Statement Archives

Statement

Sign-on Letter in Support of the Southern Poverty Law Center

May 6, 2026

For more than fifty years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has endeavored to protect those most vulnerable to hate, safeguard communities, and advance the principle that every person in this country deserves dignity and equal treatment.

We are living through a broader moment that demands we name what we are seeing. The organizations and institutions that protect our democracy are under sustained and coordinated pressure. There is a documented pattern of the federal government threatening nonprofit organizations, law firms, and even public servants who disagree with the current administration, a pattern that courts have rebuked repeatedly.

And as with law firms and universities, financial institutions and other intermediaries critical to charitable work now appear to be acting out of intimidation. When donor-advised fund sponsors preemptively decline to process contributions to civil rights organizations, the effect is no different from any other form of targeted pressure. It chills free speech and erodes our democracy.

As funders committed to democracy, justice, and the long-term health of civil society, we boldly stand with the Southern Poverty Law Center and with the broader civil rights community. We will continue to resource organizations defending rights and freedoms. And we will continue to call out the difference between legitimate accountability and the use of government power to silence critics.

Our democracy depends on a vibrant civil society and the freedom to organize, advocate, litigate, and express alternative points of view. We will not back down from the defense of our most vital freedoms.

This moment calls for a united voice. We hope you will join us.

SIGNERS

Aaron Dorfman, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Adasina Social Capital
Adelaide Park Gomer, President – Park Foundation
Akonadi Foundation
AL Advising
Allison Budschalow
Alissa Keny-Guyer
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Arch Community Fund
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
A. Sparks
Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust
Betsy Fairbanks
Brighton Jones
Butler Family Fund
Carol Cruickshank
Catherine Raphael
Chicory Wealth
Clara Miller
Common Counsel Foundation
Communitas Financial Planning PBC
Community Foundation of Mendocino County
Conant Family Foundation
David Baron
David Bronner
Democracy Fund
Don Chen, Surdna Foundation
Dorothy Quincy Thomas
Dr. John W. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Eddy Morales, Philanthropic Advisor, Morales Public Relations
Edie Harding
Ellen Evans
Emily Teitsworth
Erin Yanke
Foundation for Middle East Peace
Franklin Weinberg Fund
Fred Blackwell
Freedom Together Foundation
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, President and CEO
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Grantmakers in the Arts
Greg Taylor
Humanity United
Humanize Wealth
Hyams Foundation
Isabelle Murphy
Jackie Nirenberg
Jeff Meer
Jera Oliver, JD, MPA
John H. Jackson
Jon Fine
Jubitz Family Foundation
Karina O’Malley
Kataly Foundation
Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Kristin Anderson
Laughing Gull Foundation
Laurie Schecter
Leslie Ramyk
Lucas Garrett
Marc Bendick Jr and Mary Lou Egan Charitable Trust
Margaret Dooley-Sammuli
McGregor Fund
Michelle Puckett
Miguel A. Santana
Movement Strategy Center
Mx. Chris Talbot
Nat Chioke Williams
Northwest Area Foundation
Onion Foundation
Open Society Foundations
Parker J. Palmer
Peter A. Facione
Philanthropy Northwest
Philip W. Eubanks
Phyllis B. Rubin
Pia Infante
Pink House Foundation
Principled Investing, LLC
Priscilla Kersten
Propel
Racial Justice Investing Coalition
Radical Imagination Family Foundation
Raikes Foundation
Ray Colmenar
Richard and Lynn Voelbel
Rickke Mananzala
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Roger + Margot Milliken
Ruth Goldman
Samantha Anderson
San Francisco Foundation
Scherman Foundation
Sophie Allen-Etchart
SSoqo, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Stonewall Community Foundation
Susan Lowenthal Axelrod
Susan Orkin
Susan Thomas
Tara Health Foundation
The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund
The Arca Foundation
The California Endowment
The Grove Foundation
The Puffin Foundation
Theresa Ellis, Liminality Partners
Tides
Timothy Silard
Tina Barber
Todd Quackenbush
Tom Mendelsohn & Julia Gittleman
Unbound Philanthropy
United Philanthropy Forum
V. Frothingham
Voices for Progress
Wallace Global Fund
Washington Women’s Foundation
Way to Rise
Way to Win
Weissberg Foundation
Woka Foundation
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota
Xavier Ramey, Justice Informed

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Statement

Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on the Voting Rights Act

April 29, 2026

The Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act (VRA) marks a defining and deeply disappointing moment for American democracy. The VRA ended Jim Crow. Since that moment, the VRA has been one of our nation’s most effective safeguards for equal access to the ballot — especially for Black and brown communities who have long faced systemic exclusion from full participation in civic life.

That protection has now been ripped away. And the consequences will be felt in communities, and limit our ability to have free and fair elections.

Today, philanthropy faces a clear choice: to either meet this moment with urgency and boldness or allow the decay of our democratic freedoms. Free and fair elections depend on strong infrastructure, trusted community organizations, and sustained investment particularly in the South, where the legacy and reality of voter disenfranchisement remain most acute.

Over the past three years, Democracy Fund has invested over $20 million into community-based organizations serving Black and brown communities to strengthen our multiracial democracy and ensure equal access to the ballot box. These investments have supported voting rights litigation, community organizing to expand the freedom to vote, and nonpartisan voter education. But our investment isn’t enough. We call on every foundation and donor across the country to act now. An investment in these organizing groups will ensure that those most affected by this decision have the resources to respond now and build for the long-term.

What happens next in our country will depend, in part, on whether philanthropy is willing to meet the scale of this challenge.

This is not a moment for business-as-usual philanthropy. It is a moment to align our analysis and our action.

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Statement

Statement on the Shootings at Utah Valley University and Evergreen High School

September 10, 2025

Political violence has become all too common in America. It must be condemned absolutely and in no uncertain terms wherever it occurs. While full details are still emerging, today’s almost simultaneous shootings at Utah Valley University and Evergreen High School, and the many horrific acts of violence over the years are a stark reminder that no matter the motive or ideology, violence has no place in our democracy.

Our condolences to Charlie Kirk’s family and loved ones.

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Statement

Statement on the Assassination and Violence Against Minnesota State Legislators

June 14, 2025

We are devastated by the tragic loss of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and we hope for the swift recovery of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

This targeted act against individuals who chose a life of public service has a crippling ripple effect, from eroding trust in our democratic institutions to discouraging people from serving in these roles. Violence has no place in a healthy democracy.

This horrific moment needs to be treated with the utmost urgency as not just an attack on two public officials, but an attack on the institutions meant to uphold the values and standards of the America we all believe in.

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Statement

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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Statement

Democracy Fund Statement on Shooting at Former President Trump’s Rally

July 13, 2024

Our thoughts go out to former President Trump and all who were impacted by this horrific act of violence today. We are devastated at the loss of life and injuries and the trauma this event caused. We condemn political violence in any form.

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Statement

Democracy Fund Statement on the Passing of Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn

March 7, 2023

Democracy Fund mourns the loss of Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn. Her role as a staunch democracy defender over the past four decades and her commitment to achieving an American democracy that is inclusive and equitable for all made her a key partner to Democracy Fund since its inception.

While her absence will be painful to bear, Karen will continue to inspire us daily in our work. In our country’s toughest moments, she was not deterred from her vision and wholeheartedly supported her colleagues and partners in the pro-democracy field each step of the way.

We are grateful for Karen’s years of leadership and work at Common Cause and will miss her friendship and wisdom. We are here for our friends and colleagues at Common Cause as we all grieve and celebrate Karen’s impactful life together.

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Statement

Democracy Fund Statement on the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees Decision to Deny Tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones

May 20, 2021

We call on the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees to reverse its decision to deny Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure. We have funded Hannah-Jones’s work at the Ida B. Wells Society, a project of UNC-Chapel Hill, since 2017.

Hannah-Jones’s critical reporting on racism and segregation in schools and housing is unimpeachable, and the 1619 Project for which she won a Pulitzer Prize, is a profound contribution to the discussion about American democracy. Over the course of her 20-year career as an investigative journalist, she has epitomized speaking truth to power, in the tradition of Ida B. Wells.

Hannah-Jones has earned her tenure position as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. To deny it to her is to lean into the culture of white supremacy that has plagued U.S. academic institutions for far too long. This decision highlights the very inequities that Hannah-Jones has dedicated her career to revealing.

We urge the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees to reverse their decision and immediately repair the harm that has been done.

Democracy Fund remains firmly committed to building more equitable journalism in North Carolina, where we have contributed nearly $3 million over the past five years to organizations in the state including the Ida B. Wells Society, the NC Local News Lab Fund, PressOn, and Free Press’s Charlotte News Voices.

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Statement

Statement on Derek Chauvin Verdict

April 20, 2021

Today, we joined millions of people across the country in breathing a collective sigh of relief at the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial. Together, we marked a too-rare instance in which the justice system held a police officer fully accountable for the murder of an innocent Black man.

Despite the verdict, there is more work to do. Elected officials continue to target Black and brown communities with repressive election laws to gain political advantage and consolidate power. Social media platforms still amplify hate and racism, inspiring violence on and offline. And too many vital news outlets led by and serving people of color are under threat and attack just for doing their jobs.

Determined organizers are fighting these threats — in fact, this trial would not have been possible without their efforts to bring national attention to this murder almost a year ago. Despite perpetual oppression rooted in racism and white supremacy, BIPOC-led organizations continue to serve as a driving force pushing toward a more open and just democracy.

We know there is a delicate balance between the relief today’s victory brings and the road ahead. This journey to a more perfect union does not end with one verdict, nor is justice achieved in one trial. We remain committed to investing in BIPOC-led organizations and amplifying the voices of Black and brown people, while challenging our own assumptions and checking our philanthropic privilege.

Democracy Fund will continue to stand with and support grantees, partners, organizers, and activists who are turning anger into action and working to create a democracy that serves not just a select few, but all.