[EL] DF and Knight Foundation Announce $3M News Challenge on Election

[Adam Ambrogi]

Rick “tweeted" this out this morning, but I wanted to make the listserve aware of a info session/reception Democracy Fund and the Knight Foundation staff are having next Wednesday to talk about the $3M News Challenge  (with Hewlett and Rita Allen Foundation) on election information, voting and civic engagement. One plus of the Challenge is that unlike other philanthropic ventures, this is open to individuals, academics, nonprofits, for-profits, civic tech folks, election officials and governments (and any pairing therein).  It provides a chance to innovate and be creative about ways to improve information about civic engagement “before, during and after” elections.  The event will be Wednesday at Ping-Pong Dim Sum in Dupont Circle, from 5-7. We hope that any folks interested in considering engaging in the Challenge can show up for some refreshments and conversation. 

To RSVP for the DC event, please sign up here:
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/knight-news-challenge-elections-dc-information-session-wthe-democracy-fund-tickets-15747457068

The official details are below- thanks!

Adam Ambrogi
Program Director, Responsive Politics
Democracy Fund
1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW Ste 730
Washington, DC 20036
202-212-6892(office)
571-235-7428 (mobile)
@adamambrogi
democracyfund.org

Subject: #newschallenge event next Wednesday, 2/18

Friends,

The Democracy Fund has joined with the Knight Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, and Rita Allen Foundation to launch a $3-million challenge to identify how can we better inform voters and increase civic participation before, during, and after elections.

In preparation for the opening of this News Challenge, we are holding a Happy Hour to discuss questions potential applicants may have next Wednesday, February 18th 5 pm at Ping Pong Dim Sum in Dupont Circle. If you are interested in joining us, please RSVP here.

What: #NewsChallenge Happy Hour Info Session with the Democracy Fund’s Tom Glaisyer and Adam Ambrogi, and Knight Foundation’s Shazna Nessa and Lucas Hernandez
Who: Potential applicants from the media, technology and election administration fields
When: Next Wednesday, February 18th, 5-7 pm
Where: Ping Pong Dim Sum, 1 Dupont Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20036
RSVP: Here

The Knight Foundation’s blog elaborates on this unique Knight News Challenge on elections, but in short “We are looking for innovative ideas ranging from new ways that news media and others can inform voters, to making access to essential registration and polling information available, to making voting easy, efficient and fair, to converting election participation into longer-term civic engagement, on the local, state or national level.”

For the Democracy Fund, this partnership represents a unique opportunity to work with leading peer funders to support new and promising ideas from people across the media, technology, and election administration fields. We hope to see ideas and collaborations from civic technologists, state and local election officials, academics, students, startups, nonprofits, governments, and individuals.

The Democracy Fund has committed up to $250,000 to the competition, and we’re looking forward to working with our partners to inspire creativity, reach out to a wide array of potential applicants, and help ensure the success of the winning entrants.

The News Challenge will open on February 25, 2015. More information is available on the News Challenge’s web site.

Look forward to seeing you on February 18th if you can make it.




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