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The Alfred Landecker Foundation and Humanity in Action announce 2021 Landecker Democracy Fellows

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Berlin and New York, November 8, 2021 – Today, the Alfred Landecker Foundation, in partnership with Humanity in Action, has announced the participants of the second cohort of its Landecker Democracy Fellowship.

The Landecker Democracy Fellowship supports community leaders and young professionals in addressing systemic inequities in Europe and the United States through innovative grassroots projects. The thematic focus of this year’s fellowship is social cohesion, for which the Fellows developed compelling ideas for impactful initiatives. With our societies built on histories of structural injustice and violence, we asked the Fellows what a critical and inclusive path toward social cohesion could look like. How can peoples’ and communities’ diverging realities be seen and acknowledged in the process of building equitable societies? How can our societies  address the dangerous forces that underpin today’s polarization and build trust? It is our goal to support young professionals in their quest to build inclusive bridges and form unique and lasting ties among those who are increasingly drifting apart. This program contributes to building a new generation of leaders whose approaches to political and societal challenges bear the potential to become catalysts for shaping democracy and community. 

It is our goal to support young professionals in their quest to build inclusive bridges and form unique and lasting ties among those who are increasingly drifting apart.

The Fellowship funds 30 carefully chosen individuals who were born in or after 1980 and whose goals range from empowering low-income renters who face barriers to affordable housing, amplifying the voices of youth through visual arts, to empowering structurally disadvantaged content moderators of social media platforms.

“Social polarization is poison for democracy. The pandemic has shown us how societies are drifting apart, which we and Humanity in Action are countering with the Landecker Democracy Fellowship,” said Dr. Andreas Eberhardt, CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation. “Through their work, the Democracy Fellows make an important contribution to strengthening social cohesion.”

Social polarization is poison for democracy.” – Dr. Andreas Eberhardt

Hailing from the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, 30 community leaders and young professionals were selected through a rigorous admissions process from a pool of 90 finalists. The Fellows and their projects, each unique and innovative in their ambitions, aim to foster social justice and create inclusive societies. The Fellows’ propositions will be supported, including with a monthly stipend (10,000 Euros in total), seed funding of 5,000 Euros for their projects, guidance and intense training to increase their individual impact on political discourses, policy making and social realities.

“We want to support busy professionals in realizing part-time efforts that strengthen democracy and tackle social division head-on,” said Dr. Judith S. Goldstein, Founder and CEO of Humanity in Action. “We provide our Fellows with a community of inspiring peers, help them to nourish strong partnerships, and amplify their skills and voices in order for them to be able to develop a meaningful and sustained reach into society.”

Introducing the 2021 Landecker Democracy Fellows

ABOUT THE ALFRED LANDECKER FOUNDATION

As an incubator for democracy in the digital age, the Alfred Landecker Foundation promotes the development of open, democratic and discrimination-free societies via innovative and disruptive means. The Foundation creates networks, spaces and knowledge by supporting a range of interdisciplinary projects. By building a network of globally active partners, it makes knowledge and experience widely available and brings together diverse perspectives from academia and practice. Projects supported by the Foundation are guided by the conviction that a democratic society cannot be taken for granted, but can only be the result of courageous and coordinated cooperation. To this end, the Foundation makes expertise available to open societies and those involved in the fight for liberal democratic values. At the core of the Foundation is a contemporary culture of remembrance, driven by the collapse of European civilization under National Socialism. More information on ongoing projects can be found here.

 

ABOUT HUMANITY IN ACTION

Humanity in Action is a transatlantic non-profit organization that educates, inspires and connects a community of rising leaders and activists committed to pluralism, human rights and civic engagement, in their own communities and around the world. The organization’s goal is to inspire responsible leadership that meets the local and global challenges of social division. Antisemitism, racism, islamophobia, trans- and homophobia, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination and hatred are testing democratic societies. Humanity in Action’s programs address these issues head-on from a historical perspective. They are testing grounds for thinking anew with activists, experts, policymakers, artists and business leaders about complex issues of pluralism and diversity. Since its founding over two decades ago, Humanity in Action has engaged over 2,500 carefully chosen individuals whose inclusive approaches to leadership contribute to the formation of a new generation of social, cultural and political changemakers. Humanity in Action’s Senior Fellows form a unique international alumni community committed to social justice.

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