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Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement

Home / Faith / Faith In/And Democracy: Learnings

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Learning is a primary objective of the Faith In/And Democracy initiative, and it is one of PACE’s core principles. As such, we take seriously our role in distilling learnings from this project that can be helpful to funders, individuals, or groups interested in the role faith plays in strengthening democracy.

Our Latest Learnings

For more learnings, please visit PACE’s Faith + Democracy Medium page.

Learning Community

Made up of grantees of the pooled fund, funders of the initiative (indicated with * below), and other leaders across faith and democracy fields, the Learning Community was an active group that met to learn and discuss aspects of the nature of faith and democracy’s influence on each other.

  • Sharif Azami, Senior Program Officer, Fetzer Institute*
  • Rev. Jennifer Bailey, Founder and Executive Director, Faith Matters Network
  • Rabbi Justus Baird, Vice President of National Programs, Shalom Hartman Institute
  • Dr.  Peter Bakken, Public Policy Coordinator, Wisconsin Council of Churches
  • Tirtzah Bassel, Vice President of Partnerships and Jewish Learning, OneTable
  • Megan Black, Common Good Program Director, Western States Center 
  • Kristen Cambell, CEO, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)
  • F Stuart (Terry) Chapin, Project Leader, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition
  • Aaron Dorfman, Senior Advisor, Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah*
  • Diane Douglas, FIAD Consultant, Diane Douglas Consulting
  • Omayma El Ella, Project Associate, Just and Inclusive Society Project, Democracy Fund*
  • Jason Garrett, Program Officer for Civic Engagement and Government, Ford Foundation*
  • Keesha Gaskins-Nathan, Program Director, Democratic Practice, U.S., Rockefeller Brothers Fund
  • Erin Gavin, Director of Program Integration/Program Officer, Education, Vibrant & Equitable Communities, McKnight Foundation*
  • Usra Ghazi, Senior Advisor, America Indivisible
  • Matthew Hawkins, Board Member, One America Movement
  • Rabbi Michael Holzman, Chief Rabbi, Northern VIrginia Hebrew Congregation
  • Princess Johnson, Founding Member, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition
  • Kathryn Lozada, Organizer, ISAIAH
  • Amy McIsaac, Director of Learning and Experimentation, PACE
  • Rodney McKenzie, VP of Ally Development, Fetzer Institute*
  • Rabbi Rachel Mikva, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs & Academic Dean, Chicago Theological Seminary
  • Sabina Mohyuddin, Executive Director, American Muslim Advisory Council
  • Dora Muhammad, Congregation Engagement Director, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
  • Amar Peterman, Director, Center for Empathy in Christian and Public Life, Ideos Institute
  • Stephanie Rapp, Program Lead for Jewish Life, Disaster Preparedness and Safety Net, Walter & Elise Haas Fund*
  • Allison K. Ralph, Interim Director, Inclusive America Project, Aspen Institute
  • Shoshanna Spector, Executive Director, Faith in Indiana
  • Chris Stackaruk, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Neighborly Faith
  • Stephanie Strong, Founder, Turn The Page
  • Janet Tran, Director of Learning and Leadership, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute
  • Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Program Director for Religion and Theology, Henry Luce Foundation*
  • Rev. Ciera Walker, Executive Director, Live Free Illinois
  • Michael Wear, FIAD Analyst and Storyteller
  • Rev. Carolyn Wilkins, Clergy Engagement & Donor Development Manager, New Mexico Comunidades en Acción y de Fe

Reflections from our Learning Community

Kitchen Cabinet of Advisors

In the fourth year of the initiative, PACE recruited a group of esteemed leaders in the faith and democracy fields to advise how it brings its learnings, resources, and message to philanthropy. Kitchen Cabinet members met quarterly to advise.

  • Rev. Jennifer Bailey, Founder and Executive Director, Faith Matters Network
  • Daniel Cardinali, Former president and CEO, Independent Sector
  • Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director, A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy
  • Omayma El Ella, Senior Associate, Just and Inclusive Society Project, Democracy Fund
  • Jason Garrett, Program Officer for Civic Engagement and Government, Ford Foundation
  • Brie Loskota, Executive Director, Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion, University of Chicago
  • Rodney McKenzie, Jr., Vice President, Ally Development, The Fetzer Institute
  • Devin Murphy, Partner, The Bridgespan Group
  • Tim Murphy, Program Officer, Integration and Vibrant & Equitable Communities, McKnight Foundation
  • Allison K. Ralph, Independent Advisor
  • Stephanie Rapp, Program Officer, Walter and Elise Haas Fund
  • Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Interfaith Director, Augsburg University
  • Adam Taylor, President, Sojourners
  • Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Program Director for Religion and Theology, Henry Luce Foundation
  • Michael Wear, FIAD Analyst/Storyteller

Learning Resources

Our team has assembled a short list of readings that have added perspective to the development of this project. We offer them here for your reference, and welcome suggestions to add to this growing list.

In addition, PACE has developed a series of primers and essays to help funders and practitioners think and talk about key themes related to civic engagement, civic learning, democracy, and bridge-building. The primers break down broad themes into their component parts, help to illustrate how the pieces fit together, and serve as a starting place to ground conversation. An essay series about civic divides gives us a framework to consider civility in bridging difference and philanthropy’s role in cultivating it in a deeper, complex, and nuanced way. All resources are linked individually below:

For additional information about the initiative, please visit:

Faith In/And Democracy

All other questions can be directed to Faith@PACEfunders.org. Sign up for our newsletters to receive periodic updates on this and other PACE programs.