Downtown for Democracy Foundation

The Downtown for Democracy Foundation is a research, education and advocacy organization whose mission is to study the relationship between the creative community and politics in America today; to formulate and promote effective political discourse based upon the traditional progressive values of individual liberty, social justice, and participatory democracy; to translate that discourse into grassroots strategies for advancing short- and long-term progressive goals; and to encourage political participation among the creative class and young people.

The Downtown for Democracy Foundation (D4D Foundation) is a new non-profit organization established in 2005, inspired by the work of Downtown for Democracy, a political action committee (PAC) that galvanized New York’s creative community to engage in the 2004 elections.

Some of our founding board members were involved with these efforts and saw the need for a non-partisan organization using similar creative approaches to engage the cultural community and youth in America’s civic and political life. They also believed there was a strong need for an organization that articulates core progressive values as a coherent ideology—one that appeals to these groups and situates their unique identities and lifestyles within a broader narrative about the progressive movement—rather simply identifying “issues” through which to mobilize them or appealing to perceived self-interests that coincide with a progressive agenda.

As part of this philosophy, the D4D Foundation is structured so that organizing strategies and coalition building, ideology and issue work are developed together rather than separately. The result is a new non-profit intended not only to mobilize the creative community and youth, but also to build bridges between those constituencies and other groups and to contribute tactical innovations, ideas and policy to a shared progressive endeavor.