News Archives

Press Release

Public Opinion Reinforces the Exemplary Work of Local Election Officials on November 8

Democracy Fund

November 21, 2016

WASHINGTON D.C. – November 21, 2016 – According to a new national survey conducted by the Democracy Fund in the days following the election, 85 percent of voters say they had a pleasant experience on November 8th, including overwhelming majorities of voters who supported either President-elect Donald Trump or Secretary Hillary Clinton.

“Despite rhetoric about potential widespread election rigging or hacking, local election officials successfully ensured that ballots were securely cast and accurately counted. Their efforts are clearly reflected in a positive voter experience and the fact that no significant improprieties have yet come to light in canvasses or audits,” said Adam Ambrogi, Elections Program Director, Democracy Fund. “Even if your candidate did not win, Americans can take pride in our decentralized, transparent, and secure election system.”

The voter experience is critical because it fosters trust in electoral outcomes. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) put forward its recommendations in large part because inefficient or poor administration decreases trust in the outcome, and bad voting experiences might cause the public to disengage in future elections.

Data shows that large swaths of Democrats and Republicans express nervousness about key safeguards within the system, including the idea that fraud, rigging, or hacking may actually have impacted the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. In fact, there is even substantial concern among voters who believe that the 2016 election outcome was “very fairly” determined – meaning that even the voters who are most trustful of the system after the election still have considerable concerns about specific threats to the process.

“The Democracy Fund is committed to working with local election officials to help educate voters about the transparent and decentralized safeguards in place so that they can be confident in the outcome and trust the results,” said Natalie Adona, Elections Research Associate, Democracy Fund. The newly released survey also points to a need for continual efforts to guarantee that all Americans feel safe when they cast their ballots. Twenty-three percent of African American voters, and 18 percent of Hispanic voters, say they felt fearful, intimidated, or had problems voting, compared to 12 percent of white voters.

“In a heated election, passions and rhetoric can sometimes rise, but it is imperative for our democracy that all voters feel equally comfortable going to the polls,” Ambrogi said. “Some of these disparities in the voter experience are troubling, and should cause all of us to examine this issue before the next election.”

This online survey of 1,500 U.S. adults was conducted November 9–11 via VeraQuest, Inc. Panelists are required to double opt-in to ensure voluntary participation in the surveys they are invited to complete. Adult respondents were randomly selected to be generally proportional of the age, sex, region, race/ethnicity, income, and education strata of the U.S., based on Census proportions, and quotas were established for demographics to confirm sufficient diversity of the sample in proportions so that they would resemble that of the United States.

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About the Democracy Fund

Read our report on the progress made towards more secure and smooth elections since the Presidential Commission on Election Administration’s recommendations were released in 2014: http://bit.ly/PCEAProgress.

Contacts:

Lauren Strayer, Director of Communications
Democracy Fund
(202) 420-7928
media@democracyfund.org

Jennifer Krug
Porter Novelli
(212) 601-8264
Jennifer.krug@porternovelli.com

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Blog

Progress Report Shows Promising Gains for Voting Access & Efficiency

Stacey Scholl

October 20, 2016

In 2014, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) highlighted best practices in election administration to improve the voting experience for all Americans. The bipartisan group, lead by chief attorneys for President Obama and Governor Romney’s campaigns, released a comprehensive—and unanimous—set of recommendations to make voting easier and more efficient.

In advance of the 2016 presidential election, we wanted to know: what recommendations were adopted and where? Answers to these questions became the Democracy Fund Progress Report on the PCEA. In it dozens of election officials and stakeholders reveal areas of improvement, notably:

Modernizing voter registration systems;
Expanding early voting and access to voting;
Reducing lines and improving polling place management; and
Modernizing voting technology.

Modernizing Voter Registration

A major recommendation was expanding Online Voter Registration (OVR), which is valued for its usefulness to both voters and election administrators. Since the release of the Commission’s report, the number of states with OVR has doubled to 39, including the District of Columbia.

Other recommendations continue to impact voter registration in major ways. Due in part to the Commission, two networks that facilitate voter registration information sharing between states, for the purpose of improving the accuracy of voter rolls, have grown. Voter Registration Crosscheck now has at least 29 states participating and 20 states and the District of Columbia have joined the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Expanding Early Voting and Access to Voting

The PCEA report also spurred five states to adopt forms of early voting or expand its role in comprehensive election plans. There is a drastic change in Massachusetts, where prior to 2016, most voters had one alternative to voting on Election Day: have a legally accepted excuse and vote an in-person absentee ballot. Under the new law, there will be 11 days of in-person early voting at multiple sites across the Commonwealth.

There has been a reinforcement of ideas to help military and overseas voters. A working group formed by the DoD’s Federal Voting Assistance Program and the Council of State Governments built on the PCEA’s recommendations. Notably, they recommended that military and overseas voters should be sent absentee ballots for all elections during a two-year period and asked states with OVR to designate a section of their portals for these unique voters.

Reducing Lines and Improving Polling Place Management

Polling places are changing for the better with data-informed innovation. In 2015, the Voting Technology Project published an online Elections Management Toolkit to help officials allocate polling place resources, allowing them to model line lengths based on past data. Videos even walk election officials through using the tools.

States are also taking action to recruit public and private sector employees and students, to become poll workers. Rhode Island and Illinois started programs to recruit student workers as a catalyst for increased voter participation among young people. Additionally, the Bipartisan Policy Center and Democracy Works successfully recruited Spotify, Starbucks, Target, and several other large companies in a coordinated effort to generate greater civic participation among their employees.

Modernizing Voting Technology

With strong urging from the PCEA, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission approved new voting system certification guidelines and a manual for certification and testing. The hope is these actions encourage voting machine vendors to bring new systems to market.

The accounts of PCEA influence are revealing that our system is open to change. In fact, the bipartisan efforts to implement the recommendations of the Commission are a sign of possibilities when people work together. We acknowledge that problems will occur this November; any time 100 million plus people do anything, problems will occur. For those places where problems emerge, there are some solutions to be found in the guidance of the PCEA or the bipartisan spirit of their work. We are encouraged by this progress and look forward to continuing to work with our grantees, election officials, and advocates to improve the voting process for all Americans.

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Statement

Democracy Fund: This Election Is Not Rigged

Democracy Fund

October 20, 2016

In the last two weeks, fear mongering over potential election rigging has come to a fever pitch. In response, the Democracy Fund issued the following statement:

“The peaceful transfer of power is a cornerstone and tested principal of our democracy. Recent fear mongering over the Presidential election being ‘rigged’ does not reflect the security and checks built into our elections system. We’ve studied the election process and worked with administrators from both sides of the aisle — and our election process is secure and safe,” said Adam Ambrogi, Director of the Elections Program at the Democracy Fund.

“By design, our election system is highly decentralized and no one person ever has unlimited access to voting machines, making widespread hacking or rigging extremely difficult. Beyond technology, we have layers of physical security and protocols that prevent against bad actors. The system has checks and balances built in to ensure that before, during, and after our elections, we’ll know if something goes wrong — and we have steps to ensure Americans can have faith in the results of our elections, no matter who wins.”

See the Democracy Fund’s report on the progress made towards more secure and smooth elections since the Presidential Commission on Election Administration’s recommendations were released in 2014: http://bit.ly/PCEAProgress

###Democracy Fund experts on the topics of fear mongering around election rigging, voting, and election administration are available for interviews. To schedule, please contact Molly Haigh at molly@megaphonestrategies.com.

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Press Release

Report: Big Gains for Voting Access Result from Presidential Commission on Election Administration

Democracy Fund

October 4, 2016

Democracy Fund Finds PCEA Recommendations and State Leadership Have Helped Decrease Wait Times, Expand Early Voting, Expand Online Registration Access in Just Three Years

Washington, D.C.- A bipartisan effort to shorten voting lines and improve how elections are administered has yielded major progress in both red and blue states, according to a new report released today by the Democracy Fund. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) was established by Executive Order in 2013 to identify best practices in election administration and improve the voting experience. President Obama named his former White House Counsel Bob Bauer, and Ben Ginsberg, National Counsel to Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign, to identify problems and present potential solutions for future elections.

“The work being done around the country to implement the bipartisan recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration are a true sign of what is possible when people work together to solve problems,” said Adam Ambrogi, the Director of the Democracy Fund’s Elections Program. “We applaud the election administrators from both political parties who have adopted these recommendations to reduce lines at the polls, expand early voting, and make it easier to register to vote.”

The PCEA first released a report on best practices and recommendations to modernize the American electoral system over two years ago—including recommendations to increase access to online voter registration, expand early and absentee voting, modernize voting machines, and promote best practices for election administrators and states to follow. The Democracy Fund believes there is value in continuing to measure its progress and promote bipartisan reforms in the future.

After interviewing dozens of state and national election officials, the Democracy Fund uncovered the following progress on the PCEA’s recommendations. Officials say the PCEA has helped:

Double the number of states that have approved online voter registration to 38, plus the District of Columbia;
Expand the number of states that share information with each other and perform outreach to eligible but unregistered voters, such as the ERIC program, to 21 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Introduce or increase early voting in five states—including a new ten-day early vote program in Massachusetts and a new two-week early vote program in Rhode Island. There are still 13 states in which early voting is not available. As more information becomes available, early voting is likely to take root in these remaining states.
Spur recommendations for improving the voting process for military and Americans abroad that are now being considered by multiple states.
Reveal factors contributing to lengthy polling place wait times for voters in over a dozen jurisdictions.

Innovative state programs that have come out of the PCEA report include:

In Ohio, Secretary of State Jon Husted is tackling wait times to vote, and now requires that counties provide detailed plans for mitigating wait times in any polling place that did not meet the PCEA 30-minute wait time standard in the 2012 general election.
In Chicago, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Chicago Board of Elections partnered to recruit and manage a corps of community and four-year college students from Cook County schools to work the polls on Election Day. The wildly successful program increased bilingual support for voters, reduced transmission times, and resulted in higher civic participation among students. Similar programs have now been adopted in Rhode Island and California.
Alabama passed a bill allowing officials to use ePollbooks in polling places, incorporating new technology to make the check-in process easy for voters and for poll workers. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill expressed the usefulness of the PCEA report in informing legislators on the value of this type of technology in the polling place.
New Mexico appropriated $12 million for the purchase of new voting equipment for each of New Mexico’s 33 counties. Voters began casting ballots on the new equipment in the November 2014 election. The improvement was essential—before the switch, Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver reported a high failure rate for memory cards.

“At a time when the issue of cyber security is all over the news, it’s important to note that across the country election administrators are doing the work to make our voting easy, secure, and effective for eligible voters,” said Joe Goldman, President of the Democracy Fund. “Electronic voting machines aren’t run via the internet—they’re run by our hardworking election officials. So much of this fear mongering we’ve seen in recent weeks is more about headlines than reality.”

Both elections officials and advocates interviewed by the Democracy Fund report that the PCEA was very useful in defining policy agendas and advancing pro-voter initiatives. While we know that there will be hitches in the 2016 election process, the right question to ask in those places is: Did they take PCEA seriously? As the 2016 presidential election fast approaches, the Democracy Fund recommends further action as a result of this report—including a challenge to all jurisdictions to quickly adopt PCEA recommendations that have increased voting access in so many states.

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Blog

Welcoming Aboard Srik Gopal

Joe Goldman

June 28, 2016

This week we are excited to announce the newest addition to the Democracy Fund team – Srik Gopal, Vice President of Strategy, Learning, and Impact. In this new role, Srik will help lead the Democracy Fund’s systematic approach to making democracy work better. His extensive background and leadership in strategy and evaluation make him the perfect addition to our team.

Before joining us, Srik was Managing Director at social impact consulting firm FSG and co-led the firm’s Strategic Learning and Evaluation practice. At FSG, Srik worked with a variety of clients including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Omidyar Network, the National Academies, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and the city of San Francisco. He has specific expertise implementing strategy, learning, and evaluation from a systems and complexity orientation.

Prior to FSG, Srik spent a decade in leadership roles in the social sector, primarily in education. As Chief Impact and Learning Officer at New Teacher Center, a national education nonprofit, Srik worked to set up frameworks for impact measurement as well as systems and processes for data-driven learning and improvement. He previously worked on supporting whole systems change in education in his role as Director of Evaluation for the Ball Foundation.

Srik’s articles have been featured in Foundation Review and Organizational Development Practitioner, and he has blogged for sites including Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Guardian, Forbes India, and Markets for Good. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross Business School and a Certification in Advanced Evaluation Study from Claremont Graduate University. Srik has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Our team is looking forward to working with Srik on expanding our strategy and achieving positive impact for our American democracy. Welcome aboard, Srik!

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Blog

New Faces at the Democracy Fund

Joe Goldman

April 6, 2016

2016 has proved to be an exciting year so far for the whole team here at the Democracy Fund. Since our launch, we have been hard at work building our new organization – setting up internal systems, approving new grants, refining our strategies, and so much more. We are proud of how much progress we’ve made so far, and are thrilled to see much of our planning work begin to reach the implementation stage.

As an organization, we believe that strengthening our democracy requires the involvement of diverse voices from across the political spectrum and from all walks of life. The Democracy Fund team is a group of remarkably passionate, dedicated people who strive every day to make our democracy work better. We are delighted to welcome several new members to our team:

Pat Christen is the newest member of the Democracy Fund’s board of directors. Pat is a managing director of The Omidyar Group, and serves as a senior advisor to Pierre and Pam Omidyar. She brings curiosity, a sense of humor, and a commitment to high accountability to her role, which focuses on cultivating environments of learning, innovation and impact across all Omidyar Group organizations and initiatives. Prior to joining The Omidyar Group, Pat served as President and CEO of HopeLab. She was President and Executive Director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation for 15 years and also served as President of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation She has written, studied, and lectured on social and health issues both in the U.S. and abroad. Pat is a graduate of Stanford University, where she studied biology and political science. She is also a mother of four, a role that deeply inspires her work.
Terry Ao Minnis joined us as a Senor Fellow & Consultant for our Responsive Politics Program, bringing valuable insight into the current voting rights community and important dynamics shaping our elections. Terry serves as the director of the census and voting programs for Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), co-chairs the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ Census Task Force, and sat on the U.S Department of Commerce’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee from 2002 through 2011. Terry has been counsel on numerous amicus briefs filed before the Supreme Court on voting rights cases, including Shelby County v. Holder and was one of the key leaders in campaigns on reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act in 2006 and on Census 2010. She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law and her Bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Chicago.
Hugo Castro joined us as our Operations Manager from the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund, where he provided financial, accounting, tax, and human resources services to over 400 entrepreneurs and business owners. He graduated from the University of South Florida Business School with a Bachelors in International Business and a minor in Marketing.
Chris Crawford joined us as a Program Assistant for our Governance Program from the Susan B. Anthony List, where he worked as a government affairs associate. During the 2014 midterm elections, Chris was Assistant National Field Director for the organization’s Super PAC, leading a GOTV operation that made over 1 million live voter contacts across four states He has worked on multiple campaigns at the local and federal level in his home state of New Hampshire and graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in Political Science.
Jessica Harris joined us as a Communications Associate from Third Way, where as marketing manager, she ran the distribution network that pumped organizational ideas into the policy world, amplified the debate using digital media, and oversaw the planning and execution of hundreds of highly regarded events on Capitol Hill and across Washington, D.C. aimed at advancing the case for a pragmatic, solutions-oriented U.S. politics. Jessica has worked on multiple campaigns at the local and federal level in her home state of Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in Political Science.
Roland Kennedy joined us as a Grants Management Associate from the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program where as a contract and grants associate he gained domestic and international grant making experience and worked with diverse grantee organizations and donors. Roland obtained his BA in Global Studies from Villanova University, an MS in Global Studies from Northeastern University, and is a candidate for an MPhil from the University of Pennsylvania.
Karla McLean joined us as a Network Associate on our communications team, having previously served as as an Intern and then Special Projects Coordinator here at the Democracy Fund. She also gained experience through internships with the Media, Culture, and Special Initiatives division of The MacArthur Foundation and the Illinois State Senate Policy and Budget Committee, where she helped draft legislative bills, communicated with stakeholders and senators, and analyzed the state budget. Karla graduated from the University of Chicago with a Masters in Public Policy.

Looking ahead, we expect to continue to add talent and capacity across the organization. The Democracy Fund is in the process of recruiting and hiring for several positions and we will keep you updated as we continue to grow.

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Statement

Democracy Fund Announces Bipartisan National Advisory Committee

Democracy Fund

March 29, 2016

UPDATE (October 2016): Mindy Finn has stepped down from the Democracy Fund’s National Advisory Committee. We are grateful for her thoughtful contributions and partnership.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Democracy Fund announced the formation of its bipartisan National Advisory Committee, which will provide advice on organizational initiatives and assess strategic opportunities to advance the Fund’s work to ensure the American people come first in our political system. Advisors include former White House and elected officials, as well as esteemed leaders from government, academia, and advocacy – reflecting significant political and demographic diversity.

The Democracy Fund’s inaugural National Advisory Committee includes:

Hon. Robin Carnahan, Senior Advisor and Head of the State and Local Practice at 18F and former Secretary of State of Missouri.
Hon. Tom Davis, former U.S. Representative from the state of Virginia, former Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and former Chair of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee.
Mindy Finn, a veteran digital and technology strategist, Senior Advisor to IMGE, and founder and president of Empowered Women, has operated at the intersection of media, politics and tech for some of the world’s most well-known public figures and brands including President George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican Governor’s Association, Twitter, and Google.
Juleanna Glover, Senior Advisor at Teneo Intelligence who has served on the senior staffs of then President-elect George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, presidential candidates Steve Forbes and John McCain, and then Senator John Ashcroft.
Hon. Charles Gonzalez, former U.S. Representative from the state of Texas who served as Chairman of Latinos for Obama and as the National Co-Chair of President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Professor of Communication and the Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and award-winning author of over 100 works, many of which primarily focus on campaign criticism and the discourse of the presidency.
Brett Loper, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for American Express and former Deputy Chief of Staff to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH).
Spencer Overton, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, tenured professor of law at George Washington University, and the author of the book Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression.
Hon. Deborah Pryce, former U.S. Representative from the state of Ohio and the highest-ranking Republican woman in the history of the House. She currently serves as a Senior Political Advisor at Ice Miller Whiteboard LLC.
Ben Rattray, founder and CEO of Change.org, the world’s largest platform for social change with over 125 million users, one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World,” and a thought leader on the intersection of technology, business, and social change.
Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a national membership organization of Latino policymakers and their supporters, and former Vice President for Community Education and Public Policy of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).
Ernie Wilson, an American scholar and Walter Annenberg Chair in Communication and dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He has served in several senior policy positions in the public and private sector including as Director of International Programs and Resources on the White House National Security Council and Director of the Policy and Planning Unit, Office of the Director, U.S. Information Agency.

Members of the National Advisory Committee serve a two-year term. The Committee meets twice a year, and its next meeting is in August 2016 in Washington, D.C.

Joe Goldman, President of the Democracy Fund, said:

“Our advisors have the independence to tell us what we need to hear—not just what we want to hear. We expect them to hold different points of view and understand that they are unlikely to agree with all positions taken by the organization. But we don’t have all the answers to these issues, and we believe that considering a variety of opinions and perspectives will only help make our efforts more impactful in the long-term.”

About the Democracy Fund

The Democracy Fund is a bipartisan foundation established by eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyar to help ensure that the American people come first in our democracy. Today, modern challenges—such as hyper partisanship, money in politics, and struggling media—threaten the health of American Democracy. Since its creation, the Democracy Fund has committed more than $30 million in grants to ensure our political system is able to withstand these new challenges and deliver on its promise to the American people.

The Democracy Fund invests in change makers who advocate for solutions that can bring lasting improvements to our political system and build bridges that help people come together to serve our nation. Grants include projects to find workable solutions to the challenges facing our elections system, local media ecosystems, and Congress’ ability to solve problems in the face of hyper-partisanship. Learn more by visiting democracyfund.org.

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Press Release

Welcoming our New Senior Fellows

Joe Goldman

April 15, 2015

At the Democracy Fund, we embrace the fact that we work in a complex system in which creating impact relies on having in-depth strategic advice and a strong network of partners with whom to collaborate. In that spirit, we are delighted to launch our Senior Fellows program to enlist a diverse group of experts and leaders to inform the strategies of each of our initiatives and help us to expand our networks.

We are excited to introduce our first four Senior Fellows and Consultants: Paul DeGregorio, Marvin Ammori, Geneva Overholser, and Jake Shapiro. Each brings deep experience in their respective fields and will play an important role supporting our teams:
You can read more about our Senior Fellows and Consultants here. We expect to bring on additional fellows in the coming months and are pleased to welcome Paul, Marvin, Geneva, and Jake to the Democracy Fund.

Commissioner Paul S. DeGregorio, former Chair of the Election Administration Commission and former Director of Elections for St. Louis County, MO, will work with our Responsive Politics Initiative to develop effective strategies and represent the Fund at key events to strengthen election administration in the U.S.
Marvin Ammori, a leading First Amendment lawyer and expert in communications policy will advise our Informed Participation Initiative on how issues of free expression, technology, and communications policy will shape the ability of the public to participate in politics and affect the economics and nature of news media institutions.
Geneva Overholser, acclaimed editor and journalist and former director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, will advise our Informed Participation Initiative on its work to strengthen journalism at the state and local levels and on its efforts to increase public engagement with news.
Jake Shapiro, founding CEO of the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), will bring his expertise on innovation in news media production to our Informed Participation Initiative’s work on issues related to the future of news media distribution across the country.

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Press Release

Strengthening Florida’s Elections Today

February 20, 2015

Today, in Tallahassee, elections officials and experts from Florida and across the country are discussing ways to make Florida elections more efficient and fair.

The forum, “Conducting Florida Elections,” is sponsored by the Democracy Fund, and hosted by the University of Florida Department of Political Science and the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections. Panels, which are being live streamed here, will cover online voter registration, cross-state voter list matching and mail balloting. (Follow #CFEF to join the conversation.)

“We’ll be talking about improving the voting process, both from the supervisors of elections’ perspective as well as from the voters’ perspective,” according to UF associate professor of political science Michael P. McDonald, who organized the forum. “Our ultimate goal is to assist voting officials while making the experience better for voters.”

Speakers will include Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, former Florida Elections Director Donald Palmer, Pasco County Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley and Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark. John Lindback, executive director of the Electronic Registration Information Center, and election scholars from the University of Florida, the University of Wisconsin, and Reed College in Portland, Ore., also will be featured. Panel moderators are David Becker, director of elections initiatives for the Pew Charitable Trusts and Adam Ambrogi, Democracy Fund.

The agenda is available here.

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Press Release

Welcome to Betsy Wright Hawkings

Joe Goldman

January 6, 2015

The Democracy Fund is delighted to welcome Betsy Wright Hawkings as the new Program Director for our Governance Initiative, which seeks to foster dialogue across the ideological spectrum and support reforms that reduce incentives for hyper-partisanship and gridlock.

The Democracy Fund – a nonprofit foundation created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar – has committed more than $25 million in grants to organizations working to strengthen our nation’s political system over the past three years. Current grantees of the Democracy Fund’s Governance Program include the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Aspen Institute’s Congressional Program, and the Faith & Politics Institute.

With more than 25 years of experience on Capitol Hill, where she served as Chief of Staff to several members of the House of Representatives, Betsy will lead the Democracy Fund’s grant making to organizations working to build bridges across the ideological divide and seek out ways for our government to solve problems in the face of increased polarization. Recently awarded the Cresswell Congressional Staff Leadership Award from the Stennis Center for Public Service, Betsy clearly gained the respect of colleagues on both sides of aisle during her career.

I speak for the entire Democracy Fund team when I say I can’t think of a better way to start 2015 than to have Betsy join our team. We are excited to have someone of Betsy’s experience and energy lead the Governance Initiative. She is going to bring a deep and pragmatic understanding of the way Congress and the parties work – and of the challenges they face – to our efforts to support authentic, productive dialogue in our democracy.

Prior to joining the Democracy Fund, Betsy worked for two decades for her hometown congressman, Christopher Shays of Connecticut. Betsy took a leading role in helping Rep. Shays build bipartisan coalitions to balance the federal budget in 1995-96 and establish the 9-11 Commission and implement its recommendations. She also supported the enactment of the Congressional Accountability Act, a provision of the 104th Congress’ “Contract with America,” which applied labor, civil rights, and workplace safety laws to Congress.

From 1996-98, Betsy was also Deputy Director of the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-partisan organization that works directly with Members and staff to enhance their operations and interactions with constituents. Betsy oversaw day-to-day operations of the Foundation and developed numerous guides and resources that provide Members with critical information, from how to establish and run Washington and district offices to best practices for setting strategic priorities over the course of a term.

Following Shays’ departure from Congress in 2008, Betsy left the Hill briefly to work for Amnesty International, where she was Managing Director of Government Relations and then Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy, Policy, and Research. She returned to Congress to lead the staffs of Congressmen Mike Turner and later Bobby Schilling of Illinois before signing on as Congressman Andy Barr’s chief of staff in 2012.

Betsy is a graduate of Williams College, where she was named a Mead Scholar of American Studies, and is a founder of the Form of 1981 Memorial Fund at her alma mater, Groton School, to support student financial aid. She and her husband, David, live in Washington with their two sons.