New from #FromManyWe, Dan Tirrell highlights what we can learn from USAID’s work in Colombia, Syria, and Moldova for successful pro-democracy and pro-peace efforts in the US: https://bit.ly/44TFhFy

If historical narratives weren’t sources of power and possibility, they wouldn’t be at risk right now. Colleen Shogan, CEO of @inpursuitusa.bsky.social, reflects on why protecting access to history is essential to democracy and to the future we are shaping together.

Canceled performances. Falling ticket sales. A renamed Kennedy Center. In a recent PBS NewsHour interview, Trump-Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell defends a shift toward financially driven programming. Watch the latest from PBS's #CANVAS Art in Action series: https://to.pbs.org/3YpHvZv

For generations, institutions like the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian have operated with independence and care. Colleen Shogan joins us on #TheContext to remind us that this independence didn’t happen by accident, and it isn’t guaranteed.

Wondering what we can do to restore our democracy? Our 2025 CFK Global Fellows have witnessed the impact of efforts from around the globe. Here are their tips:

The #KetteringDemocracyPrize honors those who move democracy forward when it’s hardest. The 2025 laureates, Alexei Navalny and Judith Browne Dianis, show us how democracy depends on people who are willing to act with courage. Experience the event + full reflection: https://bit.ly/4iy9Vdf

As 2026 begins, we recommit to a democracy built on clarity, sustained by courage, and strengthened through coalition. Our shared future depends on it. Happy New Year from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. 🎆

This year, don’t aim for perfection. Aim for participation. 🫱🏼‍🫲🏾 Open your 2026 calendar and add any of these meaningful actions to each month. You can even invite a friend to join you!

A myth we’re leaving behind in 2025: “We’re too divided to agree on anything.” Our Kettering-Gallup #DemocracyForAll Project report found that two-thirds of Americans agree democracy is the best form of government. That gives us hope that we can work with in this new year. https://bit.ly/4j18KD1

This is what it looks like to lead with values, even when no one is watching. In this #ResilienceResistance piece, Accountability Lab’s Naseera Noor-Mahomed honors public servants who choose integrity every day. Cheers to the 2025 Integrity Icon Award winners 🥂 https://bit.ly/4nkokLW

In our newest episode of #TheContext, we welcomed Colleen Shogan, who served as the 11th Archivist of the United States. We learn what the National Archives protects and what’s at risk when transparency, nonpartisanship, and public access to records are weakened. Listen here: https://bit.ly/4pKzwlL

Let’s close out the year with a reminder worth carrying forward from KF Senior Fellow Johnnetta Betsch Cole:

Democratic backsliding is coordinated. Our response must be too. 2025 CFK Global Fellows Flávia Pellegrino, @gscheiring.bsky.social, and @ivejvoda.bsky.social share the alliances and shared strategies needed to confront rising authoritarianism today.

Authoritarians rely on our despair. Hope is a form of resistance. We asked our 2025 CFK Global Fellows what keeps them hopeful. Here are a few of their favorite things:

Some thoughts from #TheContext host @alexlovit.bsky.social#TheContext as we consider the work ahead: “If there’s one thing I take away from all the guests we’ve had on #TheContext in the last year, it’s to get involved, to connect with others, to do something.

🎄📚 ’Tis the season to read and rest. In Out of Many, One: Writings on American Universalism, @ketteringfdnceo.bsky.social Sharon L. Davies offers a timely essay on rising authoritarian threats and the democratic values that call us to courage and unity.

🎁 Courage is the gift that keeps on giving. As KF Senior Fellow @kelleyjrobinson.bsky.social puts it, “courage is contagious,” and it’s something we build together when we lift up stories of hope alongside hard truths.

Compromise isn’t a weakness. It’s a gift. 🎁 And most Americans prefer it. 📊 80% say political leaders should compromise to get things done, even when it means accepting parts they don’t like.

Seven poems to cozy up to this season. 📖 In Visual Voices: Storytelling Through Poetry, poets respond to visual artworks shaped by memory, trauma, and resilience, offering language that slows us down and opens space for reflection: https://bit.ly/3FURrEN

When this episode of #TheContext with @ecetemelkuran.bsky.social#TheContextfirst aired, her warning about rising autocratic power felt urgent. Now, the threat has only accelerated. This conversation helps make sense of how we got here and why engagement matters.

Leadership shows up in moments of crisis. Kettering Senior Advisor for State and Local Government Valerie Lemmie reflects on her early career as a city manager and what navigating the aftermath of a tornado taught her about public service, resilience, and leadership beyond city hall.

When people feel unseen or powerless, authoritarianism grows. 2025 CFK Global Fellows @gscheiring.bsky.social, Koketso Moeti, and Chris Muriithi, explain why addressing fear, inequality, and exclusion is central to defending democracy.

Months ago, what began as warnings are now lived consequences. Thousands of jobs lost. Billions of research funds halted. Countless futures disrupted.

Boost Your Impact: New Research on Effective Democracy Messaging! Our leaders attended a webinar by the Metropolitan Group (funded by PACE Foundation & @kettering.org ) on strengthening democracy via communication. #Advocacy 1/6

If states can ban care for trans youth, what’s stopping them from banning it for adults? Or any other care, for that matter? @chasestrangio.bsky.social

🚨 New in #FromManyWe: A warning from @erininthemorning.com. The Supreme Court’s ruling in #USvSkrmetti is more than a blow to transgender rights—it’s a warning for us all.

📊 83% of Americans agree it is never okay to use violence to achieve a political goal. When the president frames murder as a consequence of political disagreement, it sets a dangerous precedent. No political leader should speak this way.

Keep pushing back against #authoritarianism in 2026! Check out insights from our Chief Organizer @mariajstephan.bsky.social and others leading the movement for #democracy.

Democracy doesn’t always start at the ballot box. Sometimes it starts around the kitchen table.

These are essential steps toward ensuring that every person can share in the American promise.

Storytelling is a powerful tool; it can both strengthen and save democracy. New on #TheStakes, @bradrourke.bsky.social sits down with @hrc.org President and #KetteringFoundation Senior Fellow @kelleyjrobinson.bsky.social.

The #KetteringFoundation is proud to have signed Cultural Freedom Demands #CollectiveCourage: A Nation-wide Statement of Values and Principles for the Field of Art and Culture.

Seven ways to stay engaged in the fight against rising authoritarianism. Throughout this year, guests on #TheContext shared practical steps anyone can use to stay informed, take action, and strengthen our democracy. Here are some of the insights that stayed with us.

"People are yearning for a sense of community, and cities have great potential to bring democracy to the masses.” Dayton Democracy Fellow Mike Squire spends every day illustrating what happens when neighbors feel heard.

Our communities NEED a fully functioning, fully funded Community Relations Service (CRS). HRC joined 100+ civil rights groups in a brief supporting the CRS after the Trump admin unlawfully closed it. The CRS is a critical resource for communities dealing with hate crimes. We ALL deserve safety.

33% of Americans who strongly endorse Christian nationalism, “Ambassadors,” agree w/ the statement “the situation for people with disabilities is good as it is.” 18% of “Accommodators,” those somewhat favorable toward CN, agree. Rejecters (6%) & Resisters (12%) of CN are much less likely to agree.

What if the answers to today’s democratic crisis are older than the United States itself? Indigenous nations like the Muscogee Nation practiced consensus, shared responsibility, and community care long before the US was founded.

Actually? Americans agree on a lot. Surprised? So were we, especially given the serious concerns so many Americans have about the extreme levels of polarization in our country.

Freedom is lost when we choose comfort over courage.

In this powerful new #ResilienceResistance blog, scholar and sociologist Ferenc Hammer examines what happens when societies choose to stay silent. When we opt for silence instead of speaking up, we risk losing our voice entirely: https://bit.ly/3KEqB6c

The inaugural Kettering-Gallup #DemocracyForAll Project report released today, with clear insights into how people experience democracy today and what it will take to strengthen it. Read the report at bit.ly/482ayGY.

When disability is treated as an individual problem instead of a shared responsibility, communities lose the support systems that help people thrive. andrewwhitehead.substack.com/p/christian-...

When the truth gets harder to tell, art finds another way to paint the picture. Joy Harjo, a National Humanities Medalist and one of today’s most influential poets, shares how archetypes and satire help communities speak honestly when direct speech becomes risky.

“If I understand better why people believe what they believe, I can make a better informed choice on what is best for our community because it is our community, not my community.”

“Artists are the point people of culture.” Joy Harjo, the first Native American US Poet Laureate, shares why artists often see what a society is wrestling with before the rest of us do.

When disability is treated as an individual problem instead of a shared responsibility, communities lose the support systems that help people thrive.

You’re invited! 🌟 Join @kettering.org and WYSO for StoryCorps’ #OneSmallStep

Academic freedom protects our ability to ask hard questions and explore complex ideas. Catalina Arango Patiño shows how that freedom is under strain across the Americas, whether through violence or policies that silence dissent in our latest #ResilienceResistance post: https://bit.ly/4arATRq

A lovely interview with poet Joy Harjo. Listened while shoveling snow on my lunch hour, and paused to watch two V-shaped flocks of geese fly overhead as Joy read one of her poems. Both were antidotes to stress. Don’t miss this episode of “The Context” podcast.

Hannah Brown helps young people understand that their voices matter. From her own experience in NCCJ programs and in her role as assistant director of education, she has seen how students grow when they are given space to lead.