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Statement On the 2024 Election From Democracy Fund President Joe Goldman

Joe Goldman

November 7, 2024

As a leader of a foundation committed to a more inclusive multiracial democracy, I want to acknowledge the pain, fear, and exhaustion that so many of us are experiencing right now — while also feeling an urgency to take action to respond to the threats that lie ahead.

In a heightened authoritarian environment, civil society and philanthropy will be under tremendous pressure. The authoritarian playbook depends on the expectation that we will mute our values to appease those in power and leave targeted communities, including Black people, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and others to fend for themselves. It expects communities to scapegoat one another and for us to accept the harmful and discriminatory policies of Project 2025 as our future.

As we move forward, we must find solidarity and unity within the pro-democracy movement. We must reject efforts to blame or scapegoat targeted communities, and look for opportunities to resist and to build. I believe a multiracial democracy that is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy is not only possible – it is essential.

The leadership of our grantees and partners has shown us that now, more than ever, we must:

1. Pursue accountability for – and defend against – abuses of power that undermine democratic institutions and values, especially those that threaten free and fair elections or prevent the free and independent exercise of power by those opposed to authoritarian actions.
2. Build the durable power of grassroots pro-democracy organizations and broaden the coalition committed to an inclusive multiracial democracy in order to lay the foundation for long-term transformational change.
3. Defend the safety, security, and well-being of organizations and communities who will be most vulnerable to authoritarian attacks, including the physical safety and well-being of so many of us in the movement who will continue to face attack for our commitment to defending our democracy.

Democracy Fund grantees have led years-long efforts to ensure the integrity of our electoral systems, improve voter access, expand access to information, and motivate the public to get engaged in this election. We are inspired by their creativity and heart in the face of many challenges: from hurricanes, to misinformation, to voter suppression attempts. It is thanks to these efforts that we saw so many bright spots in this election, and we are deeply grateful. While some of these leaders pause to rest, process, and recover, others of us will need to take up the banner for them.

Today, like every day, we draw inspiration from the resolve of our grantees and partners, and from the stories of generations of pro-democracy champions around the world and in our own history. Democracy Fund remains committed to this fight and to you. We’ve got your back.

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A Letter of Gratitude to Democracy Champions

Lara Flint, Sanjiv Rao & Lauren Strayer

October 29, 2024

We are seven days away from the 2024 election. You can feel the combination of excitement, anxiety, and fatigue in the air. In any given moment, many of us are experiencing some version of those feelings simultaneously. We want to take this moment to express our enormous gratitude for the work of every organization and individual that is working to build the inclusive, multi-racial democracy that our country needs.

This work is made harder and more necessary by the challenges our democracy is facing at this moment. Political violence is worsening, efforts to disenfranchise communities of color continue, and major newspaper owners are censoring their editorial boards. While our country has made great progress over the past 250 years — anchored by demands for change by systematically oppressed communities — progress is often met with resistance. Simply put, pro-democracy work is hard, complicated, and can feel like an endless cycle of two steps forward, one step back. We appreciate the work our grantees and partners are doing every day, even outside the spotlight of an election year, and acknowledge that philanthropy needs to do a better job of offering consistent, meaningful support.

This year’s election is rightly on our minds as we see and hear candidates up and down ballots across the country make their cases for how they will represent their constituents’ interests. Our commitment is to building a multiracial democracy where people are treated fairly, feel they belong, and have long-term power — and where our political system is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy.

We remain committed to helping sustain the fields and grantees doing this work every day and every year, and we commit to stepping up in the days, months and years ahead to ensure the pro-democracy field has the resources it needs to continue this important work year round.

No matter what happens over the next few weeks, we are humbled by the tireless work of pro-democracy civil society organizations and leaders to ensure our elections are free, fair, and representative. Many organizations have tightened their budgets and made it work to continue to build power in the marginalized communities that have been historically targeted and scapegoated during election cycles time and again. They are safeguarding the progress the pro-democracy field has made over the years, and continue to lay the foundation to respond to the opportunities and challenges to come.

We know the work toward creating an inclusive, multi-racial democracy continues beyond Election Day, and Democracy Fund remains committed to that work in responsive partnership with others in philanthropy and with our grantees — on Election Day, and every day.

In deep and sincere gratitude,

Lara Flint – Managing Director, Elections and Institutions

Sanjiv Rao – Managing Director, Movements and Media

Lauren Strayer – Managing Director, Communications and Network

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Building Resilience to Political Violence

Tom Glaisyer, Democracy Fund; Michelle Barsa, Omidyar Network; Melanie Greenberg, Humanity United

October 24, 2024

The 2024 election cycle, marked by disinformation and the spread of authoritarian rhetoric, has exposed the deep polarization in American society. While the divisions in our country are not new, the strain on society is increasingly clear. We see this with public officials, civil servants, and everyday Americans who are feeling the impacts of threats, harassment, and rising political violence.

Though it may not be realistic to eliminate the threat of political violence immediately, we can build up our country’s resilience to it and slow its spread. We are not the first country to experience and overcome this challenge, which means there are best practices we can emulate and learn from.

Humanity United Senior Fellow, Dr. John Paul Lederach, Emeritus Professor of International Peacebuilding at Notre Dame, writes in his new book, “The Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War”:

“While our legacy of American exceptionalism mostly scoffs at international comparisons, this does not exempt us from the patterns and dynamics that unleash what none of us wants for our children – the curse of widespread violence.”

Dr. Lederach further points out that building resilience to political violence requires an interconnected network of pro-democracy, peacebuilding, and social justice organizations, along with responsive donors open to supporting systems and networks. As a result of this strong web of allies, organizations on the ground can quickly and efficiently access the resources they need to prevent and mitigate political violence.

In an attempt to consolidate and translate this learning, our three foundations – Democracy Fund, Humanity United, and Omidyar Network – have collaborated to more powerfully address the risks of hate-fueled political violence.

Risk Factors For Political Violence

The guiding star for our joint project has been a healthier society marked by an inclusive, multi-racial democracy that is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy — one that addresses the risks of political violence.

Two organizations with their pulse on this issue, Over Zero and New America — both grantees of our foundations — shared an important analysis in 2019 for how to build resilience to political violence in the U.S., identifying four primary risk factors: elite factionalization, societal polarization, a rise in hate speech and rhetoric, and weakening institutions. We continue to draw on their work, as well as the work of the Trusted Elections Fund and others highlighted in this piece on political violence by Democracy Fund’s President Joe Goldman.

Dr. Lederach’s recently published book also provides important wisdom and guidance. He observes that societies at risk of widespread violence tend to display an increase in:

the dehumanization of others;
exertions of fear and control over local populations via performative violence;
the intentional diminishment of trust in and capacity of political and other institutions to solve problems; and
the stoking of grievances that drive wedges between populations, patterns that are too often only recognized in retrospect after they have become entrenched in society.

After undertaking additional research and reviewing the research of our partners, we have prioritized three risks of political violence that we are using to guide our work. They are:

distrust of democratic institutions;
increasing authoritarian sentiment and mobilization; and
toxic polarization and targeted dehumanization campaigns.

Here’s what we found when we looked at each of these risk factors closely:

Distrust of Democratic Institutions. There is growing concern among Americans about whether our democratic institutions are truly free and fair. When communities do not trust public institutions to equitably and effectively protect the populace, there is an increased likelihood of support for the arming of non-state actors. Fear-inducing rhetoric advanced by a factionalized elite has left many in the public uncertain that our democratic processes can be relied upon, and heightens the likelihood of violence. Failure of those institutions in the face of violence would be extremely damaging.
Increasing Authoritarian Sentiment and Mobilization. Far-right actors are increasingly organizing across their racial, religious, economic, and political resentments. They organize together to promote the ideas of white/Christian nationalism, anti-immigration, sovereign citizenship, and armed defense. This organizing coincides with high rates of gun ownership, increasing normalization of political violence, organized militia activity, and white supremacist influence among military and law enforcement. Under these conditions, it is possible that the just and peaceful transition of power could be contested in a violent manner.
Toxic Polarization and Targeted Dehumanization Campaigns. Troubling trends of dehumanization and identity-based polarization continue to rise as social trust declines. There is a widespread sentiment of non-belonging in American life, and increasingly vitriolic public dehumanization campaigns target immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, in particular. Both narratives are amplified by increasingly politicized media outlets and social media algorithms, which stoke moral outrage and inflate beliefs about intergroup hostility.

In our international research, this level of dehumanization is often a driving force behind the justification and encouragement of violence.

Focusing on these three factors has allowed us to prioritize where we have made commitments. We will continue to deepen our understanding of the root causes of political violence through our discussions with grantees and others.

Building Resilience

In a strong, interconnected network of allies addressing the threats of political violence, we must include bridge builders and conflict mediators, alongside social and racial justice movements. We must also include LGBTQIA+ activists, democracy advocates, and supporters of pluralism in adjacent fields. Our foundations are already providing support for a number of organizations in these spaces; in particular, the Trusted Elections Fund is already playing a crucial role in the elections space. In addition, in 2024, we have increased our support in four areas:

1. Strengthening relational infrastructure through building networks of key stakeholders across fields and at the local, state, and national levels. Crucially, these investments will help build the network of individuals who can deploy their resources and skills together to de-escalate crises when and where they occur. Over the longer term, these networks can address the root causes of political violence, while also strengthening democracy and encouraging belonging. The network is strongest when it weaves together partners with diverse skills, including but not limited to:

monitoring and analysis specialists;
pro-democracy law enforcement and public safety officials;
cultural influencers and religious actors;
election officials;
mediation experts;
peacebuilding organizations; and
pro-democracy activists.

2. Informing action so that predictions and responses to violence are quicker, smarter, and more strategic. Through our investments, we aim to increase capacity for threat monitoring and de-escalation. Accurate information is essential for enabling an informed and effective response. These efforts might include engaging community members to support with violence prevention and response and/or strategically engaging law enforcement, via trusted partners.

3. Tending to the health and safety of those who are in harm’s way in order to support resilient movements in the face of threats and persistent harassment. Philanthropy will need to grapple with the attacks both in the immediate and in the aftermath. We must protect and support grantees, as well as their partners. This level of support will enable grantees and their partners to take care of their teams’ wellbeing while dealing with extreme stress.

4. Protecting the LGBTQIA+ community and, in particular, providing support to the transgender community against the current onslaught of targeted othering, dehumanization, and violence. We stand against all efforts that are intended to scapegoat the community, which only serve to consolidate and focus authoritarian and authoritarian-leaning tendencies. Here we have made commitments to joint funds and organizations that support organizations led by and serving or in allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community. As funders,we seek to bring together the philanthropic communities that support the gender non-conforming community as well as democracy strengthening efforts.

Over the past 18 months, we have consulted extensively with the field and have made commitments of approximately $2M in 2024 towards the priorities identified above. We intend to continue to adapt this approach as we learn from our partners on the ground, researchers, our partners in philanthropy, and others focusing on political violence.

Working Together

As we seek to strengthen our interconnected network even further, we encourage foundations, pro-democracy organizations, and wider civil society to join us in this work. The election season is placing significant stress on our societal bonds and, while it will take time to address drivers of political violence, there is still much we can do now to prevent the contagion of political violence.

This will require extensive efforts across philanthropy and the wider infrastructure of peacebuilding, social justice and democracy. We have learned from our grantees and partners within the U.S. and abroad that it is only through these concerted and broad-reaching coalitions that we can address the root causes of political violence, reduce toxic polarization, and build resilience in the face of complex threats.

To learn more about our approach to funding efforts to prevent and respond to political violence, please reach out to us.

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A Multiracial Democracy Includes BAMEMSA Communities

Omayma El Ella, Sanjiv Rao, Jeyn Levison & Josh Stearns

April 16, 2024

Democracy Fund invests in the power and leadership of communities of color. We have long included BAMEMSA communities (Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian) in our approach to strengthen and expand the pro-democracy movement and undermine those who threaten the ideals of an inclusive multiracial democracy in the United States. Our work is grounded in the belief that we must recognize BAMEMSA communities’ full humanity and inclusion in the democracy of our dreams with no tolerance for dehumanization, hate-based discourse, or violence.

Our early funding of these communities began in 2016 in response to fear mongering and hate crimes that were on the rise in the United States. We stood up a special project in 2017 as policies like the Muslim Ban and the separation of families seeking asylum at the border were initiated by the federal government. We more recently expanded this work into our Just & Inclusive Society program, which seeks to support the safety, self-determination, and dignity of marginalized groups in the United States through a shift from providing direct services, to building capacity, power, and momentum across communities. In 2018, we also began focusing on reparations and rights for BAMEMSA communities in online spaces. Our Digital Democracy portfolio works to bring about an equitable digital public square, free of algorithmic discrimination, harm, and bias. We envision a world where communities can create, access, and enjoy media and technology that represents their needs, concerns, and dreams.

As the violence in Israel and Palestine continues to reverberate globally, dehumanizing and racist narratives are fueling Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, and anti-Semitism here in the United States. Many Americans are fearful for the safety of their communities. In particular, we have witnessed horrific violence especially against Palestinian Americans alongside dramatic increases in reported threats against both Muslim and Jewish Americans.

Democracy Fund has been proud to support efforts to end political violence, whose flames are often fanned by mis- and disinformation. The intersection of these forces — threats of political violence amplified by mis- and disinformation and rising Islamophobia — present particular risks to BAMEMSA communities, which must be fully included in the multiracial democracy we seek.

The commitment and investment BAMEMSA communities have shown to America has been historically unrecognized. BAMEMSA communities are an integral part of the inclusive multiracial democracy we strive for, and their efforts should be recognized and respected by government and philanthropy. We have been particularly concerned over the past several months as we have heard reports from grantees about feeling isolated and under attack. In this moment, we believe it is particularly important to affirm our continued support for the critical work that these organizations undertake.

We are proud to continue to support the following organizations who stand for human dignity, civil and human rights in person and online, and the rights of BAMEMSA communities to thrive in this country. As public discourse evolves this year and beyond, we can’t lose sight of the core idea that a truly just multiracial democracy — and society — must include BAMEMSA communities, including grantee partners like those listed here that animate this vision:

Rise Together Fund is the only national donor collaborative dedicated to supporting BAMEMSA communities and advancing their civil rights and promoting their contributions to democracy, culture, and American civil society.
Pillars Fund amplifies the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims in the United States to advance opportunity and justice for all.
The ACRE Institute is a Muslim-led organization working on rights at the intersection of economics and race through housing, labor, healthcare, and other issues.
The Disinformation Defense League is a coalition of research and policy organizations that work at the intersection of race and disinformation, including impacts on BAMEMSA communities.
El Hibri Foundation empowers and equips American Muslim leaders and their allies to build thriving, inclusive communities.
The Independence Public Media Foundation is a Philadelphia-based private foundation focused on public media, narrative and cultural change, and community-serving internet. It supports local BAMEMSA-led and centered organizations working towards multiracial organizing.
Inner City Muslim Action Network is a community organization that fosters health, wellness, and healing by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is the leading research institute on American Muslims, and their research equips those working toward full and equitable inclusion of American Muslims with solution-seeking research.
The National Network for Arab American Communities is a growing network of independent Arab American community-based organizations around the country.

Democracy Fund continues to support and fund these organizations along with their leaders and staff. They are relying on us to meet this moment with them and to not back away from threats to our vision of an inclusive multiracial democracy. We are proud of our longstanding support for organizations working in BAMEMSA communities, who have experienced inequality, marginalization, targeting, and other forms of identity-based discrimination. Our grantees’ work is essential to our democracy. Unfortunately, this work as a whole was significantly underfunded back in 2016, and it remains underfunded in 2024.

Today, we reaffirm our support for BAMEMSA communities and urge other funders, civil society organizations, and leaders to do so as well. The future of our democracy depends on it.

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Meeting the Moment for the Pro-Democracy Movement

Joe Goldman

January 11, 2024

Ten years ago, Pierre Omidyar and I launched Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice after a three-year incubation inside Omidyar Network. The world has changed a lot since then, and so have we.

Over the past decade, Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice have committed $425 million in grants to strengthen American democracy. In that time, we have evolved and grown in our understanding of the perils facing our country and the importance of racial justice as fundamental to our work. We believe that achieving an inclusive multiracial democracy means we must fight for our democratic values now — while pursuing transformative changes that can unrig our political system.

As we enter the 2024 election season, the challenges in front of us are sobering. Despite overwhelming evidence of the dangers posed by authoritarians, new Democracy Fund research shows just how easily Americans will accept undemocratic actions if it benefits their side. For example, even though they say that they reject political violence, about half of Republicans describe the January 6 insurrection as an act of patriotism. While our grantees have worked to ensure consequences for those who tried to undermine our free and fair elections in 2020, the authoritarian threat has not subsided.

Today we face a set of challenges that create profound uncertainty about the future of our republic. The pro-democracy field cannot afford to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the high stakes or range of threats. We’ve risen to the moment before and we can do so again.

Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice are focused on ensuring the field is prepared and resourced for the challenges that may emerge before, during, and after the 2024 election cycle:

We are working on protecting free and fair elections by shoring up election administration.
We’re fighting back against mis- and disinformation.
We’re strengthening accountability systems for authoritarian abuses that could come in 2025.
We’re also calling on our peers to join us in making their nonpartisan election-related grants by April, so that groups have the resources they need in time.

While we stand up against urgent threats, we continue to pursue transformative change toward a political system that is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy. This work is complex and challenging, but innovators and advocates continue to make steady progress and real strides toward transformation.

For example, a decade ago, Democracy Fund began responding to warning signs that local journalism was under threat. The sector was seeing layoffs, newsrooms collapsing, racism and sensationalism were all too common, and communities were being left with little or no trustworthy reporting. Together with our grantee partners, however, we saw in this crisis an opportunity for reinvention. We saw the promise of promoting new business models and centering the voices of communities who were never well-served by traditional journalism. Today there is a growing and thriving landscape of non-profit journalism. A tremendous community of news innovators, including our grantees, have created a new way forward for civic journalism. It’s taken years of patient investment to build from a ripple to a wave — but today we see the wave.

This past fall, funders made a new commitment to scale these approaches. Democracy Fund and a coalition of 20 funders announced plans to invest more than $500 million into local news and information over the next five years. We see this as a down payment toward an even more ambitious vision to reimagine the place of local news in the life of communities and our democracy. Local news will never be what it once was, but Democracy Fund grantees have had the vision to rebuild it as something better. The work ahead of us, in journalism and across our democracy, will take more collective action like this.

Exactly what lies at the end of 2024 is uncertain, but with a clear focus on resourcing, mobilizing, and expanding the pro-democracy movement, our field can navigate the year. It is also the time to work with resilience and purpose on advancing the promising ideas that may grow to be the next wave of change for our democracy.

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Democracy Fund Welcomes New Leadership to its Board of Directors and Programs

April 13, 2023

As part of the organization’s ongoing development in service of its new strategy, Democracy Fund is pleased to announce the expansion of its board of directors and organizational leadership.

Three new board members began their two-year term on Tuesday, March 21:

Danielle Allen, professor of public policy, politics, and ethics at Harvard University, director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, and James Bryant Conant University professor, one of Harvard’s highest honors. She is also founder and president of Partners In Democracy.

Crystal Hayling, executive director of Libra Foundation and a leading advocate for racial justice in philanthropy. During the global pandemic and racial justice uprisings of 2020, she doubled Libra’s grantmaking and launched the Democracy Frontlines Fund.

Sabeel Rahman, associate professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, and a co-founder and co-chair of the Law and Political Economy Project. Previously, Mr. Rahman led the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget and served as the president of Demos.

“I’m honored to welcome our new board members to Democracy Fund. Each joins with invaluable expertise in the pro-democracy movement, a deep commitment to racial justice, and a keen understanding of what it will take to move our democracy toward a more inclusive, just, and trustworthy future,” said Democracy Fund President Joe Goldman.

Goldman also serves on the Democracy Fund board of directors along with board chair Pat Christen and board member Sarah Steven.

As prominent leaders with extensive expertise in efforts to create a more inclusive, multi-racial democracy, these new board members will be important partners in implementing Democracy Fund’s new organizational strategy.

Democracy Fund’s sister organization, Democracy Fund Voice, also announced new appointees to its board of directors: Deepak Bhargava, lecturer in urban studies at the City University of New York, and Robinson Jacobs of Comprehensive Financial Management.

New Programmatic Leadership

Democracy Fund is also pleased to announce Sanjiv Rao as our new managing director of media and movements to oversee our Public Square and Just & Inclusive Society programs. Sanjiv most recently served as a senior equity fellow in the Office of Management Budget in the Executive Office of the President, on assignment from his role as a senior fellow at Race Forward, working to support federal agency action plans to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities. Before that, he completed a nearly decade-long program term at the Ford Foundation, concluding as director of the Civic Engagement and Government program.

Sanjiv joins Lara Flint, managing director of elections and institutions. She is a skilled advocate with more than 20 years of legal, public policy, and government experience, including a decade on Capitol Hill. Lara previously served as director of the Governance program at Democracy Fund. Before joining Democracy Fund in 2017, she served as chief counsel for national security to then-Chairman Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she led the committee’s work on national security, privacy, and technology.

“Together, Sanjiv and Lara will play a critical role in executing Democracy Fund’s new strategy, strengthening the organization’s grantmaking efforts, and positioning more pro-democracy champions for long term transformational work,” said Laura Chambers, Democracy Fund chief operating officer. “As our organization continues to evolve, our new, dynamic leadership will help us pave a path forward in our pursuit to strengthen American democracy. We are excited for what they will enable us to achieve.”

Additionally, Tom Glaisyer has been appointed executive advisor to the president. As one of Democracy Fund’s earliest staff members, Tom built the organization’s Public Square program and most recently oversaw the organization’s programs as managing director. In his new role, he will forge collaborations between Democracy Fund and its peer organizations across The Omidyar Group, as well as work with the organization’s leadership to anticipate and prepare for long-term threats and opportunities.

These changes occur at a pivotal time for the organization, as Democracy Fund nears its tenth anniversary in 2024. We expect our new, dynamic leadership to challenge us, guide us, and help us pave a path forward toward a more inclusive, multiracial democracy.

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Democracy Fund’s New Just and Inclusive Society Strategy

Shuya Ohno

March 21, 2023

Climate change is here. Unfortunately, that means that many of us across the globe will soon need to leave our homelands. Within the United States, people are already leaving the rising waters of the Gulf Coast to seek refuge further north. Others are fleeing the wildfires and droughts of California for safer places. And at the southern border, migrants from all over the world (no longer just points further south) are seeking a safer life in the United States. Last year, 100 million people were displaced globally due to conflicts and crises — a new record. Climate change is multiplying this crisis. The UN estimates that over the next 30 years, about one billion of us will need to move.

What does this displacement mean for democracy in the United States? In a nutshell: as global migration reaches unprecedented levels, white supremacy is rising to meet it. This has dangerous consequences.

From the start, the founders of American democracy designed our political system to exclude everyone but white, elite, male landowners. They built racism into our public institutions and society to exclude and marginalize people of color. As a way to protect this power structure, white nationalists have always pointed to migrants as a primary target for scapegoating. Today, white nationalists are using hostile, racist language to dehumanize migrants. This often leads to acts of discrimination and violence. It’s not surprising — this cycle has happened many times throughout this country’s history. But now that climate change is accelerating, we’re seeing it at a larger scale. It affects both migrants entering the United States from other countries, and migrants within the country.

Another factor to consider: our democracy is land-based. A person’s rights and representation are tied almost entirely to where they live. When we suddenly have to move, this becomes a problem. For example, an American citizen who flees a hurricane in South Carolina and takes refuge with family in Virginia still has a passport and basic protections under the Constitution. She could request an absentee ballot from her town in South Carolina, assuming the town is still functioning. But what happens when the impact of climate change is so extreme that an entire town or city is displaced? What would it mean for a city councilor, a state representative, or a member of Congress whose constituents all leave their districts?

At Democracy Fund, we are working to address these challenges. In April 2022, Democracy Fund announced our new organizational strategy with a commitment to investing in the power and leadership of communities of color to strengthen and expand the pro-democracy movement and undermine those who threaten the ideals of our inclusive, multiracial democracy. Over the past year, our Just and Inclusive Society program has revised its strategies in line with this new organizational strategy to better meet the moment we are in while building for the best version of our shared future.

Our new five-year strategy is the result of many thoughtful conversations with our grantees and experts from across the field. We cannot overstate how much we appreciate the experience, passion, and creativity of these organizations, whose staff are working on the frontlines of these issues. We look forward to continuing our collaborative approach with our grantees, as we aim for transformative impact together.

We are interested in hearing your thoughts on what elements excite you, and we know we have a weighty responsibility to help make these ideas a reality.

Building power for a welcoming and inclusive American democracy

We are working toward our vision of an American democracy that is welcoming and inclusive of all migrants and refugees, that actively supports their resettlement in a just and humane manner, and that builds social cohesion in the face of massive internal and external migration. To get there, we believe we need to support a broad-based intersectional social movement capable of inspiring hope over fear, instilling cooperation over competition, and instituting a sense of shared abundance over scarcity. At every step, the movement needs to be led by marginalized and most impacted communities who are integral members of the pro-democracy coalition fighting for a just and inclusive multi-racial democracy.

In support of this future, we will fund this intersectional movement through our Power-building in Marginalized Communities initiative. This initiative will focus on the intersectional movements led by refugees, migrants, and Black and brown communities. Our investments will support organizations and leaders to: (1) elevate stories and shift narratives around migration and refugeehood, (2) build a shared strategy and solidarity across movements, communities, and geographies, and (3) build power in marginalized communities.

This area of focus is a natural outgrowth of the work we began in 2017 to protect the civil rights and liberties of Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities who were targeted by the Trump Administration. This earlier work provided legal and policy support to immigrant rights and racial justice work, and helped mitigate the risks of political violence resulting from a resurgent authoritarian faction.

Our new strategy has been informed by our conversations with our grantees and partners about how philanthropy needs to meet this moment in our democracy. We listened deeply to what grantees said is happening now, and what is on the horizon. Our new strategy takes those challenges head on, guided by an advisory group including the Rise Together Fund, El Hibri Foundation, the Pillars Fund, Ford Foundation, and Unbound Philanthropy.

Some changes you will see in our funding

In the next five years, we are reorienting our focus from BAMEMSA communities to include broader refugee and migrant communities that have been and will be displaced by climate change, as a subset of our wider interest in supporting all marginalized communities. Key to that work will be a shift from providing direct services, to building capacity, power, and momentum across communities that will be sending and receiving migrants.

A few of the key shifts include:

Moving from prioritizing litigation to a power-building framework. We’re shifting from a responsive posture to one that proactively works to change the system. As the numbers of migrants increase, so too will the political rhetoric driven by fear, subverting or suppressing civil liberties and rights. We plan to focus on intervention points emerging from the increasing flow of migration and rising xenophobic and racist attacks by the authoritarian faction.
Focusing on intersectional movement building led by migrant, refugee, and impacted communities. The growing number of organizations working in this arena are disconnected and insufficiently funded. To bolster the movement, we will begin investing in refugee organizing work, engage grassroots and national network organizations, and explore intermediaries that also have footprints at the regional, state, and local levels.
Engaging place-based organizations. We will support organizations located in geographies that either are “sending” people to other places or “receiving” incoming migrants by funding the implementation of existing or experimental models of support for migrants and refugees (e.g., transitional justice mechanisms, mutual aid, community sponsorship, or resilience hubs).

As we begin implementing our new strategies, we’re motivated by the opportunities for learning and growth. We will be transparent, accessible, and accountable along the way. We are excited to invest in organizations that: demonstrate excellence in building and executing programs aligned with our strategic priorities; exhibit a solid racial justice analysis; employ BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) in senior leadership roles; and work in concert with aligned efforts to build the power of marginalized communities.

Moving into the next five years

It’s clear that climate-induced mass migration and white nationalist authoritarianism are on a collision course, but efforts to protect vulnerable communities are also gaining momentum. The support we have seen in Washington, DC and New York City in response to migrants bussed there from Texas and Florida, is a powerful example. Community organizations are recruiting volunteers, enlisting local charities and churches, pressuring municipal governments, and controlling narratives. The community leaders in these cities are building a moral social movement that responds to need, supports the integration of migrant communities, and turns a tactic of division into an opportunity for solidarity and unity.

The challenges we face as a country and as a people over the coming decades are enormous. A key part of our new strategy will also be to partner with more and more funders to meet this moment.

There are still many decisions left about who and how we will fund to make this vision a reality. We’ll be sharing more information, updating our website, and considering new grantees in 2023 and we welcome your partnership and accountability along this journey. If you have questions about our new strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out. We are grateful for your partnership and energized for our collective future.

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A call for funders on 9/11: invest in Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities

Omayma El Ella

September 9, 2021

Democracy Fund is joining funders in a pledge to raise $50 million over the next five years to support Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities deeply impacted by the United States’ response to 9/11. We are proud to join in this effort together with Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and The RISE Together Fund (a donor collaborative of the Proteus Fund) and encourage other funders to do the same.

Over the past four years, we have seen a rise in dangerous rhetoric and policies targeting BAMEMSA communities, such as the Muslim, African, and asylum-seeker travel bans. There continues to be a relentless amount of money dedicated to funding Islamophobia and hate. At the same time, many leaders in BAMEMSA communities are on the frontlines fighting for an end to discriminatory policies and legislation.

Democracy Fund has dedicated a grantmaking portfolio to BAMEMSA-led organizations as they challenge infringements to their civil rights and combat polarizing and racist narratives. As part of this work, we have supported BAMEMSA-led funding collaboratives who help build the “critical social infrastructure”* of BAMESA communities, as well as a number of BAMEMSA led organizations. These grantees include:

RISE Together Fund, the first donor collaborative dedicated to supporting BAMEMSA groups. Their support of grassroots organizations and collective advocacy efforts has contributed to decisions like the executive order rescinding the Muslim, asylum and African bans.
Pillars Fund, a Muslim-led foundation, is building on a decade of funding community organizations. In 2021, they launched their Pillars Artist Fellowship to promote more complex and accurate representations of Muslims in media.
The Institute for Social Policy & Understanding (ISPU), which educates and trains journalists across the country to accurately cover Muslims and issues impacting them. Their work reaches millions of people in diverse outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and the Washington Post.

We invite you to read the letter we signed and consider joining us in supporting the BAMEMSA community. The attack on civil rights, violation of norms, and unfettered hate speech we have seen over the past 20 years harms our democracy and makes our society more vulnerable to fissures and violence. Supporting BAMEMSA communities is crucial to the fight for a more open, just, and inclusive society and democracy.

BAMEMSA-led grantees of Democracy Fund’s Just and Inclusive Society Project include:

*Brie Loskota, Executive Director of the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School, uses this term to describe the organizations, practices, norms, and relationships that make up a healthy society.

Back to Ideas

Report

The Costs of Political Violence in the United States

Andrew Blum

February 17, 2021

The health of our American democracy requires strategic investment in community-led solutions that combat political violence and mitigate its cost to society.

The Costs of Political Violence in the United States — And the Benefits of Investing in Communities by Dr. Andrew Blum, executive director of the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego, examines the human and economic costs of political violence and the strategic investments in evidence-based, community-led solutions that are addressing it.

The report looks at the recent surge in extremism, hate crimes, armed militias, and acts of police brutality and assesses the associated costs: injury and loss of life, trauma, property damage, lost business revenue and personal wages, and the acceleration of additional violence. Philanthropy can mitigate these costs, but investments must be directed toward initiatives led by targeted communities that at their core promote democratic goals and support community resilience.

Back to Ideas

Op-Ed

Philanthropy’s Inauguration March: What the Real Work of Protecting Democracy Demands Now

Joe Goldman

January 20, 2021

After a heroic effort to maintain the integrity of our election system over the past year, Wednesday’s inauguration marks a key turning point, one that requires philanthropy’s continued focus on the health of our democracy.

Risk Factors For Political Violence

Building Resilience

​​​​​Working Together

New Programmatic Leadership

Building power for a welcoming and inclusive American democracy

Some changes you will see in our funding

Moving into the next five years

Working Together