Feature

Beyond Elections

Inside a Kentucky City’s Unusual Experiment in Citizen-Led Governance

In Lexington, 36 random residents took part in one of the country’s first civic assemblies to recommend changes to the city’s governing charter.

Anabel Peterman

Trump and Jenniffer González Derail Energy Cooperative Progress in Puerto Rico

Philanthropists discuss how to mitigate the funding setback and contribute to energy resilience for low-income communities

Juan A. Hernández and Laura M. Quintero

Proximate Investing

A Community Land Trust Is Raising the Bar for Community Power in Economic Development

Denver’s Tierra Colectiva is showing how residents can shape — and own — mixed-use projects at a scale once reserved for private developers.

Oscar Perry Abello

Common Ground

Reclaiming the Commons: A New Vision for Nonprofit Infrastructure

Why shared management – not isolated entities – should be the default

Thaddeus Squire

Proximate Investing

What Are Business Schools For?

With crises converging, the call for radical change in business education has never been stronger. Can MBA programs equip students to serve society?

Anna Patton

Repairing Development

How Puerto Rico's Seed Banks Are Boosting Food Sovereignty

Inside the community-led movement safeguarding Puerto Rico’s food systems [with 9 Millones]

Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz

Proximate Investing

Slowly But Surely, Foundations Are Changing How They Invest Their Endowments

As grantees ask hard questions about where their grant money comes from, more donors are trusting values-aligned asset managers with their endowments

Oscar Perry Abello

Proximate Investing

The Long History of Community-Controlled Capital in the United States

Participatory investing isn’t new. For many, community-controlled capital was often the only source of wealth

Haleema Shah and Ben Wrobel

Seeding Power

Does Agroecology Funding Match Agroecology Needs?

Agroecology is gaining donors. But are movements gaining power?

Ben Wrobel and Maria Balcazar Tellez

Grassroots Grantmaking

A Vision for Philanthropy in the Shadow of Russia

The Dalan Fund is shifting power in grantmaking to Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central and North Asia

Ben Wrobel

The Revolutionary Art of the Sex Worker’s Opera

The opera grew from a community arts project into an international sellout show - and resisted opportunities to sell out along the way

Chloe Marshall

Five Memorable Films by Sex Workers

Grab some popcorn and check out these films that screened at Whorehouse Cinema and the Red Umbrella Film Festival

Chloe Marshall

Musical Theatre as Artistic Activism

An excerpt from Dr. Imogen Flower's academic study of the Sex Worker's Opera

Imogen Flower

How Puerto Ricans are Collectively Designing their Just Recovery

A women-led participatory design agency is helping redesign community water systems, urban gardens and parks

Carlos Berríos Polanco

Proximate Investing

Community Land Banks: An Alternative to Displacement in Puerto Rico?

A new approach seeks to combat the growing lack of affordable housing across the archipelago

Carlos Berríos Polanco

Cómo los puertorriqueños diseñan su recuperación justa colectivamente

Una organización de diseño participativo liderada por mujeres ayuda a comunidades a diseñar infraestructura de agua, huertos urbanos y parques.

Carlos Berríos Polanco

Proximate Investing

Bancos de tierras comunitarias: ¿una alternativa al desplazamiento?

Estrategias emergentes buscan combatir la creciente escasez de viviendas asequibles en el archipiélago.

Carlos Berríos Polanco

Proximate Investing

What Happens When Artists Invest in Other Artists?

A democratically-controlled production company launched amid the writers and actors strike

Ben Wrobel

A Different Kind of Film Festival in Amsterdam

This summer, sex workers came together to celebrate cinema – and challenge the traditional film festival model

Chloe Marshall

Budgeting

A participação pode ajudar a reavivar a confiança na democracia brasileira?

Meses após o ataque ao Congresso Nacional, o Presidente Lula está apostando em uma nova plataforma para dar voz aos cidadãos em sua democracia

Marcela Martins

Grassroots Grantmaking

The Ukrainian Activists Taking on Big Philanthropy

Less than 20% of humanitarian aid to Ukraine goes directly to grassroots NGOs. A coalition of Ukrainian activists is trying to change that

Ben Wrobel

Grassroots Grantmaking

Tamira Benitez Wants to Help DC’s Grassroots Leaders Heal

Two years into her tenure, the head of Diverse City Fund is leaning into healing support for on-the-ground organizers

Ben Wrobel

From Protest to Participation

Can Participatory Budgeting Revive Trust in Brazil's Democracy?

Months after the attack on the National Congress, President Lula is betting on a new digital platform to give citizens a voice in their democracy

Marcela Martins

Citizen Science

A Novel Way to Predict the Weather in Malawi

Can Malawi's participatory weather forecasting project change the game in a changing climate?

Rabson Kondowe

Grassroots Grantmaking

A Vermont Foodbank Tries Culturally-Relevant Food

Vermont's largest food bank is responding to the state's growing diversity by offering culturally-relevant food

Ben Wrobel

Nuts & Bolts

The Kamaʻāina Creatives Tackling Climate Change

A new, experimental venture studio designed to invest in Hawai‘i creative talent

Meg Massey

Citizen Science

Putting Patients at the Heart of Medical Research

A model for patient-centered care

Jess Rimington and Joanna L. Cea