Collective Future

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Collective Future
Amount: $100,000 in 2021

What is Collective Future?

Collective Future is a 501(c)4 that works to increase civic engagement and political representation of Black communities.

Why do we think this project is important?

Black women are underrepresented at the local, state, and federal levels of government. This results in legislative policies that often directly or indirectly harm Black women, despite their commitment to championing a healthy and fully inclusive democracy.

The state of Black women and girls isn’t fully known or understood by much of the electorate and those in positions of power, in part, because of the historical erasure in storytelling. When these stories are told in mainstream media and entertainment platforms, their lived experiences are often misrepresented.

The You Are My Sister (YAMS) Institute will work to reveal narratives about Black women and girls that focus on the realities, challenges, needs, and opportunities of this community in a data-driven, yet culturally relevant manner; resulting in proposed solutions to create systemic change.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Collective Future?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $100,000 to Collective Future.

Working Families Organization

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Working Families Organization, Inc.
Amount: $250,000 in 2021

What is the Working Families Organization?

Working Families Organization seeks to build a genuine, vibrant multiracial democracy. To work toward this, it organizes individuals, institutions, and movements to achieve the scale that this goal will take.

Why do we think this project is important?

Organizing for Democracy Reform is a project of Working Families Together, and aims to disrupt the culture, institutions, and rules of the game in order to unrig our political system and transform the fight for an inclusive, multi-racial democracy. Doing so requires legislative changes at the state and federal level that expand voting rights, strengthen campaign finance and ethics rules, end partisan gerrymandering, enact D.C. statehood, and more.

Working Families Organization works toward these goals by building federal and state-based organizing infrastructure to create a pro-democracy ecosystem. Working Families Organization leverages its nationwide network of supporters and activists —particularly people of color and working-class people — to advance this work.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Working Families Organization?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant for $250,000 to Working Families Organization, Inc.

The Hub Project

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: The Hub Project
Amount: $850,000 in 2021

What is The Hub Project?

The Hub Project, a fiscally sponsored project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, builds coalitions and provides resources, capacity, infrastructure, and expertise to advocacy campaigns working to strengthen our democracy.

Why do we think this project is important?

Democracy Fund Voice supports efforts to disrupt the culture, institutions, and rules of the game in order to unrig our political system and transform the fight for an inclusive, multi-racial democracy. Structural democracy reforms, such as filibuster reform, D.C. statehood, expanded voting access, and others are critical to creating a representative, multi-racial democracy.

Through its campaigns and coalitions, The Hub Project’s democracy program is leveraging a broad coalition of state and national organizations — many led by and serving people of color — to achieve meaningful structural democracy reforms.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting The Hub Project?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant for $850,000 to support The Hub Project.

Congre$$ Series

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Congre$$ Series
Amount: $42,000 in 2021

What is Congre$$ Series?

Melissa Medina is a former Capitol hill staffer and tech entrepreneur who produces YouTube videos related to personal finance. Her Congre$$ Series project is a collection of free educational videos aimed to help congressional staffers better understand financial literacy with an aim to decrease barriers of entry and foster a more equitable and diverse workforce on Capitol Hill.

Why do we think this project is important?

The Congre$$ Series helps to create an ecosystem of empowered, diverse, knowledgeable, and talented staff leaders in Congress. The published videos raise awareness, fill knowledge gaps among congressional staff, and break down financial barriers that factor into Congress’ lack of diversity in its workforce.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Congre$$ Series?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $42,000 to support Melissa Medina’s Congre$$ Series project.

 

Demand Justice

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Demand Justice
Amount: $200,000 in 2021

What is Demand Justice?

Founded in 2018, Demand Justice is a 501(c)4 organization that aims to restore the ideological balance and legitimacy of the federal courts by advocating for reforms that improve the trust in and legitimacy of the courts.

Why do we think this project is important?

The courts play an essential role in protecting the rule of law and serving as a check on the executive and legislatives branches. To play this role effectively, the judiciary must be seen as trusted and legitimate in the eyes of the public. Reforming the courts by diversifying the bench, preventing ethical violations, improving the structure of federal courts and more are critical aspects of improving trust and legitimacy.

Demand Justice works toward these goals by building a diverse pipeline of talent into the federal judiciary. By supporting those from diverse backgrounds, Demand Justice aims to shift the makeup of the federal bench to be more representative of the legal profession as a whole.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Demand Justice?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant for $200,000 to support Demand Justice.

Way to Win Action Fund

Type of Activity: General Operating Support
Grantee: Way to Win Action Fund, Inc.
Amount: $250,000 in 2021

What is the Way to Win Action Fund?  

Way to Win Action Fund centers the communities most impacted by injustice, ensuring that organizers have the resources needed to embrace their power, determine policy outcomes for their communities, and reshape the future of our democracy. The Fund supports state-based organizations working on a range of issues with the aim of building a democracy that allows all communities to thrive.

Why do we think this organization is important?

Through its donor and funder organizing, the Fund actively works to sustain and scale year-round community organizing by bringing new resources to the field, with the recognition that long-term sustained investments in communities most impacted by injustice are needed to ensure our democracy is truly inclusive.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Way to Win Action Fund?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $250,000 to Way to Win Action Fund.

 

United We Dream Action

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: United We Dream Action
Amount: $100,000 in 2021

What is United We Dream Action?

United We Dream Action is a 501(c)(4) organization of and for directly impacted people who believe that the people closest to the pain are also closest to the solutions, innovations, and breakthroughs.

Why do we think this project is important?

This grant supports United We Dream Action in carrying out research to better understand how young Latinx people are targeted and impacted by disinformation spread by anti-immigrant movements. Understanding the ways in which Latinx  communities consume and discern media is a key step in developing strategies to combat disinformation across Latinx communities in the short term, and bring about impactful narrative and cultural shifts in the medium- and long-term. This project aims to build resistance against harmful disinformation that targets immigrants and Latinx communities.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting United We Dream Action?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $100,000 to United We Dream Action.

Leadership Now Project

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Leadership Now Project
Amount: $100,000 in 2021

What is the Leadership Now Project?

The Leadership Now Project was incubated by a group of Harvard Business School alumni as an innovative model for sustained and strategic engagement to fix democracy. With member groups in six cities, Leadership Now Project has built a robust business task force on voting and democracy, which seeks to shift business’ engagement with our democracy to one that consistently strengthens our system.

Why do we think this project is important?

Leadership Now Project educates and organizes its membership of business leaders on principles that strengthen democracy, provides opportunities for members to support democracy issues, and provides members with opportunities to invest in high-impact organizations that advance democracy for all Americans.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting the Leadership Now Project?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $100,000 to the Leadership Now Project.

All Voting is Local

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Inc.
Amount: $250,000 in 2021 over two years

What is the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights?

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. LCCHR was founded in 1950 by a coalition of civil rights activists. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Leadership Conference advocated for the passage of civil rights legislation in Congress. Their efforts resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. 

Why do we think this project is important?

As a project of the Leadership Conference, All Voting is Local (AVL) fights against state and local voting policies that silence Americans’ voices, with a focus on historically disenfranchised communities – not just in election years, but every year. AVL’s year-round focus on election administration, combined with its deep partnerships with both national and in-state groups, ensure it has the expertise, relationships, and resources to hold officials accountable to the communities they serve. AVL works with in-state partners to ensure that bad faith actors are not overstepping their authority by changing the rules that govern ballot access and subvert election administration processes. 

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a two-year grant of $250,000 to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Fair Representation in Redistricting Action Fund

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Fair Representation in Redistricting Action Fund
Amount: $1,000,000 in 2021

What is the Fair Representation in Redistricting Action Fund?  

A fiscally sponsored project of the North Fund, the Fair Representation in Redistricting (FRR) Action Fund is a 501c4 fund aimed at ensuring that redistricting processes are transparent and include public input, particularly among underrepresented people; that states use total population when drawing districts; and that states place racial equity and communities of interest as priorities when drawing districts.

Why do we think this project is important?

Securing fair and equitable representation for all people is central to an effective democracy, and redistricting shapes communities’ political representation for the decade ahead. The extent to which people are fairly represented in Congress, their state legislatures, and their locality profoundly influences policies and resources affecting education, health care, economic development, infrastructure, the environment, and other areas.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Fair Representation in Redistricting Action Fund?

In 2021, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant of $1,000,000 to the Fair Representation in Redistricting Action Fund.