Healthy Democracy Fund

Democracy research and development: the Democracy r&d network (drd), is an autonomous network of sortation practitioners, academics, and advocates, fiscally sponsored by Healthy Democracy. It is the backbone of the burgeoning global field of lottery selected deliberation. Through sharing lessons learned, setting best practice standards, and catalyzing collaboration among its worldwide members, the network exists to enable more of the highest quality lottery-selected deliberative assemblies. They also work to advance permanent democratic reforms in more places, from local to supranational, that have more influence and power around the world. The drd network has grown to include 87 organizational members and 90 individual members, in 54 countries. Continued on schedule o. In 2023, drd hosted events, workshops and video calls on topics spanning from citizen deliberation in russia to deliberation in a conflict affected area in the southern philippines and post-conflict deliberations in bosnia-herzegovina, to the details of civic lottery, the "people's house" in australia, to mixed legislative committees in the brussels regional francophone parliament, and deliberate brasi's decidadania project - to name a few.drd's new frontiers of deliberative Democracy project is developing "living guidebooks" as a resource to international teams on institutionalization of deliberative reforms. The team is working on a first prototype design for colombia, for citizen deliberation in the decision making process of colombia's constitutional court. The living guide books will present collaborative research on global south-global north learning, and about deliberation on difficult issues.the network's annual meeting took place on october 4th and 5th in copenhagen, boasting dozens of workshops - from discussions of a global public awareness campaign to equity advancements in the field. Additionally, drd held online regional meetings of members in latin america, the asia-pacific region, north america, and central/eastern europe. Members of the latin america group are collaborating on a project that includes climate assemblies in four countries and development of an online citizen participation platform.

Delivery of lottery-selected deliberative panels: Healthy Democracy designs and convenes processes that empower everyday people to solve tough public policy questions. In partnership with governments and organizations, hd staff manage all aspects of program delivery, including selecting panelists through a democratic lottery, designing inclusive public processes that cultivate innovative and practical solutions to tough policy questions, designing and leading program facilitation, and communicating with the broader public.continued on schedule o. In 2023, we partnered with the city of santa monica to design a lottery-selected panel that would guide planning for the conversion of the santa monica airport. Though santa monica's city council voted to revert to traditional engagement methods, we designed a process that integrates a deliberative assembly with a team of urban design experts - an innovation that has already begun to inspire future deliberative planning projects. We collaborated with radicalxchange to facilitate Colorado climate preparedness workshops, engaging coloradoans in prioritizing the state's climate preparedness responses. We selected panelists through a democratic lottery, provided panelist concierge services, and facilitation support. We provided pro-bono consultation to local governments and nonprofit organizations across the us exploring how democratic lotteries and deliberation can improve public engagement. We met with over 20 local jurisdictions to explore potential new projects.

Public promotion and advocacy for lottery-selected deliberative panels: Healthy Democracy continues to be a leading organization in the international field of deliberative Democracy and an advocate for the proliferation of inclusive, deliberative democratic reforms. In 2023, staff traveled around the us and internationally as experts in the field of deliberative Democracy. Continued on schedule o. Healthy Democracy staff presented sessions and workshops at conferences close to home and around the world, including the global forum on modern direct Democracy in mexico city, mexico, the american Democracy summit in los angeles, California, the Democracy r&d annual conference in copenhagen, denmark, the national coalition for dialogue & deliberation in atlanta, Georgia, the Oregon league of cities conference and bard college's hannah arendt center in new york city. We presented on topics such as: equity in deliberative practice, the participatory culture of our field, the possibility of an initiative convention system, and creating more inclusive and deliberative local democracies get to know the field, and expanding the dialogue & deliberation field.we gave virtual presentations for groups, such as a webinar for the national civic league on 'promising practices: tackling tough issues through citizen panels,' a presentation on independent redistricting commissions to california-based Democracy reform organizations, and a virtual info session on citizens' assemblies with Democracy creative in burlington, vt. we were featured in podcasts, including an episode of the great battlefield on 'everyday people creating policy', and penn state mccourtney institute for Democracy's podcast, 'when the people decide'. We were featured in a new america article, 'building the future of Democracy in petaluma, ca and co-director alex renirie published an article in the national civic review, fall 2023 issue, lottery-selected Democracy: redesigning governance from the ground up.

Civic education, training, and capacity building: Healthy Democracy is a key source of information for organizations, government bodies, and members of the public who are interested in deliberative democratic innovations. Hd works to build awareness and capacity for such democratic practices through classroom presentations, capacity building workshops for governments, and training programs for practitioners.in 2023, Healthy Democracy partnered with engaging local government leaders (elgl) to offer a six-week training called lottery-selected panels: how to instigate inclusive and deliberative participation in your community. The training provided local government leaders with information about lottery-selected panels and deliberation. In addition, we provided one-on-one coaching with local government leaders. We also partnered with Democracy without elections (dwe) to provide training for 25+ participants on building political will for lottery-selected panels in your community - a how-to guide for local advocates wishing to bring lottery-selected deliberation to their communities.we collaborated with staff at the or dept. Of land conservation and development (dlcd) to help shape the public engagement methods that state planning rules and grants require and/or support. With a grant from the Oregon state capitol foundation, we developed a 10-week curriculum for lewis and clark environmental policy students that consisted of three units: 1) general learning about the field of lottery-selected deliberation, paying homage to Oregon's unique historical legacy; 2) advocacy training; 3) advocacy event we presented to college students at the northstar civic foundations compass fellows program.

Program development and innovation: Healthy Democracy works with fellow deliberative Democracy practitioners to develop, incubate, and refine new design concepts that improve deliberative processes. Hd staff regularly consult with government staff on process designs that range from one-time deliberative panels to permanent systemic reforms. This year we created the following process design tools:* readiness checklist for new projects - to streamline the earliest stages of project planning with our government partners. * advocate resource guide - this ever-evolving list of our favorite introductory articles, videos, and more is a great starting place for anyone interested in promoting our work. * updated language philosophy & style guide - another living document, a revision to our longstanding style guide, now with more detail about the words & values we prefer, the ones we don't, and why it matters. * advocacy tips - do's, don'ts, and other advice related to advocating for lottery-selected Democracy with government staff, elected, and others.