We’re reimagining the building blocks of democracy
We are thrilled to share that our Unstoppable Voters program as led by our Programs Director, Rachel Gita Karp, has been selected for the inaugural cohort of Keseb’s Democracy Innovation Lab (iLab)!
Keseb is a nonpartisan, pro-democracy nonprofit organization building a vibrant transnational civil society ecosystem for learning, collaboration, and innovation to advance inclusive and resilient democracies. One of their initiatives, the Keseb Democracy Innovation Lab, catalyzes promising early-stage innovations reimagining the building blocks of democracy.
For the inaugural cohort, Keseb ran a global open call seeking early-stage solutions that reimagine community building to foster cross-group belonging in diverse democracies.
Why This Focus?
Studies show that individuals with a strong sense of belonging are more likely to commit to democratic principles and contribute to democratic resilience. Fostering cross-group belonging is particularly important in diverse democracies, but it is often a challenging endeavor, requiring continuous adaptation and innovation. This challenge is further compounded when the very foundations of democracy are not only contested but also in need of re-envisioning.
In this context, imaginative and futures-oriented community-building solutions offer a powerful lever for addressing the seismic shifts facing today’s democracies while nurturing the democracies of tomorrow.
Our project is one of 10 selected from a pool of more than 800 applicants from 100+ countries.
Over eight months, the Innovators will receive capacity-building programming focused on future visioning, foresight methodology, and innovation development, alongside seed funding.
Meet the full cohort
Rachel joins these amazing folks from all over the world:
- Tamar Chugoshvili | Georgia | Democracy 2050
- Gabriel Karsan | Tanzania | Mambo! Demokrasia
- Gionathan Lo Mascolo | Austria | Faith-Rooted Organizing Accelerator
- Mark Matovu Ssebijwenge | Uganda | Nampya Community Cohesion Lab
- Sharly Moraa | Kenya | Uwezo kwa Youth
- Larysa Nazarenko | Ukraine | Scanarix Media Game
- Taiye Ojo | Nigeria | #FixElectionYouthAssembly 2.0
- Dorinda So | Canada | The Studio
- Alejandra Ucrós | Colombia | Pluriverse: Democracy Narrative Hub
Special thanks to our good friend Jeanine Abrams McLean of Fair Count, who is part of the Keseb community and one of its former Fellows, and recommended Unstoppable Voters for the iLab!
