Who are the organizations, funders, networks, and practitioners working to improve the health of American democracy, and how do they fit together into a greater whole?
The America’s Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Project is developing an unprecedented, interactive resource to map the actors, resources, connections, and ideas that sustain, adapt, and promote democratic practices in America. With a list of 10,500+ entries and counting, the project database includes initiatives from across the ideological spectrum, ranging from neighborhood civic centers and rural news outlets to nationwide service organizations and national policy think tanks.
[To add your organization to the ecosystem, complete the Submission Form!]
The Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Portal will provide users with multiple avenues to explore and interact with the data: by geography, category of work, network membership, financial statistics, number of employees, tax status, and more. This interactive site will ultimately provide an invaluable resource to a wide variety of users seeking to improve the health of American democracy. Some potential users might include:
- Community groups surveying local civic infrastructure and seeking collaborators,
- New and existing investors hoping to identify opportunities for high-leverage contributions,
- National practitioners looking to expand their network reach and uncover new allies, and
- Policymakers and field leaders trying to assemble a more coherent policy and advocacy agenda for democracy.
Mission:
To identify, categorize, and quantify existing organizations, networks, and funders who work to promote and protect healthy democracy in America.
To create a compelling, interactive resource that educates and empowers users.
Ecosystem Data Content:
Criteria for Inclusion in the Healthy Democracy Ecosystem:
Working with a range of partners, the Healthy Democracy Map team developed a list of criteria to define “healthy democracy” work and guide decisions about which organizations to include in the map.
Sample Ecosystem Visualizations
The Map will display organizations according to their physical location…
… illustrate their membership in pro-democracy networks and coalitions…
…and display graphic representations of some of their key financial and descriptive data.
Project Next Steps
- Data Collection: Ongoing research, assigning categories, adding organizations, exploring machine learning.
- Web development: Identifying the best ways to make this resource accessible
- Testing and Feedback: Hosting focus groups, beta testing, enabling public submissions
- Community Focus: Helping communities use this resource to strengthen civic infrastructure
For more information, contact the team at the League’s Center for Democracy Innovation at democracyinnovation@ncl.org
Resources
Partners
The Healthy Democracy Map team would like to thank all the people and organizations who have helped us get to this point!
