On the opening day of Confluence’s Advisors Forum, Democracy Day, we had the privilege of hearing from keynote speaker Desmond Meade, President and Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Desmond’s successful leadership is anchored in his proximity to the issues on which he leads. We heard his incredible story of overcoming hardship, from homelessness, addiction, and felony convictions, to becoming a leading advocate on behalf of those around him who were impacted by the criminal justice system. As he shared, in 2016, his own wife ran for office, and he was unable to vote for her because of his criminal record. Two years later, after building a grassroots citizen’s initiative, Desmond led the FRRC to a historic victory with the passage of Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over 1.4 million Floridians with past felony convictions— the single largest expansion of voting rights in the US in half a century. (If you missed Desmond’s remarks, you can read about his story in this NPR piece.)
FRRC has had to work just as hard in the wake of the Amendment 4 victory, coming up with new and creative approaches as Florida lawmakers passed legislation to suppress this newly eligible voting population. A similar story is playing out today, following the historic turnout in our November 2020 federal election and the January runoffs in Georgia. Last month, the Brennan Center reported that legislators had introduced more than four times the number of bills to restrict voting access compared with this time last year. Nonprofits are tracking hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of legislation that would restrict voting by mail and absentee ballots, use ID requirements to suppress voting, restrict early voting, eliminate same-day registration, and more.
The time to act to protect and expand our democracy is now, and we should be showing up at the table with all types of capital to do so. In terms of philanthropy, there is no shortage of opportunities to support voter protection and enfranchisement. Taking a page from Desmond, we can support groups like FRRC that are engaging in critical state-based grassroots organizing, investing in leaders who represent the communities they’re activating, and deploying relational organizing tactics to meet voters where they are. If you’re a geography-specific funder interested in this approach and not sure where to start, you might look to One for Democracy, a new initiative to increase strategic investment in democracy expansion. O4D offers advising and recommendations to funders. Last year, it launched the 1% pledge, which the Woodcock Foundation signed onto alongside a number of other Confluence members who committed to directing 1% of their assets to protecting our democracy.
In the Democracy Day breakout group facilitated by Joe Goldman, President of the Democracy Fund, we discussed how we can align our investments with our goals of creating an open, just, and inclusive political system. The clearest approach that came out of this discussion was shareholder engagement on corporate money in politics. Following the attack on the Capitol that horrified us earlier this year, a number of corporations suspended political donations to varying degrees. Some signed a letter condemning challenges to the election outcome as efforts to thwart our democracy. As shareholders, we’re in a position to encourage increased disclosure and transparency regarding political spending, which (particularly in the current environment)may discourage spending due to reputational risk. Joe Goldman also directed our attention to Civic Alliance, a non-partisan coalition of businesses that are committed to safe and secure elections, and encourage employees and consumers to be civically engaged. Joe pointed out that it can be difficult for companies to act alone, but Civic Alliance leverages relationships and creates a forum for acting alongside other corporate voices on behalf of a pro-democracy agenda.
The Democracy Day events of the Advisors Forum were inspiring and thought-provoking. They brought with them a sense of urgency. We cannot wait until 2022 or 2024 with elections looming to make strategic investments in our democracy. May Democracy Day be the start of a broader conversation and movement among Confluence members to protect, engage, and re-enfranchise voters across the US, and to invest in the democracy we all deserve.
- Stacey Faella, Executive Director, Woodcock Foundation; Board Member, Confluence Philanthropy
Stacey Faella is the Executive Director of the Woodcock Foundation, a progressive family foundation that supports efforts to improve the educational, economic, and environmental circumstances of communities in need. Stacey works across the foundation’s programs, which span social enterprise, food systems, large landscape conservation, gender equality, media reform, and civil society. In addition to advancing the foundation’s programs through both grants and program-related investments, Stacey works with others in the sector to foster collaboration in philanthropy and support grantee capacity building efforts. She originally joined the foundation in September 2011.
Stacey has experience working on foundation and nonprofit communications, strategy, evaluation, and impact investing. She has managed a growing PRI portfolio at the Woodcock Foundation, developed and honed strategies for number of programs and projects of the foundation, conducted a program evaluation for an international youth reproductive health program, and led a strategic planning process for a nonprofit focused on civic engagement. She has engaged in communications research on behalf of various causes and frequently works with grantees to improve their communications capacity. Stacey serves on the boards of Spark Microgrants and Confluence Philanthropy. She previously served on the Board of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, where she was also founding chair of the Young People’s Network.
