Media Democracy Fund

Media Democracy Fund is a catalyst for racial justice and equity in digital society.

Our Mission

We bring together diverse voices to design inclusive and responsible solutions, and empower public interest advocates to create an environment where digital technologies and the internet have a long-term, positive impact on society.

Priorities

Equitable Access

to the internet and other resources communities need to thrive online

Power Building

with individuals and movements against harms caused or exacerbated by use of the internet and other digital technologies

Accountability

for tech companies and other institutions that exercise oppressive power in a digital society

What We Do

MDF has made more than $50 million in investments since our founding in 2006. But we do more than grantmaking. We work hand-in-hand with grantees, funders and allies to connect partners from all corners of the field, to ensure advocates have the smart thinking and resources they need to act quickly on some of the most pressing issues of our time. MDF's work includes:

 

 

 

Research & Policy Development

The digital ecosystem is constantly changing. MDF works with funding partners and allies to conduct research and field scans to guide our thinking, bring new voices to the conversations, and promote equity in our ever-evolving technological world.

Grantmaking

As an intermediary funder, MDF provides targeted grants and contracts to advocacy organizations working at the intersection of digital equity, tech accountability, and power building. MDF identifies emerging needs and provides grants quickly so organizations can take action and respond to threats as they happen.

Funder Education

MDF works closely with funding partners to keep them abreast of the latest challenges and opportunities, and organize support across priority issue areas so they can make smart, strategic investments in a rapidly changing environment.

Movement Building

MDF is a vital connector among grantees, funders, and allies in a rapidly changing field. We bring diverse people and organizations together – helping to broaden approaches to advocacy, organizing and problem-solving – to develop winning strategies and build support for tech policies that promote digital rights, racial equity and justice.

Leadership Development

MDF believes that having technologists on staff can help advocacy groups investigate new challenges and identify novel ways of confronting injustice in the digital age. Since 2017, MDF has participated in the incubation of public interest technology as a field through our Tech Exchange program, which matches public interest technologists with civil society groups around the world.

  • Research & Policy Development

  • Grantmaking

  • Funder Education

  • Movement Building

  • Leadership Development

Program Areas

equity

Digital Equity

Launched in 2022, MDF’s Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative (DEOI) provides a major strategic opportunity for national, state and place-based funders to meet the needs of underserved communities via the implementation of the broadband portions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. DEOI provides core funding support to state broadband coalitions that have the mobilization capacity to maximize the opportunity and drive equitable outcomes in digital access, to jumpstart the building of a lasting civic infrastructure.

Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative
accountability

Tech Accountability

MDF believes it is essential to enforce tech accountability measures for corporations and individuals whose reach, practices, policies, and conditions conflict with the values of justice and equity. Tech accountability strategies – such as platform research, strategic litigation, and advocacy – across much of MDF’s programmatic work and are designed to respond to the increasingly dangerous power of unregulated, for-profit technologies.

Disinfo Defense League

Disinfo Defense League

The Disinfo Defense League (DDL) is a distributed national network of more than 250 community-based organizations that builds power to protect communities of color from online racialized disinformation and harmful narratives. DDL has cultivated a close partnership between researchers, narrative builders, and organizing strategists to produce actionable resources to our wider membership, and has built capacity through education and training and by fostering community-based disinformation expertise within the network and democratizing the skills, tactics, and knowledge of the field.

Disinfo Defense League
NetGain Partnership

NetGain Partnership

MDF leads strategy on behalf of the NetGain Partnership, a philanthropic collaboration that seeks to advance the public interest in the digital age. NetGain leverages its network and collective resources to address challenges that are too large and too complex for any one organization to tackle alone. Since 2018, NetGain has focused on “digital threats to democracy” and strategies to hold large platforms accountable. Through direct and pooled funding, MDF and NetGain have worked to strengthen transatlantic civil society collaboration between the United States and Europe, build new civil society networks across the Global South, identify and fill gaps within US and European civil society, develop a taxonomy of harms caused by digital platforms, and seed a growing ecosystem of accountable, public interest technology scholarship.

NetGain Partnership
leadership

Tech Exchange Fellowship

MDF believes that technologists are needed to help advocacy groups investigate new challenges, identify novel ways of confronting injustice, and mobilize public support in the digital age. Since 2017, MDF has participated in the effort to establish and grow the field of public interest technology by providing matching grants to a handful of advocacy groups – the majority outside of the US – for them to create full-time staff technologist positions. MDF serves as the coordinator of both the program and the Tech Exchange staffers, creating a global network of public interest technologists to advance innovative work in digital society.

Public Interest Technology Fellowships
Unicorn Fund

Unicorn Fund

The Unicorn Fund is an experimental award program that supports under-resourced grassroots leaders who face attacks for expressing their ideas, telling the truth, and taking a stand on the front lines of narrative change. Since 2020, MDF has identified, supported, and celebrated advocates (including prominent journalists, activists, researchers, technologists, and others) who inspire us to take a stand and exercise courage, persistence, and bold visions that advance equity and justice, and disrupt divisive toxic narratives.

Unicorn Fund
funder convening

Funder Education

Funder education spans MDF’s programmatic priorities. MDF’s education and convening power is executed in three main ways: networking and connecting people; introducing and promoting ideas, research, and analysis; and providing space and resources for partners to self-organize. This work can take the form of webinars and briefings on emerging issues and opportunities, as well as curated meetings and events. These efforts are designed to facilitate funder collaboration and serve as an extension and embodiment of MDF’s catalytic role in the field.

action fund

Media Democracy Action Fund

Media Democracy Action Fund (MDAF), our affiliated 501(c)4 project, makes grants in support of lobbying in the public interest – a capability that complements MDF’s 501(c)3 public education investments. MDF’s private foundation partners are not consulted about lobbying activity, and no private foundation partners participate in MDAF grantmaking.

equity
accountability
Disinfo Defense League
NetGain Partnership
leadership
Unicorn Fund
funder convening
action fund

About Us

MDF is a project of the New Venture Fund, a US-based 501(c)3 public charity. MDF’s annual grantmaking cycle supports our grantees’ general operations and projects, and we maintain the ability to rapidly fund projects that address opportunities or threats as they arise throughout the year.


Staff

Jacquelyn

Jacquelyn

Interim Executive Director

Jacquelyn is an accomplished leader with a diverse background in digital media and technology, committed to driving positive change in the digital landscape. As the Interim Executive Director, she plays a pivotal role in fostering an open, secure, and equitable internet. Previously serving as Director of Programs, she led the Disinfo Defense League to expand to over 600 members across 225 organizations nationwide, focusing on combating racialized disinformation in communities of color. With expertise honed at First Draft, New York University, and TED Conferences, and a strong academic foundation in art and digital media, Jacquelyn is dedicated to tackling society’s technological challenges with innovative, equity-focused solutions. She holds a Masters of Fine Art from Parsons School of Design in Art, Media, and Technology, as well as a Master of Science from NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Integrated Digital Media.

sheetal

Sheetal

Interim Chief of Staff

Sheetal is the Interim Chief of Staff, bringing over 18 years of experience in advocacy, politics, and media. As a senior operative, she has played a significant role in various organizations, including New America Foundation, Color Of Change, Amnesty International USA, and ACLU National. Her work has consistently focused on advancing social justice, human rights, and public interest technology. Sheetal holds a Masters in Public Policy and a MS in Government. Originally from the DC area, Sheetal now resides in New York, where she enjoys reading and hanging out with her dog.

kristin

Kristin

Director, Special Projects

Kristin is a social researcher and organizer. From 2001 to 2016, she worked with the Future of Music Coalition, a national nonprofit that advocates for musicians. She co-directed FMC’s Artist Revenue Streams research project, which collected data directly from thousands of US-based musicians and composers to better understand the changes in their sources of income. In the 1990s, she was the co-owner of Simple Machines, a DC-based independent record label that released over seventy records in eight years. During that time, she also played guitar in the band Tsunami, which released four albums on Simple Machines and toured extensively. Kristin has a BA in Sociology and an MA in Urban Affairs and Public Policy.

Tessa Menatian

Tessa

Program and Development Officer

Tessa is a writer and storyteller with a range of digital media experience, including ghostwriting, research, virtual course development, and social media management. She supports MDF’s development activities, grant making, and communications. Tessa holds a BA in Written Arts.

Jaime

Jaime

Manager of Research and Training

Jaime is the Manager of Research and Training. He previously worked as a senior researcher and projects manager at First Draft where he monitored political and health mis- and disinformation in Spanish-language and Latinx communities. He was a former researcher at NBC News Investigations and data editor at Type Investigations. Jaime has a BA in international relations and attended the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

nick

Nick

Program Manager, Development and Communication

Nick manages MDF’s development activities and supports a range of other efforts to advance MDF’s mission. Nick joined the MDF staff after eight years as a consultant to MDF and other philanthropic projects, including the HKH Foundation, the Piper Fund and Public Interest Projects/NEO Philanthropy. He maintains a small photography and video production company called Light & Noise, Inc., which is currently working on long-term projects about radio astronomy and the United States atomic weapons program. Nick holds a BA in Philosophy, with a focus on feminist philosophy of science.

Glendaliz

Glendaliz

Interim Grants Manager

Glendaliz was previously the Director of Development at MediaJustice, and she advanced the mission of Young Audiences New York by managing institutional funding, corporate and individual giving, and government grants. Glendaliz's career spans various roles, including program coordination, project management, and grant writing. Raised in Washington Heights, she is passionate about storytelling and mission fulfillment. Glendaliz holds a BA in English. She enjoys caring for houseplants, building fluency in Italian, and true crime podcasts.

sarah

Sarah

Administrative Coordinator

Sarah has been with MDF part time since 2013, supporting MDF's staff with the nitty gritty of their logistics. Sarah has a BA in International Development.

Our Funding Partners

MDF works closely with funding partners to ensure our funding makes the greatest impact and protects the public's fundamental rights to freely express opinions, mobilize marginalized communities and promote equity for all. We welcome conversations with other funders interested in the digital rights space.

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