How are funders engaging conversations about democracy and politics in 2024?

Joy Ossei-Anto- SHRM-SCP is Head of Member Engagement at PACE and the primary facilitator of PACE’s “Democracy is Larger than Politics salons” in 2024. In this interview with Kevin Singer, PACE Comms Lead, Joy discusses the purpose of the salons, reflects on what she has been observing among funder-participants so far, and proposes next steps for philanthropy to rise to the challenge of making democracy larger than politics in 2024.

Kevin: What is a “Democracy is Larger than Politics Salon” and what is PACE trying to accomplish?

Joy: We’ve hosted 11 conversations so far, both in-person and virtually, where we gather 15-20 leaders in the civic engagement space to explore how to make democracy larger than politics. This was born out of conversations with our members, whereby we were picking up on a conflation of democracy and politics. We were hearing fear that should [x] political outcome happen or not happen, there might be a crisis of democracy. When we pushed folks further to get clarity on what they meant by that or what specifically was causing this fear to come up, there was a challenge for people to be able to answer. This led us to realize that we might need to dig in here and do some work around the actual distinctions and overlay of what democracy means, how it relates to politics, and the relationship between these two things. Then, what is the role of foundations in the civic engagement space to uphold democracy, to fund projects in support of democracy, and to make decisions that will help preserve democracy long term.

Kevin: I know this is really unique work right now because essentially what we're doing with these salons is we are taking a closer look at the status quo. We're asking folks to reassess or re-examine some thought patterns that may actually not be working for them, their foundation, or their giving. I think this is needed and necessary work, especially heading into election season. How are these salons going? Are people showing up ready to learn, ready to be challenged? 

Joy: It has been really fantastic getting to meet folks all across the country. We've intentionally partnered with events that were already taking place where we know that folks in the space would be gathering so we weren't making an additional ask of people's time or asking them to make an additional trip. We've partnered with funder organizations in the journalism space, in the health space, and at democracy conferences.

Our intention was to make this a work-it-out space; an opportunity for funders to dig in and have rigorous conversation, to reflect on their own practices and beliefs. We did not want this to be a space where PACE comes and delivers all of the answers to you. I think that has been valuable for participants: the opportunity to have the time to do the thinking.

A lot of the feedback we've received coming out of these conversations has been what a breath of fresh air it is to have the time to dig in deeply around practices and beliefs in a way that funders often don't have the opportunity to do because they're so busy doing their jobs. This environment has also been beneficial to PACE and our understanding of the way funders are thinking about these concepts (e.g., democracy, politics, partisanship).

Kevin: What are some of the trends from these salons that stand out to you so far?

Joy: I think one of them is confusion. Folks haven't had the time or space dedicated to actually thinking about the way that they define democracy and politics and partisanship and the relationships between those concepts. I think another trend is a misalignment between self-reflection and a reflection on the field of philanthropy in general. There is an activity that we've asked folks to engage in at the beginning of the past few salons, where we ask them to describe on a sliding scale how often they find themselves conflating democracy and politics. Then, we ask them how often they find the field of philanthropy conflating democracy and politics. What's interesting is that we see consistently that people rate themselves conflating these concepts less and rate the field of philanthropy as conflating these concepts more. Yet, these are the people who help make up the field of philanthropy. I wonder, how is it that the field is engaging in more conflation of democracy and politics when the people that make up the field view themselves as not doing this as much? So that's an interesting question that we're making sense of as we move through these conversations.

Something else that we're seeing as a trend in these conversations is the kind of accepted, unstated belief that politics is bad. As we've had these conversations with folks, we've been talking about the fact that politics isn't necessarily bad. Politics may be the means by which something really supportive for a community gets pushed forward. Our hope is to increase the message that democracy is more than just politics, not necessarily that politics is bad and we shouldn't engage in it.

Kevin: What kind of energy is leaving the room when these salons conclude? What do you think people are walking away with?

Joy: I think people are walking away with a more clarified definition of democracy, politics, and partisanship for themselves. I think they are walking away with the understanding that there is a need for more of these types of conversations that allow themselves, their colleagues, and their peers to think through these things also. And I hope that they are walking away with the desire, and maybe a couple more tools in their tool belt, to have these conversations at their organizations with their peers.

Kevin: Folks are walking out of the room and into election season. In your estimation, based on all the facilitation you’ve done, what do you think philanthropy still needs to do and still needs to figure out to rise to this very unique and critical moment in our country’s democracy?

Joy: I think that philanthropy needs to engage in more reflection. I think there needs to be more space to reflect on whether or not you are funding with the intention of moving a political outcome forward or whether or not you are funding something with the intention of improving and strengthening our democracy more broadly. It’s going to take honest reflection on the intention of practice to ensure that our democracy keeps functioning.

—

Learn more about PACE’s 2024 initiative, Democracy is Larger than Politics, and our salons. If you aren’t able to attend a salon, consider attending PACE’s post-election convening in Washington D.C. on December 4-6.

Connect with Joy Ossei-Anto- SHRM-SCP on LinkedIn. Connect with Kevin Singer on LinkedIn.