Civic Revolution Among Finalists Announced For $22 Million Award To Strengthen Democracy In The United States
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2022
CONTACT: [email protected]
Boston, MA – Today, Lever for Change and ICONIQ Impact announced Civic Revolution and four other finalist teams for the $22 million Stronger Democracy Award (“the award”), a competition launched in March 2021 to drive structural reforms to help improve political representation and increase the participation of all citizens in the United States’ democratic process.
The Civic Revolution aims to create a force of 100 million diverse citizens who share nonpartisan news, policy, and voting information with friends and family, dramatically increasing voting and driving democracy reforms.
The award—sponsored by Additional Ventures with support from philanthropists Cipora and Vlado Herman and an anonymous donor in the ICONIQ Impact community—will address systemic barriers and advance structural reforms in three key areas: voting and elections, policymaking, and civic engagement.
Over the next two months, the finalists will work with a team of experts to strengthen, revise, and resubmit their proposals, which will include providing detailed implementation plans for their proposed solutions. Two finalists will each receive a $10 million grant—the first from Additional Ventures and the second from the anonymous ICONIQ Impact donor. A separate $2 million grant from Cipora and Vlado Herman will be awarded to one of the other finalists.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the ideas presented by these finalists,” said Erin Hoffmann, co-founder of Additional Ventures. “The bold solutions they propose will help improve voter engagement, strengthen elections infrastructure, and fortify community-led movements that will make our government more representative of and responsive to the needs of all citizens in the United States.”
The award is managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit that helps donors find and fund solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, including racial and gender equity, economic development, and climate change.
“Strengthening democracy is one of the defining challenges of our time,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “This award gives our growing network of problem solvers an opportunity to reimagine the fundamental components of democracy and help our government fully and effectively represent its citizens.”
The award received 172 submissions from non-profit organizations across the United States. Applications were evaluated during a four-month review process involving peer applicants and multi-disciplined experts from around the country who evaluated the submissions based on four criteria: whether they were transformative, feasible, innovative, and scalable.
The awardees will be announced in the summer of 2022.
More information about the award and its finalists can be found at: www.strongerdemocracyaward.org.
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Civic Revolution
The Civic Revolution coalition – led by PushBlack, Pulso, ParentsTogether, Noticias Para Inmigrantes, and Accelerate Change – has worked together for five years to leverage digital media to drive breakthroughs in civic engagement with diverse audiences. The Civic Revolution will develop a force of 100 million diverse citizens who consistently share news, policy, and voting information with friends and family, increasing voter participation and pressure for democracy reforms.
Additional Ventures
Additional Ventures is a purpose-driven organization leveraging evidence-based research and deep subject matter expertise to make an outsized impact. Our fierce optimism powers bold, high-risk innovations to solve some of humanity’s most complex challenges.
ICONIQ Impact
ICONIQ Impact is ICONIQ Capital’s global platform for collaborative philanthropy. Supported by ICONIQ Capital’s passionate network of families, founders, and portfolio companies across industries, we strive to break down silos in philanthropy and scale giving for social change through collaborative initiatives. ICONIQ Impact’s goal is to guide philanthropic capital to social entrepreneurs and organizations with scalable models to have an outsized, measurable impact on the world’s most urgent problems.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change leverages investments in solutions to the world’s biggest problems — from racial and gender equity to climate change. By matching donors with problem solvers — through customized challenges and tailored funding opportunities — Lever for Change accelerates social change. Outstanding teams from these challenges form the Bold Solutions Network, which focuses on elevating organizations and catalyzing further funding. Founded as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2019, Lever for Change has influenced more than $800 million in grants and provided support to more than 140 organizations to date. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.