Description

Mariko,
I am pleased to recommend the special grants below. As you know, we invited our democracy grantees to nominate partners for consideration of support. We asked grantees to identify organizations that they collaborate with to advance shared goals or rely upon to carry out their own work. We believed that this approach to grantmaking in an exploratory initiative would be educational for us, helping us to understand better the networks and alliances that shape and define the democracy field. We also wanted to experiment with participatory approaches to grantmaking.
We received more than two dozen nominations. You and I reviewed the endorsements prepared by the democracy grantees and agreed to invite full proposals from six organizations. I have reviewed those proposals and supporting materials and am recommending general operating grants of $100,000 for each of the following:
Proyecto 85 (P85), San Juan, Puerto Rico. Proyecto 85 seeks to grow the participation of women in elective politics in Puerto Rico. According to P85, only 34 of 158 elected officials are women on the island. As the 2024 election cycle begins, P85 seeks support to expand its training for women interested in running for office and to conduct research on the issues and candidate positions of greatest interest and concern to women. One of P85’s board members is the executive director of Espacios Abiertos (EA), a Luce democracy grantee that nominated P85 for this grant. EA works to educate voters about the views and votes of candidates for office and the details of the Commonwealth budget. EA aspires for an elective politics that is more transparent and more representative of the people. P85 shares that aspiration, providing practical tools political outsiders may use to become more engaged.