The Kettering Foundation, globally recognized for its work in strengthening democracy through the promotion of dialogue and active citizenship, has launched its “2023 Yearbook.” This yearbook highlights the review of the year 2023 in Democracy worldwide, capturing the numerous ways in which they worked to identify connections between strategy and impactful efforts the foundation could make in this focus area.
In the words of Maxine Thomas, Vice President and General Counsel of the Foundation, who led the expansion of the foundation’s international work in 2022 and 2023, “The challenge is how to build on Kettering’s new plan without relying on old processes.” This challenge kept the Foundation’s Global Democracy team busy in 2023, but in very different ways than in the past. These new approaches included the creation of “affinity groups” composed of network members and the development of a new version of Kettering’s international fellowship program.
Within the yearbook, there is a highlight interview with Guillermo Correa, Executive Director of RACI, where he shared his transformative experience at the Foundation and how it influenced his work within the Third Sector in Argentina and in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He explained how his time at Kettering changed his perspective on the relationship between citizens and government, highlighting the importance of building bridges between civil society organizations and the work foundations like Kettering do.
Additionally, he spoke about the creation of RACI in 2007 and how the network has grown since then, supporting initiatives ranging from the production of information based on member organizations’ activities to resource mobilization and training to strengthen civil society.
This report provides insight into innovative strategies and collaborative efforts shaping work in the field of democracy and citizen participation worldwide.
You can read the full interview here (pages 53-57).