Civil Society & Democracy Strengthening
Root Change engages in capacity strengthening with civil society and local governments to support effective and equitable engagement in democratic processes, increase transparency and hold decision-makers to account.
Supporting civic actors, good governance, and community voice to strengthen democracy from the ground up
Root Change helps civic organizations, coalitions, and community leaders strengthen democracy from the ground up. We support partners to organize across differences, build trust, engage constituents, improve governance, and coordinate action on the issues that shape civic life.
Our democracy work focuses on the practical conditions that make participation and accountability possible. We help networks and coalitions listen to communities, make sense of complex systems, test new approaches, use data for learning, and turn shared priorities into coordinated action.
This work draws on decades of experience in the United States and globally. Root Change has designed participatory approaches and technology-enabled tools that bring citizens, governments, and civil society organizations into more constructive and accountable relationships with one another. Across our work, we have supported more than 500 local and international organizations to identify priorities, strengthen networks, pilot solutions, and scale approaches that advance civic participation, transparency, accountability, and community voice.
Stories & Insights
What WiLEAD’s First Year Taught Us About Environmental Action as Democratic Practice
What Belfast Taught Me
From Classrooms to Communities: Inside Wisconsin’s Labs for Environment & Democracy (WiLEAD)
Introducing Rooty: A Digital Ally for Movement Leaders
Civil Society and Democracy Strengthening in Practice
The Carter Center Democracy Resilience Networks: Root Change serves as the learning and impact partner for The Carter Center’s Democracy Resilience Networks (DRNs), supporting coalitions in 6 states to mobilize bipartisan networks, reduce polarization, strengthen trust in elections, and prevent identity-based and political violence.
Civic Trust Labs: We launched Civic Trust Labs in Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina to address political polarization in partnership with The Carter Center. Through facilitated dialogue, rapid experimentation, and microgrants, residents designed and tested practical solutions that build trust, strengthen civic participation, and encourage constructive engagement across differences.
Governance and accountability coalitions in Nigeria: We helped 18 advocacy coalitions representing more than 200 organizations in Nigeria coordinate collective action around governance and accountability issues under USAID. The effort contributed to 61 policy, legislative, and administrative reforms across education, health, extractives, social inclusion, and budget transparency.
FairVote Strategic Planning: Root Change partnered with FairVote to design and facilitate a national strategic planning process, combining political economy analysis, network mapping, stakeholder summits, and Theory of Change development to identify pathways for scaling ranked-choice voting, strengthening reform networks, and advancing electoral reform across the United States.