News

As the month of October comes to an end, the US elections are finally upon us and there are many resources and insights to support all the diverse efforts underway....

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. Efforts in the United States to build a broad, cross-partisan, and cross-ideological pro-democratic front...

At the UN General Assembly this month, the Pact for the Future was passed, including two annexes: the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations. The School of...

*This article was written by Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig. There is ample evidence that democracies around the world are being threatened by authoritarian populist forces, and that the best...

August has featured renewed energy about the upcoming elections, and we continue to focus on how to prevent election subversion in the US while taking stock of the ways states...

A groundbreaking initiative to address the growing threat of political violence in US communities is making its national launch. Because political violence poses a significant threat to democracy, security, and...

What a month! July started off with our Independence Day in the US, including many civic season celebrations around the country. While we are reeling from the murder of Sonya...

The Horizons Project Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, has a conversation with Shun Tucker-Allen, Senior Faith Partnerships Coordinator at Fair Count about her work organizing with faith communities...

Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig and Jarvis Williams, Director for Race & Democracy reflect on some of the natural tensions facing the work of organizers at the national and state...

During the month of June, we celebrated Pride and also observed Juneteenth. Hear directly about the history from the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee, one of the activists who advocated...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Sojourners, you can access the full article without a paywall here. How Christians can defend and nurture democracy...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. The new dystopian Hollywood film, Civil War, has raised the specter of devastating violent conflict...

As May comes to a close, the world has been mourning the recent civilian deaths in Rafah, and the US has been grappling with the many student protest movements on...

During the month of April, the Horizons team has been inspired by all the analysis and resources being put out to support effective movement building. Check out this research by...

As a part of Horizons' Sensemaking Series on Race & Democracy, we invited the President of Fair Count, Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean, to discuss their work as a non-partisan, non-profit...

On March 3, 2024, Maria J. Stephan, co-lead of the Horizons Project, discussed her work to strengthen multi-racial democracy in the US and globally to the Forum at All Souls...

In March, we celebrate the “radical roots” of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month in the US. Many are reflecting that 2024 is a big year for women and...

Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig, and Director for Race & Democracy, Jarvis Williams, have a conversation about why the Horizons Project created this new role and portfolio of work and...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Sojourners. Racial justice and pro-democracy advocates share a common agenda. DEMOCRACIES OFTEN DIE by a...

*By Research Assistant Sivahn Sapirstein and Director for Race and Democracy Jarvis Williams. As 2024 continues, all eyes are on the Presidential election. Many Americans are focused on the colossal...

February is the month of St. Valentine and so it’s a perfect time to reflect on the courageous power of love to sustain our relational organizing and care for each...

Happy 2024 from Horizons! A year when half the population of the world will be going to the polls. One of the main lessons from recent electoral successes - like...

Horizons has been focusing on how various Pillars of Support, notably faith-based organizations, businesses, unions & professional associations, and veterans/military groups, have contributed to authoritarian systems and how they have...

As we close out the year, the team at Horizons would like to extend our gratitude to all our partners and colleagues for the much-appreciated collaboration, learning, and commitment to...

This fall was a busy month of convenings for the Horizons’ team, making us particularly aware of the need to make time for building deep community when we are in...

This has been an emotionally heightened month worldwide as we confront the violence in Israel and Palestine and a rise of hate speech and violence in the US and globally....

*By former Research Assistant Sama Shah Promoting Democracy, Protecting Faith The importance of a robust democracy in safeguarding the rights and fostering the civic participation of the religious cannot be...

September is a busy month for those working at the intersection of democracy and peacebuilding, as several important days of commemoration are celebrated while the United Nations gathers for its...

As summer ends and we kick off the academic year here in the US, Horizons continues to grapple with the inherent tensions of different approaches taken within the broad ecosystem...

Jarvis Williams, the Director of Applied Research and Julia Roig, the Chief Network Weaver at Horizons come together in this short video interview to reflect on the “Alabama Brawl” that occurred in...

The summer lull is in full swing in the US as July comes to a close, while we grapple with rising temperatures and guard our energies for the 2024 electoral...

Enjoy this short interview between our Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and our new Director of Applied Research Jarvis Williams as he describes his excitement and motivation about joining the...

The month of June is a busy one with the celebration of Juneteenth (check out this great reading list.) Also, the kick off of Civic Season – with hundreds of activities between...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban sparked widespread outrage a year ago with a speech to members of the...

During the month of May, many important resources have been released on both the rise of authoritarianism and on global polarization. Horizons appreciates the opportunity to learn from across regional contexts and supports...

During the month of April, we are reminded of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who said, “they can cut all the flowers, but they can’t stop the spring…” Horizons continues to...

During this last week of March, the U.S. is hosting the Summit for Democracy and Women’s History Month comes to a close. As proclaimed by one of the Summit’s side events: The Status of Women...

*By former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Why should veterans and military families care about authoritarianism? American democracy is in a moment of crisis. Long-standing authoritarian trends and practices...

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Why should labor unions and professional associations care about authoritarianism? American democracy is in a moment of crisis....

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Why should faith communities care about authoritarianism? A flourishing democracy is one of the strongest protections for the...

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Why should business leaders care about authoritarianism? There is a long-standing recognition among many American business leaders that...

*This piece was originally published on March 1, 2023 on OpenGlobalRights by Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and James Savage. Versión en Español The rise in authoritarianism and democratic decline around the...

The Narrative Engagement Across Difference (NEAD) Project is a unique consortium of actors – organizers, philanthropists, and academics – who have come together to gather insights into collaboration across difference in the...

The Horizons Project is celebrating Black History and Black Excellence this month and every month. This is especially important as this history is currently being contested and censored in some US...

Happy New Year from The Horizons Project! In January we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and take the opportunity to look back on one of the greatest...

*This article was written by Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and was first published on Alliance Magazine. As the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day on 16 January, it...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Waging Nonviolence. King understood that no single approach would be sufficient to combat the interconnected evils...

December is a month to both reflect on the past year and look ahead. As we surveyed 2022, we compiled these top insights to share with you from our organizing efforts over...

Since our official launch in January of 2022, the Horizons’ team has spent the bulk of our time building relationships with the many inspiring organizers, network leaders, researchers, and funders...

At the time of writing our November newsletter, the results of all the US mid-term elections are still unknown. One clear win for democracy was that most of the local Secretary...

Click here for the Pillars of Support Project Page The complexity of the problem has hampered efforts to coordinate action against authoritarianism. Yet such coordination is crucial. Research shows that the most...

As the mid-term elections in the United States are fast approaching, check out this recent article from Horizons’ Chief Network Weaver, Julia Roig, on How to Rise Above Partisan Politics to...

Recent polls have revealed that “threats to democracy” are a top priority for many of us living in the United States. On the one hand, this is good news. Acknowledging the...

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. The scope of the challenges of democracy in the United States are vast. For a movement to protect...

*This article was written by former Director of Applied Research Jonathan Pinckney. Any movement that seeks to stand up against powerful opposition and advocate on important political issues must be...

The Horizons Project is growing! We are pleased to formally welcome both Nilanka Seneviratne as the Director for Systems and Operations, and Jonathan Pinckney as the Director for Applied Research. September is always a...

In the Northern hemisphere, August is a quiet month when we try to stay cool, hopefully take time off, and then prepare for the academic year to kick off again....

Get to know The Horizons Project team better, as our Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and our Director of Partnerships and Outreach Tabatha Pilgrim Thompson share their own approaches to sensemaking in one of the episodes...

There are two types of people in the world, those that like podcasts and those that do not. If you’ve checked out any of our VISTAS, then you know that...

On June 6, 2022 Horizons’ Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig, shared the main stage at Rotary’s 2022 Presidential Conference in Houston with Gary Slutkin, the founder of Cure Violence and Azim Khamisa, the founder...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. The January 6th hearings have exposed a fundamental truth about authoritarianism: that it ultimately...

To say June was an intense month in the US would be an understatement. We encourage everyone to keep tuning in to the January 6th hearings, a testament to the rule of...

What is democracy? Forms of rights-based representative government in which: elected government leadership is constrained by constitutionalism, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the free expression of the...

The Horizons Project is partnering with Rotary International to explore how to embed concepts and practices of forgiveness, accountability, and societal healing within Rotary clubs and their partners around the world.Forgiveness is often...

As we grapple with the horrific mass violence that occurred this past month – and that continues daily in the United States – one piece that gave us solace and...

Purpose: The purpose of this document is to help US organizers, bridge-builders, and ordinary people understand the key attributes of authoritarian systems, how authoritarians wield power, and ways to counter it....

WHAT WE’RE READING, WATCHING, AND LISTENING TO AT HORIZONS In April, we joined many friends and colleagues in mourning the sudden loss of Peter Ackerman, a visionary and treasured leader in...

One of the three lines of work of The Horizons Project is “sensemaking.” As organizers and coalition-builders who believe in the power of emergent strategy, the practice of sensemaking is something...

WHAT WE’RE READING, WATCHING & LISTENING TO AT HORIZONS In March, as the war in Ukraine took up so much of our news feeds, we have been inspired by the...

WHAT WE’RE READING, WATCHING & LISTENING TO AT HORIZONS The Horizons Project continues to reflect deeply as a team and with our partners on the wonderful resources produced by so...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Waging Nonviolence. As courageous Ukrainians and Russian antiwar protesters resist Putin’s brutal war, we can...

How do we think and talk about the future? This is one of the tension points Horizons has identified within the social change ecosystem: our different feelings about, and relationships to the...

WHAT WE’RE READING, WATCHING & LISTENING TO AT HORIZONS  There are so many wonderful insights and ideas that inspire us at The Horizons Project, helping to make sense of what’s...

We are thrilled to announce that in January 2022, The Horizons Project has launched under the auspices of our fiscal sponsor, the New Venture Fund. We are very grateful for the...

The Horizons team is made up of experienced organizers, facilitators and trainers with a deep commitment to prioritizing relationships with all our partners. We look forward to finding ways to...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, it is crucial...

*This article was written by co-Leads Julia Roig and Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. As the United States celebrated Martin Luther King Day this January,...

*This article was written by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan and was first published on Just Security. President Joe Biden’s early reversals of Trump policies have included at least three...

*This article contains contributions from Director of Partnerships and Outreach Tabatha Pilgrim-Thompson and was first published on InkStick. “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is a column in collaboration with Foreign Policy...

Nonviolence is a cornerstone of activism and radical change, but less attention has been given to the restorative power of nonviolent resistance. In this recent Horizons Project event, Senior Advisor...

Polarizing narratives are key tools of nonviolent mobilization and social justice activism. But today, deep-seated polarization, exacerbated by a growing faction that rejects basic democratic norms and practices, threatens the...

What are the common values that underpin US democracy? What is the “big story” we all share about how society should work and how we fit together as citizens? In...

*This article by Chief Organizer Maria J. Stephan was first published May 14 on Salon. The situation in Florida clearly represents a threat to American democracy. Florida has become the epicenter...

This overview was created after a convening of organizations and networks who are endeavoring to map the larger “ecosystem of social change,” including social justice, bridge-building, and democracy organizations, practitioners,...

*This article was written by Chief Network Weaver Julia Roig and was first published on The Fulcrum. “How did we get to this point?” was how the third day of the January...

On September 14, 2022, The Horizons Project hosted a webinar to bring together movement trainers, facilitators, and organizers to discuss the current state of movement-building support in the US and...