News

The movement leaders we met with emphasized the need for long-term investment in a vision of a post-patriarchal, pluralistic democracy to advance the goals of economic, racial, and environmental justice.

"The climate crisis is really the forcing mechanism: it is so big, so existential, so serious. But it reveals these bigger issues around humanity—the sense of fairness and justice and equality. Unless we reestablish an ethos of caring and sharing as a way of acting on this planet, we’re not going to solve this crisis.”

Private investment alone cannot provide the resources to ensure a fair and accurate 2020 Census.

In November 2018 the Fund's board of trustees approved a new strategy to support movement building for systemic reform of democratic institutions to advance economic and racial justice.

An evaluation of the RBF's grantmaking work in the global Democratic Practice portfolio 2010 to 2015 found that it was successful in its primary goal of strengthening the vitality of democracy in global governance. Program director Thomas Kruse's memo reflects on the evaluation and outlines the continuing strategies of the portfolio.

Recognizing the challenges to many of the RBF's program priorities presented by the political climate, the board of trustees has approved an increase in the Fund’s grants budget by nearly 12 percent for 2017, Fund President Stephen Heintz announced today.

After airing on C-SPAN, the video of a short exchange on race between RBF board member Heather McGhee and a caller from North Carolina has been viewed online more than two million times and garnered widespread media attention.

The Pluribus Project announced a portfolio of Political Game Changers to tackle some of the biggest problems facing our democracy. A nonpartisan special initiative with the Aspen Institute, it works to develop new ways to move political campaigns beyond big money and extreme ideologies to become more responsive to broad public interests.

A new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and the Kosovo Civil Society Consortium for Sustainable Development, finds that a constructing another coal-fired power plant in Kosovo would be the wrong direction for the country’s development.

The balance of political influence needs to be shifted from the few with money to the many, said Lucas Welch, executive director of the Pluribus Project, at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Introducing a panel discussion about money in politics, Welch pointed to public frustration with elected government and the influence of corporate spending. Panelists included leaders of The Pluribus Project, Take Back our Republic, Demos and change.org.