Healthy Democracy Fund

The Healthy Democracy Fund is a Tides Foundation grantmaking initiative that is committed to building a more inclusive democracy by shifting power to leaders and communities who have been historically excluded from participating in our nation’s future.

Power a More Inclusive Democracy

When we all have a say in our future, communities are more stable, families are healthier, and individuals can thrive. That’s why Healthy Democracy Fund is more than a pooled fund — it’s a partnership between donors, program strategists, and movement leaders working to break down the many barriers inherent in the US political system.

Help Defend Voting Rights

A young Black boy at a protest holding a sign that reads 'There is No Planet B.'

Tides centers the leadership of historically excluded communities to fight voter suppression, increase voter turnout, and foster political engagement to create a healthy and inclusive democracy.

Our Impact

Here’s how we’ve helped protect voting rights across the country since the fund launched in September 2019.

481 Grants

Large multiracial group of people standing in front of a government building with columns. Photo credit: Poder Latinx, a Healthy Democracy Fund grantee

$48.6M Granted

Derek Poinsette (Takshanuk Watershed Council), Rebecca Bellmore (Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition), and Johnnie Gamble and Daniel Klanott with Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan) install temperature monitors in important salmon spawning habitat in the Chilkat River watershed. Photo credit: Takshanuk Watershed Council, a Tides Frontline Justice Fund grantee

210 Grantee organizations

A Latine woman speaking into a microphone at a podium. Photo credit: Florida Immigrant Coalition, a Tides Immigrants Belong Fund grantee

Read Our Priorities Report

Funding Priorities

For generations, discriminatory electoral policies and practices have unfairly silenced the voices of underrepresented communities. Tides’ Healthy Democracy Fund is focused on affirming and amplifying their political power.

Voter Engagement, Registration, and Turnout

The Healthy Democracy Fund team at Tides powers community-informed, multi-issue organizing and advocacy to help our grantees educate voters, lead nonpartisan voter registration drives, increase voter turnout, and reach across language and cultural barriers to inspire voters of all backgrounds.
Advancing and Protecting Voting Rights

The United States has a long and dark history of voter suppression, particularly in communities of color. Tides’ Healthy Democracy Fund supports grantees who push back against voter suppression measures and encourage communities who have historically been denied power to exercise their voting rights in future elections.
Fighting Disinformation

Rampant disinformation threatens voting rights across the US. The Healthy Democracy Fund team partners with community-based organizations and advocates to provide accurate messaging on key issues while holding politicians and media companies accountable.
Emerging Threats

Threats to democracy evolve quickly. Tides’ Healthy Democracy Fund team works closely with local community leaders to respond rapidly to emerging threats, like lawmakers’ attempts to stifle protests following the murder of George Floyd. We partner with social change leaders to support new efforts by underserved communities to make durable change.
Assure Fair Redistricting

Racial gerrymandering — the drawing of voting districts to dilute the power of people of color — is a decades-old practice that continues to undermine political influence. In response, the Healthy Democracy Fund is supporting community-based groups led by people of color as they fight for fair political maps and equal representation.

Grantee Stories

Two people from Rural Arizona Engagement standing together, one wearing a teal Raze shirt and one wearing a face mask with the word 'vote' on it. Photo credit: Rural Arizona Engagement, a Tides Healthy Democracy Fund grantee

RAZE Co-Executive Director, Pablo Correa, meets with Team Yuma at the start of the 2022 voter registration season. Photo credit: Rural Arizona Engagement, a Tides Healthy Democracy Fund grantee

A group of people from Rural Arizona Engagement standing in front of a chalk mural that reads 'Fair Maps for Fair Representation,' Photo credit: Rural Arizona Engagement, a Tides Healthy Democracy Fund grantee

Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE) advances civic education and engagement in Arizona’s most rural communities. As communities lose poll locations, struggle to recruit poll workers, and face rampant political polarization, rural Arizonans find themselves underrepresented in the state’s democratic process. RAZE’s work has contributed to higher statewide voter turnout, and the organization continues to make way for broader voter participation in every election cycle.

Meet More Grantees