For detailed descriptions of grants, click here.
Making government more representative of, and more responsive to, its citizens
by enhancing participation in public life is the aim of the education
program.
Citizen organizations play a critical part in our democratic system, monitoring
government policy and reporting the results to the public. They help
make government accountable and work to ensure that public policy addresses
the needs of the poor, young, and disadvantaged. Because their independence
depends particularly on foundations and other private funders, we have
made support for such organizations an element of our grantmaking.
Communications technology, from television to the computer to the Internet, is revolutionizing the ways that Americans get information and organizations pursue their goals--investigating issues, disseminating information, and working for change. A part of our program fosters innovative uses of technology to enhance citizens' knowledge and participation. Among the projects we have supported are an Internet site that offers voters comprehensive information on candidates and another that is a centralized resource on public policy; get-out-the vote campaigns broadcast on network television; and public television programs on government and politics. Another set of grants supports imaginative uses of technology to improve education in and out of the classroom.
Public interest legal organizations, through both representation of individuals and strategies to improve the implementation of laws, provide an important mediating link between citizens and government. To attract talented people to public interest work, the Foundation has supported programs that place law students, especially women and minorities, in summer internships at nonprofit, legal aid, and government agencies.
The representation of women in government has increased significantly since we decided, two decades ago, to make efforts to bring more women into public life a priority in our grantmaking. But with women still a clear minority in the political arenas where decisions are made, we have continued to support programs to train women policymakers through fellowship programs in Washington and Albany, to train candidates for elected office, and to study the experience and impact of women officeholders.
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