The Racial Equity in Journalism Fund (REJ) seeks to strengthen a future where communities of color are powerful. They do this by nourishing and building up the capacity and sustainability of both news organizations and journalism ecosystem partners led by people of color.

To support ProPublica’s investigative journalism as a critical check and balance on power. The grant will provide ProPublica with general operating support to help them fulfill their role as a core part of America’s fourth estate. 

To provide general operating support to the Center for Technology and Civic Life. 

Take Back Our Republic (TBOR) gives concerned citizens a voice on money in politics. Their activities include research and education to return political power to individuals.

Take Back Our Republic (TBOR) gives concerned citizens a voice on money in politics. Their activities include research and education to return political power to individuals.

Democracy Works and their subdivision of TurboVote explores low-cost ways to increase civic engagement and voting through new civic technology and improving processes and data. Their aim is to make voting easier through use of technology and support for elections administrators and voters.

 The Protect Democracy Project is investigating government actions, engaging in public outreach and education, encouraging oversight by existing government mechanisms, and, when appropriate, bringing litigation against government actions that threaten our democracy.

To support the Trusted Elections Fund (formerly known as the Joint Fund for a Healthy Democracy), a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund. The Trusted Elections Fund will undertake efforts to ensure a free and fair election in November 2020. 

To support TechCongress, a project of New America Foundation, in placing an additional mid-career fellow with deep technological knowledge in a congressional office to support and strengthen the ability of lawmakers and staff to generate informed public policy on a variety of technology-related issues currently facing the nation.

The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism’s Center for Community and Ethnic Media (CCEM) will focus on expanding its role from a resource center and advocate for New York City-based community and ethnic media to a national hub for outlets serving ethnic, minority, and immigrant communities.

The MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL) facilitates election data collection and sharing through web-based tools and datasets. Their system to share data with the public and the academic field supports the development of a network of scholars and members of the Election Science field.

The Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program’s Emergency Powers Project seeks to bolster checks on the use of emergency powers through legal research, developing reforms that limit emergency powers, preparing for potential invocations of emergency powers in the context of the 2020 election, and educating the public about these issues.

To support The Trust Project, fiscally sponsored by the New Venture Fund, in their efforts to research, develop, and deploy tools and technologies that make it easy for both the public and news distribution platforms to identify quality news out of the chaos online. 

NALEO Educational Fund’s Staff Up Congress is an initiative spearheaded by the NALEO Educational Fund and the Joint Center working to increase the number of diverse voices on Capitol Hill by identifying and recruiting staff for positions in congressional offices

General Operating Support

The Social and Economic Justice Leaders Planning Group, a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, provides research, scenario-planning methodologies, and strategy-design processes to grassroots organizations and movement leaders to help them achieve their goals for a vibrant, reparative democracy.

POPVOX LegiDash Fund will develop a communications and legislative resources dashboard for congressional staff. The free product provides an improved constituent communications portal to view, batch, and respond to messages delivered to Congress by POPVOX.

Free Election Fund is a 501(c)(3) fiscally sponsored project of Hopewell Fund that uses litigation to protect the right of all citizens to participate fully in our democratic process and safeguard our free and fair elections.

To provide general operating support to the Emma Bowen Foundation as they continue their work placing undergraduates of color in a variety of media outlets across the U.S., diversifying newsrooms overall, and track the retention of their fellows in the industry over time. 

To support North Carolina’s local news and information ecosystem through the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund at the North Carolina Community Foundation. The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund will support building a networked news ecosystem that is audience-centered, trusted, collaborative, and resilient.