Philanthropy is, in theory, a means of supporting the pluralism that has long been a hallmark of democracy in America. However, in practice, much of philanthropy has come to be implicated in the polarization that squelches pluralism and undermines the health of democracy. How did we get here? Where do we go from here? What will it take for foundations and individual philanthropists to support pluralism in responsible, democracy-enhancing ways?
Daniel Stid explores these questions in a new SNF Agora Institute Report entitled “Taking Democracy for Granted: Philanthropy, Polarization, and the Need for Responsible Pluralism.” In this webinar, Daniel will share the key points of his report. We will also hear from two discussants, Kristin Goss, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University, and Yordanos Eyoel, Founder and CEO of Keseb, who will share their responses to the central themes of “Taking Democracy for Granted.”
Registration link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SEnw0ImHQUm4cuSVp9ZC3g
Speaker Bios
Daniel Stid
Daniel Stid is the Executive Director of Lyceum Labs, a new charitable venture dedicated to improving the quality of political leadership and party politics in the United States. From 2013 to 2022, he served as the founding director of the Hewlett Foundation’s grant making program to strengthen U.S. democracy. From 2006 to 2013, Daniel was a partner with The Bridgespan Group, where he advised nonprofit, foundation, and government leaders on strategy and organizational development. From 1997-2005, Daniel was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Earlier, he was a Congressional Fellow on the staff of the House Majority Leader and taught political science at Wabash College. Daniel is the author of The President as Statesman: Woodrow Wilson and the Constitution, and he blogs at The Art of Association, where he explores the interplay between civil society, philanthropy, and democracy in America. Daniel serves on the governing boards of two nonprofit organizations, More in Common-U.S. and Mount Tamalpais College (formerly the Prison University Project). Daniel and Martha Enthoven have been married for 32 years, and they are the proud parents of Noah and Sophia (twins, age 30), Charlotte (23), and Isabelle (19).
Kristin Goss
Kristin Goss is the Susan B. King Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and professor of political science at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and also serves as Director of the Duke in DC semester-in-Washington program. Her current work focuses on elite philanthropy and American Democracy. In articles, talks, and a forthcoming book, she examines whether the most privileged Americans and mega-foundations are stepping up to defend democratic norms and institutions and promote just and inclusive governance. This work embraces, yet also challenges, conventional critiques of big philanthropy.
Kristin Goss has written or co-produced three books on gun politics and policy: The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know, with Philip J. Cook (Oxford University Press, 2020; 1st ed 2014); Gun Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Politics, Policy, and Practice, co-edited with Jennifer Carlson and Harel Shapira (Routledge, 2018); and Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America (Princeton University Press, 2006, 2009). The latter book is based on her doctoral study, which won the American Political Science Association’s 2003 Harold D. Lasswell Award for the nation’s best dissertation in policy studies. She has also written widely on gender and politics. She is the author of The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women’s Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice (University of Michigan Press, 2020 1st ed., 2013). The book documents and explains the surprising rise – and even more surprising fall – of American women’s groups on the national stage. Systematically examining these groups’ issue agendas over the last century, the book argues that public policy has profoundly shaped the nature and magnitude of women’s collective voice in important national debates.
Yordanos Eyoel
Yordanos Eyoel is an Ethiopian-American democracy entrepreneur who is the Founder and CEO of Keseb. Keseb is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building an ecosystem for cross-country learning, collaboration and innovation to counter authoritarianism and advance inclusive and resilient democracies. For launching Keseb in 2022, Yordanos was recognized with the “Extraordinary Leader Transforming a Field” award by Unorthodox Philanthropy.
Yordanos is a Civil Society Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a former Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. In 2017, Yordanos co-founded and served as the International Spokesperson of the Sister March Network that mobilized over 4 million people for the 2017 Women’s March. Yordanos serves as the Board Chair of PushBlack, the largest nonprofit media organization for Black Americans. Yordanos’ work and writing has been featured in TED, Fast Company, Stanford Social Innovation Review, NPR, and We the Possibility by Harvard Business Review, among others.