WASHINGTON, D.C.- EPIP DC hosted a panel discussion and conversation Wednesday, June 6 on philanthropy's role in U.S. democracy. This marks the first major event of the year for the EPIP DC Chapter. The panel featured Mark Schmitt of New America Foundation, Teresa Gorman of Democracy Fund and Benjamin Soskis of Urban Institute, and was facilitated by Kristen Campbell and Adiel Suarez-Murias of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). Topics for the discussion focused on increasing political polarization, distrust of and unfamiliarity with government and the media (local and national), and what philanthropy as an institution can play, and has played, to advance and model civic engagement. Resources were shared during and post-program and are listed below. 

Shared Resources:

• Ford Participatory Grantmaking Paper
• Democracy Fund Voter Study Group
• The Local Fix – Democracy Fund’s weekly newsletter on local news and information topics, including civic engagement and engaged journalism
• Democracy Fund’s Place-Based Philanthropy Resource
• Funders Census Initiative (funder working group on Census 2020)
• Radically Rooted (Sojourners event)
• PACE's Civic Engagement Primer (which includes a variety of resources, including the Civic Engagement Spectrum which we shared yesterday)
• The House that Civic Engagement Built (PACE video)
• Office of Citizen – PACE’s publication on Medium which shares stories from its membership and the broader community on the issues that matter to civic engagement and democracy.

For more information, contact [email protected]