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Nov 25, 2024 | 
insidephilanthropy.com | Deepak Bhargava |Joe Goldman |Laleh Ispahani
In this challenging time for American democracy, we are reminded of our core values and commitments. We believe in this country’s promise and want our government to succeed for the common good. We are proud to support organizations across this country that are standing up to advance democratic norms and protect vulnerable communities. We are steadfast in our defense of those principles.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Laleh Ispahani |Jennifer Weiss-Wolf |Quanita Toffie |Alfonsina Peñaloza
We are entering a new era for philanthropy—one that centers feminism. With major new commitments by billionaires like Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott, and a host of women’s funding networks like Women Moving Millions and Giving List Women organizing with increasing urgency, the shift could not come at a more vital moment.
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May 13, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Laleh Ispahani |Jennifer Weiss-Wolf
This essay is part of a Women & Democracy package focused on who’s funding the women and LGBTQ people on the frontlines of democracy. We’re manifesting a new era for philanthropy—one that centers feminism. The need is real: Funding for women and girls amounts to less than 2 percent of all philanthropic giving; for women of color, it’s less than 1 percent. Explore the “Feminist Philanthropy Is Essential to Democracy” collection.
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Mar 6, 2024 | 
insidephilanthropy.com | Joe Goldman |Laleh Ispahani |Deepak Bhargava
Free, fair and representative elections are difficult to achieve under the best circumstances. As 2024 progresses, the good news is that one of the cornerstones of American democracy - the hundreds of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations devoted to an inclusive, multiracial democracy - are already hard at work. They need resources - now. Nonprofit organizations perform essential election work in our democracy.
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Jan 2, 2024 | 
themessenger.com | Laleh Ispahani
Pope Francis recently called for a binding global treaty to regulate artificial intelligence, so that the technology does not further diminish our morality, compassion, and forgiveness. “The immense expansion of technology thus needs to be accompanied by an appropriate formation in responsibility for its future development” he said.
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Oct 10, 2023 | 
msmagazine.com | Laleh Ispahani
During the war for Bangladeshi independence, my four older siblings and I would huddle under candlelight in the bomb shelter beneath our home to do our homework and argue with one another. The outside world was filled with violence—but inside the shelter I felt a sense of comfort in spending time with my mother, brother and sisters. Because I was so young, what I remember most is not the fear but the love; the closeness of my family and the experience of sharing time and space together.
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Aug 15, 2023 | 
thehill.com | Laleh Ispahani
Last week, a Black woman in Detroit filed suit in federal court because the Detroit Police Department arrested her for a crime she did not commit. Police alleged that the woman, then eight months pregnant, had been involved in a carjacking.The New York Times reported that her arrest was more than a case of simple mistaken identity by an unreliable eyewitness.
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Aug 7, 2023 | 
newrepublic.com | Laleh Ispahani
On August 8, Ohio will consider a ballot initiative called “Issue 1” that would increase the threshold to approve public referenda. Although a ballot question currently requires no more than a simple majority to become law—50 percent plus one—the new proposal would raise that number to 60 percent. This action is no mundane bit of governance; instead it is an active effort to prevent Ohio voters from enshrining abortion rights into law. Here’s the situation.
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Jul 13, 2023 | 
opensocietyfoundations.org | Laleh Ispahani
Inside Open Society July 26, 2023 By Laleh Ispahani Inside Open Society is a look at the leaders at the Open Society Foundations who are advancing our vision to address the world’s most urgent threats to democracy and human rights at a transformative scale. I was 12 years old when I woke up to learn that Pakistan’s democratically elected prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had been hung by the army.
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Feb 3, 2023 | 
democracyjournal.org | Laleh Ispahani
Next Tuesday, President Joe Biden will deliver his second State of the Union address, and his first to a Republican-led House. Presidents typically divide their State of the Union speeches into a lengthy section on their domestic accomplishments followed by a much shorter section on foreign policy, except in times of war and crisis. Last year, since he was speaking just five days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden began his remarks talking about the war. But things are different now.
