Trust for Civic Life

The Trust for Civic Life is thrilled to announce its first set of grants today! Our collaborative awarded a total of $8 million to 20 “civic hubs” — local groups that are rallying communities to solve problems across differences and reimagining civic life in creative ways. We can’t wait to see how these grantees build upon their work over the next few years. Rockefeller Brothers Fund Omidyar Network Stand Together The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Walmart Foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York Ford Foundation MacArthur Foundation Alta Futures Silicon Valley Community Foundation California Community Foundation Porticus Emerson Collective Knight Foundation

In an era marked by division, a new funding collaborative aims to bridge the gap and foster unity. This article on Inside Philanthropy explores how this initiative seeks to promote collaboration and understanding across diverse communities. Martha Ramirez reports: The goals and strategies of the new funding collaborative Impact on community building and reducing polarization Examples of funded initiatives promoting unity Join the conversation on how philanthropy can play a role in bridging societal divides. Tagging Trust for Civic Life Omidyar Network Rockefeller Brothers Fund Stand Together Carnegie Corporation of New York The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Chinle Planting Hope Front Porch Forum Humboldt Area Foundation Wild Rivers Community Foundation BLACK BELT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION The Industrial Commons Invest Appalachia Communities Unlimited Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky American Academy of Arts & Sciences TLL Temple Foundation Four Bands Community Fund Inc #CommunityBuilding #Unity #SocialImpact #Collaboration #FundingCollaborative #CivilDiscourse #ConflictResolution #SocialCohesion #BridgingDivides #CollaborativePhilanthropy #DialogueAndUnderstanding #Polarization #PositiveChange #InsidePhilanthropy #Philanthropy

Great to see Trust grantee Front Porch Forum featured in the Washington Post for creating a popular online space that gets Vermont residents civically engaged: ow.ly/f9Rt50SVZkG “Front Porch Forum is one of the few online spaces in America that leaves its users feeling more informed, more civically engaged and more connected to their neighbors, rather than less so.” America needs more of this!

Our first Trust for Civic Life newsletter is out! In this issue, we talk about Civic Hubs: what they are, why they matter, and what we're learning from them. Not on the mailing list? Follow the link to subscribe.

Thanks to Martha Ramirez at Inside Philanthropy for today's thoughtful article on the Trust for Civic Life! "Here, we are getting to reinvest and reimagine what democracy means, what the American experience means, and we're getting to do it in a way that involves more people than it ever has.”

Big thanks to Drew Lindsay for capturing the spirit of our new grantees' efforts, and bringing awareness to the locally-led work in rural America that is making our democracy stronger.

Getting Americans to work across differences is critical for our democracy, and we believe bridging divides has to start at the local level. This week The New York Times shared how the Trust is supporting community efforts that bring people together and build the values that make our democracy stronger. (Or as we like to call the work: "democracy with a small 'd' ")

Just in: We've got takeaways from the inaugural grants announced today by a cross-ideological group of 15 major funders. The Trust for Civic Life will spend $50 million over five years to back philanthropy-starved rural America and "everyday democracy." Many of the democracy-minded grant makers look to make change in Washington and statehouses, but this funding is going to several high-poverty areas in the Appalachians, the Black Belt of the South, the southern border region, and the Navajo Nation. The 20 first grantees are bringing residents of local communities together to solve pressing needs. “No one is coming to do this work for us," said Carlton Turner, co-director of SIPP Culture, one of the grantees. Leading the funder group are: the Omidyar Network, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Stand Together Foundation. Mississippi Center for Cultural Production Drew Lindsay reports for #TheCommons. https://bit.ly/3VtrDmR

“Civic life is ready for a renaissance, and rural America is leading the way.” Launching later this month, the Trust for Civic Life will bring together funders across the ideological spectrum and tackle America’s crisis of polarization where it matters most: in the communities where Americans live, work, and experience day-to-day democracy. As investment in local places, people, and programs grows, the way Americans interact with their communities, their democratic institutions, and each other will start to transform. Omidyar Network Stand Together Carnegie Corporation of New York The David and Lucile Packard Foundation https://lnkd.in/g-BHd68n

Trust council member and founding funder Stephen Heintz spoke last week at the Institute of Politics (University of Chicago) about the power of community and the “shared experience of life” necessary for building stronger democracy. Check out the video: