"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has"

Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
(used with permission)



"If you don't like the news .... go out and make some of your own !!"

Wes "Scoop" Nisker, Newscaster



INTRODUCTION

Government is a slow and tedious process. While it often includes citizen and neighborhood involvement, non-governmental, private organizations have created movements and interesting groups which can create positive change in our cities and towns.

I am fascinated by the way groups are created and how they influence public decision making. This blog merely recognizes them and forwards the description of these groups from their own websites.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Fund 4 Democratic Communities

Location: Southeast States

Website: www.f4dc.org

F4DC was founded in 2007 and since then has made over $1 million in grants to support grassroots democratic organizing efforts, primarily focused in the Southeast, North Carolina and Greensboro.

We operate with a strong belief in the power of ordinary people in neighborhoods, workplaces and other communities to understand and solve their own problems when given an opportunity to put their heads together and hear the diverse voices of all involved.

The Fund for Democratic Communities (F4DC), a Greensboro, North Carolina based private foundation, supports community-based initiatives and institutions that foster authentic democracy to make communities better places to live.

F4DC makes grants to groups that engage in participatory democracy to further their social change objectives; convenes groups and individuals committed to social and economic justice through deepening democratic practice; conducts research; and and produces materials to nurture the growth of authentic democracy.

In order to build communities that are democratic, just and sustainable, we need businesses that are rooted in their place and responsive to the communities they serve. We are working with people across the Southeast growing new economies based on these principles through the development of cooperative structures.

The economic crisis sparked by the collapse of large financial institutions beginning in 2007-2008 clarified for many that the fundamentally anti-democratic nature of our economic system threatens our communities in direct, immediate and potentially catastrophic ways.

We will never achieve a truly democratic society so long as our collective wealth is unavailable to the vast majority of us. This enormous wealth should be used to develop communities that allow and encourage every human being to achieve their full potential with dignity. Our societal wealth should provide security in the knowledge that our health, safety and a reasonable quality of life are guaranteed.
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