2023 Annual Reflection

It is PACE’s tradition to share an Annual Reflection at the top of every year, looking back on the year that just concluded. There was a lot of important work to point to over the last year, and one of the areas we are most proud of is how we grew. What was a one-staff organization run by PACE’s CEO Kristen Cambell just a few short years ago became a six-person operation in 2023. Growing the number of people who work at PACE is not the noteworthy part, however. The real growth was the way the diverse team of people who work at PACE grew the organization– in reach, in depth, and in perspective.

For that reason, as we reflect on the last year, it felt right to celebrate the different ways each of us engaged with and made sense of PACE’s work in 2023. Each member of our team speaks in different tones, works on different projects, and brings different expertise. By hearing from each of us in our own voice, we seek to provide a snapshot into a robust and high-impact organization working with and alongside our Members to maximize our impact on democracy and civic life in the United States.

Kristen Cambell, CEO: Field notes from our biggest year yet

Writing the Annual Reflection is probably the hardest part of my job (cue the Rent soundtrack– “how do you measure, measure a year?”). I’m measuring 2023 in (HR-appropriate) love for our dedicated, diverse, and thoughtful team. I’m thrilled you’re getting to glimpse their brilliance and creativity below. I’m also measuring it in pride for the work we got to do alongside our Membership of 75 (and growing!) inspiring and committed funders.

In 2022, we reflected on the importance of curiosity and constructively complicating things that often feel oversimplified. I tried to lean into those values more in 2023– I feel proud of a few ways we did that: among them, being honest about a tendency to conflate democracy and partisan politics, and how we explored perceived tensions between equity and pluralism.

I’m proud of the way we lived into our principle of “Responsible Philanthropy” in how we brought the Faith In/And Democracy initiative to its planned conclusion (Siri discusses this more below!). That project is a piece of my heart and probably the thing I’m most thankful to steward during my leadership at PACE so far. We also lived into our commitment to “Learn out Loud” with a new podcast and conference recap platform to share what we’re learning and the meaning we’re making of it on a more regular basis. We even designed a new programmatic modality for learning– a “Learning Lab” — and we launched our first one in 2023 with a focus on National Service. As an Americorps Alum, I know first-hand the power service has to “get things done for America!” especially in times like these.

Amy McIsaac, Managing Director of Learning and Experimentation:
We’re learning what people want (and don’t want) to hear

After we fielded a survey on Americans’ perceptions of civic language in 2021 and analyzed it in 2022, 2023 was the year that we sat in the hot waters of our Civic Language Perceptions Project to figure out–are we turning up the temperature again? Turns out, we didn’t need to make that decision. We heard that call loud and clear from our Members and network of civic leaders. We heard how, for many, civic language — terms like democracy, civic engagement, racial equity–has become increasingly and deeply coded and loaded, leaving little space for connection or productive discussion within our communities. It seems people have hit new levels of frustration and confusion with “democracy words,” leaving civic leaders to desperately ask “What should we say instead?”

This Fall, we opened up a simple 5-question survey to gather input about future research around civic language. We received responses from over 260 people, who submitted nearly 2000 votes for civic words they wanted us to research. The most in-demand words were democracy (57%) and civic engagement (43%) with belonging, social justice, and common good close thereafter. The least in-demand words were common ground, civil society, and civic health (all receiving 10–15% of the votes). With this input in tow, we designed and fielded another survey of Americans’ perceptions of civic language at the end of 2023–exactly two years after we fielded our 2021 survey and one year before the 2024 election. This time, we designed the survey to try to understand WHY people feel the way they do. Stay tuned for our release of the data–the initial findings are fascinating.

Joy Turner, Managing Director of Funder Engagement:
Young people want to be heard, and we should listen

One of the most clear ways we worked to elevate democracy this year was through hosting a panel discussion of young people at our Winter Member Meeting in Phoenix — giving a voice and platform to the actual future citizens of our democracy. We heard from Cameron Bautista and Sylvia Lopez, both undergraduates at Arizona State University and Flinn Scholars; Noelia Flores, a high school junior advocating for undocumented, DACA, and mixed status families’ rights; as well as Julia Groman and Ella Wofford, who are both preparing to graduate from college and are involved with the work of voter engagement.

It was so powerful to hear from these high school and college students. They are clear on what matters to them, they are passionate about their civic responsibility, and they have a desire to be heard. The moment that stood out most was when they expressed that they often feel overlooked, and they wish they had more opportunities to share their perspectives and to be consulted on initiatives that are designed to impact them. They have a desire to positively impact the world, and we have an opportunity to include them. With these leaders stepping into their civic prime, I am certain that our future is a bright one.

Siri Erickson, Program Support Lead:
Faith and democracy has a bright future

In 2023, PACE engaged over 200 people and organizations who are interested in increasing philanthropic investment at the intersection of faith and democracy. Through our Faith In/And Democracy initiative, we saw so much evidence of the positive role faith-inspired organizations from a wide range of religious traditions play in supporting and strengthening our civic values, infrastructure, and participation.

We are excited that our Funding Guide for Faith and Democracy continues to be shared and downloaded well beyond circles that PACE directly influences. Our work culminated at a Faith and Democracy Summit in Phoenix in November, where we facilitated connections between people invested in this work in order to strengthen this growing ecosystem of faith and democracy. In 2024, we look forward to supporting this ecosystem with our published resources and encouraging those who are stepping up to take this work to the next level.

As an ordained pastor with 20 years of Christian and interfaith leadership experience, I’m thrilled PACE has been able to lift up the story of faith’s positive impact on civic life in this country. In doing so, we’ve encouraged funders to see religious diversity as vital and faith-inspired organizations as partners for our ongoing work of creating a more robust manifestation of pluralistic democracy in the United States.

Bhumika Shah, Operations Support Lead:
One presentation from 2023 I won’t forget

In October 2023, I had the opportunity to attend the Building Connected Communities conference. The central theme of the conference revolved around community belonging and addressing loneliness caused by social isolation.

A panel discussion on Civic Life and Participation really inspired me. The speaker highlighted the invaluable role of personal stories and experiences in enriching discussions between diverse groups and re-establishing connections with something greater than oneself. A key takeaway was that there is a need for positive narratives in navigating societal changes.

It was easy to draw comparisons to PACE’s Social Cohesion Philanthropy initiative. The session brought home this point: When individuals feel connected to a community and feel a profound sense of belonging, they are more likely to actively engage in civic matters.

Kevin Singer, Communications Support Lead:
Three narratives in civic engagement that pack the biggest punch

In my first year at PACE (has it already been almost a year?!), I’ve had the opportunity to observe through a variety of media channels — including earned media, conferences, social media, and ListServs — what themes and topics are attracting the most attention on the democracy and civic engagement circuit. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a scroller. I like to identify where people are really putting their focus, what stories they’re sharing (and not sharing), and what story their engagement is telling about what really matters today.

In the blue-light of my phone waiting for friends at restaurants, sitting on flights, or trying hopelessly to fall asleep, I have identified three narratives in civic engagement that people cannot seem to stop talking about: (1) Public/National service’s power to revitalize faith in democracy; (2) The hope that democracy is bigger than the election results we don’t like; (3) The realization that pluralism is not free of conflict, and that’s OK.

For the sake of brevity, I won’t dissect each of those here. However, I can say with confidence that if I were to plan a democracy/civic engagement conference today, I would make sure that keynote speeches and breakout sessions explored these themes.

Final Thoughts

With a growing team came a growing number of experiences and stories from which to draw our best moments from 2023. Though our anecdotes are diverse, common threads show that PACE is still, well… PACE! We’re passionate about learning, approaching complex topics with curiosity, and exploring new horizons of civic engagement that might strengthen our democracy heading into a pivotal election year. We’re looking forward to what 2024 holds for us, though we won’t be passive. We’re taking everything we created and learned in 2023 and we’re carrying it into 2024 in an effort to make a big statement: Democracy is bigger than politics. There is so much to work for in 2024 that is not on a debate stage or in carefully curated candidate commercials. Voting is important, and there is a lot of work that a vote can’t solve. We look forward to working with our Members to shine a light on what’s possible in our Nation when our collective focus transcends partisanship.

Yours in service,

Kristen Cambell
Amy McIsaac
Joy Turner
Siri Erickson
Bhumika Shah
Kevin Singer