Democracy Transformation
Project
The Democracy Transformation Project aims to build a new bench of diverse democracy leaders, experts, and advocates who truly are representative of our communities and demographics. We serve as a hub, connecting leaders from different communities working on similar reform efforts. We engage these leaders, elected and unelected, in various virtual and in-person learning and co-learning experiences. We offer them opportunities to teach, facilitate, conduct research, present their work at conferences and convenings, and we facilitate ongoing community building to create connective tissue between leaders who may otherwise be working in isolation in their communities.
Phase 1:
Community Building
We convene a yearly Democracy Transformation Summit, where a cohort of women of color leaders from around the country come together for co-learning, collective visioning and relationship building. We also engage other community leaders in various democracy projects, such as community conversations, learning opportunities, and more.
Phase 2:
Co-creating work plans, leveraging resources and opportunities
Whenever there is an opportunity to engage our network of community leaders, we develop work plans in a collaborative fashion. We provide technical assistance as needed, and compensate our leaders through mini-grants, short term contracts, or stipends. Additionally, We identify external opportunities for the leaders in our network to lead or participate in, such as national conferences and convenings, community focus groups, panel discussions, media interviews, and various trainings.
Phase 3:
Sustainability
We invest in our community relationships for the long term. We keep in touch with our leaders as they change jobs, move locations, and get into (or out of) elected office. Our commitment is with them as individuals not with the organizations they represent or the titles they hold.
How We Approach Our Work:
Where Our Leaders Are
In March, 2023, Democracy Rising convened a cohort of 18 women of color from 16 different states for a 4 day summit at the Pocantico Center in NY. The cohort includes local elected officials, government bureaucrats, organizers, and advocates. Each member of the cohort works to increase access to political power to those in their local communities who haven’t had it. The main insight we surfaced was a desire to create an entity that advances the priorities of WOC and platforms WOC as experts in democracy issues.
Meet Your 2023-24 Cohort
Stronger Democracy Community Conversations Series
40 million people living in this country are either foreign born, or born here to parents born somewhere else, where democracy is done differently, if at all. In addition, according to the Census, the US will comprise a majority of people of color by 2045. These communities are the perfect audience to have a conversation about what our democracy could look like if we had healthy and welcoming political structures. Democracy Rising partners with leaders in communities around the country to conduct short and long format community conversations about these issues.
-
In 2023, Democracy Rising provided funding to 5 community leaders or organizations to organize and facilitate community conversations with:
-
Haitian community (Miami, FL)
-
Mexican community (Rock Springs, WY)
-
Eritrean community (Arlington, VA)
-
Hmong community (St. Paul, MN)
-
-
In early 2024, this group of leaders will also receive training in qualitative data analysis, and will collectively conduct the analysis of data gathered through our work in their communities.
