Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on April 12, 2019
Featured Blog Post: Better Angels - Polarization is the Gateway to Authoritarianism
Shhh...Did you hear that?
That’s the sound of hundreds of conversations happening nationwide as part of the National Week of Conversation! Celebrating its second year, the National Week of Conversation is a project of the National Conversation Project, which encourages “people of all stripes [to] intentionally convene with the goal of mending our frayed social fabric and revitalizing America together.” You can hear more about it from NCP’s Executive Director Pearce Godwin in this MSNBC segment.
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on April 05, 2019
Featured Blog Post: Participatory Budgeting Project - Rochester asked residents to decide how to reduce poverty. Here are the results.
It’s always exciting to welcome new member organizations to the Bridge Alliance. Indeed, every time one is announced internally, it sets off a mini-celebration among the Bridge Alliance staff. That’s because every addition opens up a world of opportunities to collaborate and bring attention to your movement.
Over the last few weeks, the Bridge Alliance family has had three mini-celebrations:
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on March 29, 2019
Featured Blog Post: One America Movement - My Year with One America
One of the most fascinating features of the United States are its 51 (including D.C.) legislative laboratories -- each state has extensive freedom to set its own laws, particularly when it comes to voting. This gives us the opportunity to see how various policy concepts play out in reality. How does Same Day Registration impact turnout? How about Voting From Home? Would 16 and 17 year olds pre-register to vote if given the option?
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on March 22, 2019
Featured Blog Post: AllSides - Rush to Curiosity -- Judge Later by Debilyn Molineaux
Civic Engagement is a really big concept with a lot of different meanings. It can describe citizens engaging each other, public officials, or just the ballot box -- along with a myriad of other possibilities. Because of that, this update is probably going to leave out an update on civic engagement that you think is important. If it does -- particularly if it involves a Bridge Alliance member -- I invite you to email us at [email protected] and we’ll highlight the story on Twitter and Facebook.
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on March 15, 2019
Featured Blog Post: Essential Partners - Positive and Negative Silence: Notes from the Field
In 1987, the U.S. Congress designated March as “Women’s History Month.” The preamble to the resolution started by acknowledging that American women have strengthened our nation in countless ways, both “recorded and unrecorded.” It then noted women’s outsized contributions throughout our nation’s history and their early leadership during every major social movement.
At the Bridge Alliance Education Fund, we witness such early leadership every day. Approximately half of the Alliance is led by women (including the Bridge Alliance itself), and those women are spearheading work in every segment of the larger revitalization movement.
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on March 08, 2019
Featured Blog Post: Issue One - The continuing "Price of Power"...
When I found out that POGO had released its “Baker’s Dozen,” my sweet tooth perked up its metaphorical ears. I was disappointed to find out it had nothing to do with food….but that disappointment went away (mostly) when I found out what the Baker’s Dozen actually was -- a collection of legislative recommendations to combat waste and corruption in Washington, D.C. You can watch POGO’s Liz Hempowicz give an overview of the report, which cover 13 policy areas (hence the name), by clicking here.
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on March 01, 2019
Featured Blog Post: SLLF - I Found a Dinosaur!
As a Philly native, Jennifer Lawrence more-or-less won my heart when she co-starred with Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook -- an offbeat comedy with a heavy-dose of Eagles fandom. Therefore, I’m less than completely objective when it comes to her work.
That said, her new video with Represent.Us is definitely worth a watch. In the aptly titled Unbreaking America, she examines our broken political system (fun fact: there is almost zero correlation between public approval for a bill and its likelihood of passage), and then puts forward solutions as well as a call to action for Americans who want to get involved. The video is less than 13 minutes long (including credits), so take a moment to check it out.
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Posted by Jim Jonas on February 22, 2019
Featured Blog Post: How to Kill Public Service
It was a very exciting month of January for organizations in the Electoral Systems and Reform sector. There was a lot of legislation advanced as members worked with newly seated legislatures to promote accountability and make our electoral systems more democratic. Additionally, several organizations announced internal efforts to help advance their missions.
Among the legislative victories:
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on February 15, 2019
Featured Blog Post: American Promise - Does Unlimited Political Spending Support Democracy? Why We Don’t Think So
Bill Gates once said, “The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” In a country as large as the United States, the internet’s ability to connect people from all corners is absolutely critical to our movement. It allows us to come together -- no matter where we are -- to discuss ideas, support each other, and build a sense of community.
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Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on February 08, 2019
Featured Blog Post: AllSides - VIDEO: How AllSides Spots Media Bia
Back in 2017, the Bridge Alliance distributed $525,000 in project grants to collaborative projects by two or more member organizations. One of these projects was a joint effort by The Village Square and 92Y to “[c]reate a new model for Americans of different backgrounds and beliefs to come together in face-to-face conversations.” That model is now known as Ben Franklin Circles.
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