Healthy Democracy Fund

Delivery of lottery-selected civic assemblies: healthy democracy (hd) designs and coordinates innovative public processes called civic assemblies, which empower everyday people to find common-ground solutions to tough policy questions. Hd's civic assemblies set a new standard for proactive inclusion, guaranteed representation, universal design, internal self-governance, external accountability, and, most importantly, public ownership of public policy. Hd typically manages the overall project, in partnership with governments and others. Continued on schedule o. We select delegates through a democratic lottery (ensuring new and representative voices), create a process for information gathering (prioritizing breadth and credibility), and design the in-room deliberation (supporting deep collaboration, conflict exploration, and creative problem solving). Hd also coordinates logistics, technology, contracting, moderator training, stakeholder relations, and follow-up activities associated with these democratic mini-systems. Hd's assemblies are always independently monitored and evaluated.in 2024, hd designed and implemented the deschutes civic assembly on youth homelessness, in partnership with the central oregon youth action board, democracynext, oregon state university, and other organizations. This civic assembly brought together 27 randomly selected residents of deschutes county, oregon, for more than 30 hours over two weekends in fall 2024. The assembly investigated this pressing regional issue, developed 22 supermajority recommendations, and delivered these proposals directly to local elected officials, service providers, and community leaders. We provided pro bono consultation to over two dozen local governments and nonprofit organizations across the united states on democratic lottery and deliberative process methods.

Public advocacy for lottery-selected deliberative democracy: healthy democracy is a leading advocate for democratic reforms that bring everyday people, randomly selected, into in-depth, collaborative policymaking. In 2024, civic assembly experts from healthy democracy presented sessions and workshops at venues including the democracy r&d annual conference in vancouver, canada, the city club of central oregon in bend, oregon, the national communication association annual conference in new orleans, louisiana, the our common purpose champions convening in cambridge, massachusetts, and two citizens' assembly schools hosted by the federation for innovation in democracy north america in washington, dc, and phoenix, arizona. Continued on schedule o.hd also presented at online gatherings hosted by partners around the world, including the international city/county management association, democracy beyond elections, public democracy los angeles, citizens' assembly & deliberation allies, the american public trust, and (jointly) the bosch foundation and the carnegie endowment for international peace. We also co-led the early design and facilitation for field-building efforts among civic assembly practitioners, advocates, academics, and funders from across the united states. We continue to assist these ecosystem-wide efforts by serving on a core leadership team, providing administrative support, and advising on specific projects.

Civic education, training, and capacity building: healthy democracy provides education and training on deliberative democratic innovations to interested organizations, government bodies, and members of the public. Hd works to build awareness of and capacity for such democratic practices through classroom presentations, capacity-building workshops, and long-form training programs.in 2024, hd collaborated with the oregon department of land conservation and development to help shape the public engagement requirements and supports within state planning rules and grants. Hd staff also provided advice on using civic assemblies within the land use planning system to the oregon land conservation and development commission. Hd staff shared knowledge and lessons learned about civic assemblies and deliberative democracy to undergraduate and graduate courses at multiple colleges and universities, including ucla, the university of oregon, and willamette university. We partnered with public process design students at the new school to create novel designs for democratic informational inputs to assemblies.

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.