanita fills a vacancy created by the departure of board member Danielle Allen, who completed her two-year term earlier this year.
Democracy Fund also has several exciting internal transitions and promotions to share.
Sanjiv Rao, former managing director of media and movements, has stepped into a newly-created Vice President role as part of Democracy Fund’s executive leadership team. In this role, he will oversee our program, communications, research, partnerships, and strategy functions promoting deeper collaboration across the organization. Before joining Democracy Fund in 2023, Sanjiv served as a senior equity fellow in the Office of Management Budget in the Executive Office of the President. Before that, he completed a nearly decade-long program term at the Ford Foundation, concluding as director of the Civic Engagement and Government program. We are thrilled to welcome him into this new role.
Josh Stearns, former senior director of Democracy Fund’s Public Square team, has stepped into a new Managing Director of Programs role. In this role, he will run Democracy Fund’s programs in Equitable Journalism, Digital Democracy, Governance, Just & Inclusive Society, and Elections & Voting. Josh has been with Democracy Fund since 2016, leading the efforts of the Public Square team in remaking local journalism and advocating for more just technology. While in his role as senior director, Josh was critical in launching NewsMatch, the largest ever grassroots funding campaign for journalism which has mobilized more than $400M from small donors and foundations, and Press Forward, a national movement to strengthen our democracy by revitalizing local news and information. Before joining Democracy Fund, Josh served as the Director of Journalism and Sustainability at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and Director of Press Freedom at Free Press.
Angelica Das, former associate director of Democracy Fund’s Public Square team, has been promoted to Program Director for Equitable Journalism. She will co-lead the Public Square team together with Paul Waters, Program Director for Digital Democracy. Angelica has been with Democracy Fund since 2019, where she has led the foundation’s Engaged and Equitable Journalism efforts to make journalism more responsive to and reflective of its communities. At the foundation she has led cutting edge research on media and elections and racial justice and journalism. Previously, she worked as a consultant and Senior Associate with Dot Connector Studio, a production company that collaborates with funders, journalists, and experts to research and develop social impact media. She also served as associate director at the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University.
Finally, we want to thank Lara Flint, former Managing Director of Elections and Institutions, for her leadership. Lara departed Democracy Fund in February after eight years with the organization. We thank Lara for her many years of dedication to Democracy Fund, and wish her well on her next chapter.
As an organization, we are only as strong as the team we have to face the challenges and opportunities ahead. We are excited about these changes, and are confident these leaders will help chart the path forward as we work to build an inclusive, multiracial democracy that is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy.