IMAGINING BETTER FUTURES FOR AMERICAN DEMOCRACYWHY THE BETTER FUTURES PROJECT ~ Extraordinary times call for imaginative thinking and action. Building a robust, high functioning pluralist democracy in the U.S. capable of ushering in better futures for Americans requires us to think differently about what the times demand. We need positive disruptors who dare to dream and imagine what could be. But looking forward and offering up hope can be challenging. Even with the best of intentions, we can still become trapped in cycles of reaction, apathy, and even surrender.^^We in the American democracy movement are not immune from these forces. While our democracy faces significant threats that require a robust response, response alone is insufficient. If we fixate on preventing dire outcomes and neglect to paint a picture of the futures we’re building towards, it will be infinitely harder to develop strategies to get there and to inspire people to join us on that journey.^^This report, and the Better Futures Project more broadly, is born of a desire to gain energy and inspiration from those within and outside the democracy space who aren’t giving up, but are moving beyond critique and reaction to creation, inspiring those around them, generating abundant visions of better futures ahead, and laying the groundwork for achieving them. We want to learn from them, tap into their energy and optimism, amplify their efforts, and create a virtuous cycle of imagination and transformation to galvanize bold, creative solutions to realize the futures we want for our democracy and our country....we offer recommendations for further learning and action to energize the positive visioning already taking place. We encourage more doers, creatives, and thinkers to frame their work in terms of building better futures, and work together on what our democracy could and should become. We advocate strengthening the narrative environment to allow those positive visions to flourish and spread, and generally promote bolder thinking and engagement about the future and democracy.^^While we have a strong foundation on which to build – great ideas, visionary leaders, realworld experiments, powerful stories about better futures, and media campaigns – we need more infrastructure and connective tissue to gain traction and impact. Our three major recommendations are listed below ...^^In addition to these major recommendations, we also heard calls for greater investment in civic engagement infrastructure in rural America, in religious institutions, and in interfaith circles. Others talked about the importance of bridging, love, healing, and repair. Finally, we were reminded that to succeed at this work we need to make it fun and joyful.Democracy Funders NetworkDFN_b82092ca-74d9-11ed-abe9-4f012c83ea00The Democracy Funders Network (DFN) is a cross-ideological learning and action community for donors concerned about the health of American democracy. DFN is a project of Third Plateau, a full service social impact consulting firm. Better Futures Project TeamSuzette Brooks Masters is lead author and Ruby Hernandez, a (former) researcher at Third Plateau, is co-author of this report.Suzette Brooks MastersLead Author ~ Suzette Brooks Masters is a philanthropic advisor, thought leader, and strategist in the fields of social cohesion, democracy, and pluralism. Suzette leads the Better Futures Project. Ruby HernandezCo-AuthorThird PlateauEditorial, analytical, and interview support were providedby the following staff at Third Plateau:Mike BerkowitzCo-Founder and Principal; Mike also serves as Executive Director of the Democracy Funders Network.Paz MagatSenior DirectorAri EisenstadtSenior ResearcherKatherine Gimla CarraherSenior Grants ManagerDonorsOur report would not be possible without the encouragement, participation, and support from the following donors:The J.M. Kaplan FundEinhorn CollaborativeNew PluralistsLubetzky Family FoundationIntervieweesWe thank the following individuals for their time, insights, and convictions that better futures are possible. Their reflections comprise the core of this report.Abdullah AntepliDuke UniversityAdam KruggelPeople’s ActionAdey FissehaUnbound PhilanthropyAlan GershenfeldE-Line MediaAmanda AlexanderDetroit Justice CenterAmanda RipleyGood ConflictAri WallachLongpathBen StokesAmerican UniversityBridgit Antoinette EvansPop Culture CollaborativeCat TullySchool of International FuturesClem BezoldPublic Sector Foresight NetworkDavid FrenchThe DispatchDavid HsuOmidyar NetworkEboo PatelInterfaith AmericaEd FinnCenter for Science and the ImaginationEli PariserNew PublicElizabeth VoorheesWalt Disney StudiosEric WardWestern States CenterGabrielle StrongNDN FoundationGaby PachecoThe Dream.USGail ChristopherNational Collaborative for Health EquityGemma MortensenNew ConstellationsGeorge Goehlformerly People’s ActionGideon LichfieldWIREDHenry JenkinsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaIshita SrivastavaCaring Across GenerationsJamie HandCreatives Rebuild NYJessica ClarkDot Connector StudioJon Gruber Einhorn CollaborativeJose Antonio VargasDefine AmericanKarthick RamakrishnanCalifornia 100Katharine HendersonAuburn Theological SeminaryKristin HansenCivic Health ProjectLayla ZaidaneMillennial Action ProjectLeah ToddSolutions Journalism NetworkLonny Avi BrooksCalifornia State University East BayMalka OlderArizona State University and sci-fi authorMark BeamGuild of Future ArchitectsMark GonzalesDepartment of the FutureMay LeeGuild of Future ArchitectsMatt HawkinsOne America MovementMichael JohnstonLubetzky Family FoundationMiranda MassieThe Climate MuseumNancy DonovanPublic Sector Foresight NetworkNealin ParkerCommon Ground USAPaola Mendozaauthor and filmmakerRachel PericWelcoming AmericaRebecca CokleyFord FoundationRomain VakilitabarPathos Labs and Pop ShiftSam HeathEqual Justice USASangita ShresthovaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaSarah RugerStand TogetherShayna TriebwasserFundamental Inc.Stephen MenendianOthering and Belonging InstituteStuart CandyCarnegie Mellon UniversityTed JohnsonBrennan Center for JusticeTim DixonMore in CommonTracy Van SlykePop Culture CollaborativeUma ViswanathanNew PluralistsValarie KaurRevolutionary Love Project Whitney CoeCenter for Rural StrategiesYascha MounkJohns Hopkins UniversityYehuda KurtzerShalom Hartman InstituteYuval LevinAmerican Enterprise InstituteThought PartnersWe benefited immensely from the time, introductions, ideas, and critical feedback provided by:Wendy Petersen BoringWillamette UniversityJessica ClarkDot Connector StudioEd FinnArizona State UniversityDavid GuttermanWillamette UniversityShanti NayakIncandescentKarthick RamakrishnanCalifornia 100Miriam TicktinCUNY Graduate CenterCat TullySchool of International FuturesAri WallachLongpath DesignersAdam GriffithsBryan ByczekBold, creative solutions to realize the futures we want for our democracy and our country_40419b12-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea00To generate visions of better futures and lay the groundwork for achieving them_40419ce8-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea00ProvocationThis report is designed to stimulate fresh thinking and prompt reflection on howyou, our readers, think and operate, what guides your work, and what your time horizon is. We hope you will begin to see how your work contributes – or might contribute – to creating better futures, not just defeating opponents, maintaining the status quo, or forestalling undesirable outcomes. We also hope it serves as a precious antidote to despair and apathy.CommunityIdeally, this report will encourage a wide range of civil society actors to want tobecome part of a burgeoning positive visioning community – one capable of mobilizing and engaging growing numbers of people to realize better futures, including a robust, effective and healthy democracy. We hope to connect the various leaders across the futures thinking and positive visioning space with one another and with the leadership of the democracy field. We’re gratified that the connections we’ve already made informally are leading to exciting collaborations.InspirationFinally, we want this report to be useful to you. We’ve prioritized information thatcan accelerate your own journeys of exploration with a curated selection of materials organized thematically, including illustrative examples and an extensive list of people and organizations – to connect with or learn more about – who are thinking and acting expansively about the future. In building this curation, we unleashed our own imagination. We hope it inspires you and spurs you to share your examples and ideas with us.Infrastructure & RelationshipsInvest in infrastructure and relationships_40419e5a-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea001Build the field: Invest in infrastructure and relationships ~ There are numerous ways to build and support an emerging field and to create connectionsbetween those broadly engaged in positive visioning and those working specifically on democracy issues. We recommend more networking, collaboration, and mapping, more productive chances to convene donors and working groups around the future of democracy, and greater use of futures thinking tools to change mindsets.Networks & CoPsBuild and support networks and communities of practice._4041a030-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea001.1Network, collaborate and map. Build and support networks and communities of practice like the hubs we have already identified, and connect them to oneanother and to others working in related spaces like democracy and civicengagement. Create collaboration and clearinghouse capacity to give thisecosystem a clearer sense of identity and shared purpose, and an infrastructurefor amplification. Do more mapping to identify who is engaging or could engagein this work.ConveningsConvene people._4041a184-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea001.2Related to the pursuit of tighter networking and collaboration above, fund strategic gatherings to build relationships. Convene donors through working groups and donor tables to evolve how philanthropy thinks about the future and democracy. Create opportunities to invest together in promising,hopeful work.ToolsBuild and share futures thinking tools. _4041a562-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea001.3Support the acquisition of futures thinking skills by a growing body of actors in this budding field, including philanthropy. Develop and disseminate curricula for futures literacy and make them widely available and affordable. Invest in building foresight capacity among key organizations and leaders. Compensate people for their participation in this learning.Experimentation & ModelingModel what’s possible and fund experimentation_4041a67a-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea002We want to explore how to adapt governance innovations from outside the U.S. that incorporate a futures orientation, a longer planning horizon, and an intergenerational fairness lens. We also see promise in funding innovative efforts to strengthen and invigorate democracy in the U.S., especially at the state and local level, by using technology, engaging youth, creatives, game designers, and speculative fiction writers, and tapping into collective imagination exercises.GovernanceFund governance innovations._4041a774-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea002.1Fund governance innovations with a futures focus in the U.S. Adapt foreigninnovations in futures governance described on pages 37-41 to lengthenpolicy and budgetary time horizons, consider impacts on future generations,and develop more foresight and futures skills for the U.S. context. This couldtake the form of funding the creation of “commissioners for the future” orintergenerational fairness criteria to assess policy impacts at the federal, stateand local levels, or exploring the application of the use of future generationproxies to better understand policy tradeoffs and how best to give a voice tofuture generations. Gamify societal problem solving to help make solutionsachievable and build an ongoing positive feedback loop (e.g., trash collection,recycling and upcycling, mutual aid, and neighborhood gifting programs).Support place-specific futuring to imagine what better futures can look likelocally, and increase engagement and problem-solving capacities.DemocracyFund innovations to strengthen and invigorate democracy._4041aa80-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea002.2StatesLocal JurisdictionsYoung PeopleFund innovations to strengthen and invigorate democracy in the U.S. Investin innovations, particularly at the state and local level, to increase participation,use technology, and involve younger generations in democratic processesthat build their sense of agency and trust. Identify opportunities to engagesegments of the public in collective imagination exercises about better futuresfor their specific communities or in particular issue areas. Craft models forbetter democratic futures by supporting initiatives that engage artists, gamedesigners, and speculative fiction writers in reimagining democracyContent & NarrativesStrengthen narrative systems & amplify positive, futures-oriented content_4041abac-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003Our field needs to develop strategies that elevate and sustain narratives of abundance, interdependence, and mutuality and that amplify current bright spots for greater impact. Content also matters. We need more of it that’s positive, inspiring, and hopeful about what we can build together. That means influencing which stories are told, by whom, and how. InfrastructureBuild narrative infrastructure._4041acb0-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003.1Working with narrative change funders andexperts, develop strategies to elevate and sustain narratives of abundance,interdependence, and mutuality. Fund capacity in one or more organizations toamplify current bright spots to create more impact and virality for aspirationalcontent that depicts better futures for America and democracy. Support orcreate major media platforms that focus only on positive visions of the future.Invest in journalism that lifts up solutions and complexity, builds trust, and isrooted in place. Adopt asset framing that defines people by their dreams andaspirations. Train organizations to use messages and messengers that inspireaction, informed by cognitive science and research. Identify and appeal tofandoms and subcultures. Shape a new American myth that softens individualism and elevates solidarity.ContentCreate more aspirational content._4041adbe-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003.2Stories are absolutely key to putting forthaspirational visions for the future. We need more of them, in a range of media,and we need them to be mutually reinforcing for greater impact. This strategywould support the incubation, creation, and dissemination of high-qualitycontent using a number of approaches:LiteratureShape literary trends._4041aed6-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003.2.1Elevate optimistic and positive literarygenres to compete with and disrupt dystopian narratives of conflictand hopelessness.RepresentationImprove representation. _4041afe4-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003.2.2YouthMarginalized PeoplePositive DeviantsBIPOCWhite PeopleMenGive greater voice to youth and tomarginalized voices of all types (including BIPOC). Lift up positivedeviants of all types. Make sure to include white people and men,the main targets of grievance rhetoric.EngagementBuild public engagement._4041b0fc-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea003.2.3The PublicSocial MediaFandomsInvolve audiences and communitiesin telling their own stories, using social media and other means toamplify them. Build on fandoms.Civic EngagementInvest in civic engagement infrastructure_4041b21e-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea004Rural AmericaReligious InstitutionsInterfaith CirclesIn addition to these major recommendations, we also heard calls from interviewees for greater investment in civic engagement infrastructure in rural America, in religious institutions, and in interfaith circles. Others talked about the importance of bridging, love, healing, and repair. Finally, we were reminded that to succeed at this work we need to make it fun and spread joy. _4041b336-7508-11ed-b9a6-48d9f382ea00Social MediaFandoms2022-12-06https://docsend.com/view/4kwp34tw3722qqitOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net