Democracy? I’ll Bite.
Sarah M. Williams
Mar 18, 2024
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant (or watched an episode of The Bear) you know that you don’t debate if the sauce is too spicy, or if a dish should be on the menu at all when…
Don’t Stop Now. Our Coalition is Winning.
Sarah M. Williams
Nov 30, 2023
In this moment, when so many of us are looking for signs of hope, our democracy actually delivered on Election Day 2023. Organizers and voters helped win a pro-democracy…
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This is the America that Showed Up
Sarah M. Williams
Nov 17, 2022
During the stress leading up to Election Day, I kept thinking of a story I heard recently about immigration. If you ask Americans what they think of immigration, they might call…
No Democracy Doom, Friends! Reasons for Determined Optimism
Sarah M. Williams
Jan 25, 2022
It’s been a bleak winter for democracy in the US. The past week marked a painful loss in the fight to enact urgently-needed federal voting rights legislation. We still…
The Election Has Started — A Quick, Actionable List of What You Can Do
Sarah M. Williams
Sep 28, 2020
The 2020 election has begun. By Thursday of this week, more than half of US states will have mailed out their absentee ballots, and in eight other states…
100 Days In: Step It Up for Democracy
Sarah M. Williams
Jun 22, 2020
During times of reckoning, we must often turn to art to begin the process of understanding the moment and our role in it. In Unraveling, the artist Sonya Clark painstakingly unravels…
4 Things You Can Do for Democracy Before the Holidays
Sarah M. Williams
Dec 16, 2019
This week the House of Representatives will vote to impeach the president. Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress should spell the end of any presidency…
Race to November: 3 Reasons to Think Beyond Candidates
Sarah M. Williams
Oct 15, 2018
This is it — in three weeks we will know how this country showed up, or didn’t, at the midterm elections. Most of us have already given in this election season, but with…
When Venture Philanthropy Meets Organizing: A Page from Propel Capital’s Playbook
Sarah M. Williams
Jul 27, 2018
When we first started Propel Capital in 2008, we sought innovative ways to leverage capital for social impact. We looked across sectors, considered market strategies…
Hope is a Muscle
Sarah M. Williams
Jul 25, 2022
A few months ago, when I was ready to come sprinting out of the most recent COVID lockdown, my teeny tiny puppy — that unexpectedly grew into a Great Dane mutt — sprinted gleefully…
An Exercise in Hope: Collective Wins to Carry Forward from the State of The Union
Sarah M. Williams
Feb 23, 2023
Despite the worries of the world all around us, I’ll admit I’m still buzzing about the State of the Union…
Savor Our Recent Victories and Momentum for Democracy
Sarah M. Williams
Aug 5, 2022
The news out of Kansas this week was thrilling (and as we write this, so is the terrific progress in Washington, DC…
100 Days In: Step It Up for Democracy
Sarah M. Williams
Apr 28, 2021
It’s been 100 days since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, and even in the midst of a terrible and ongoing pandemic, there’s a lot for our country to celebrate…
Putting Capital to Work for Democracy
Sarah M. Williams 4 min read
Jul 13, 2018
The Saturday before July 4th, I was on an island 10 miles off the coast of mainland USA, population 1,100, standing with 260 people in a parking lot of pickup…
Exploring New Ways to Deploy Capital for Social Impact
Root Capital | October 9, 2024
Turning Pandemic Profits Into
‘Democracy Dividends’
ImpactAlpha | Dec 15, 2021
Why Impact Investors Should Double Down on Democracy Funding
ImpactAlpha | Nov 25, 2020
Propel Democracy Launches Funding To Support Progressive Organizers’ Digital Pivot for 2020 Election
Philanthropy New York | April 30, 2020
Impact Investors Have a Role to Play in Preventing Worst-Case Election Scenarios
ImpactAlpha | Sept 1, 2020
How Investors Can Integrate Social Impact With Financial Performance to Improve Both
Stanford Social Innovation Review | May 20, 2020
The Fight Of A Lifetime:
30 Key Players In Progressive Giving
Inside Philanthropy | Feb 11, 2020