The fight for democracy is the fight for people.
Our three strategic pillars —defend, disrupt, and build—recognize that the urgent work to defend democracy and disrupt bad actors must happen alongside forward-looking action to build a bold and vibrant democracy for all people. We leverage our team’s unique mix of expertise and diverse experience, creativity, and legal excellence to win both in and outside of the courtroom.
Download our 2023 Impact Report to see the impact of our approach over the last year.
A note from Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward President & CEO
This year, the most consequential fights for people and democracy happened in communities and courts across the country. We were there—with you by our side—making sure that the people who make up the rich fabric of life in America are represented. From filing litigation to restore access to essential reproductive healthcare post-Dobbs, to successfully blocking state-based attempts to criminalize librarians and censor books and ideas, to holding those who promoted the “Big Lie” and then sought to destroy evidence of their involvement to account, to bringing the power of people and communities to the nation’s highest Court—we were there because the fight for democracy is the fight for people.
In this report, you will find a glimpse of the impact that we have made this year. You will also see how we are building a legal institution for these times—an institution that recognizes that at this inflection point in our country, the courts are both a frontline in the battle for democracy and an important backstop against unbridled extremism. We go to court for democracy because the stakes are too high for the American people to sit on the sidelines.
Founded in 2017 out of an urgent crisis in our democracy, Democracy Forward took the Trump administration to court more than 100 times, winning victories that improved the lives of millions. Through our work, we saw the extremists’ playbook firsthand and learned how to ensure that they don’t write the last chapter of our democracy. In the time since, we have scaled our team to address the underlying causes of these generationally defining threats: the highly-coordinated, well-funded array of extremist legal organizations that are propping up extremist actors, misusing our courts to roll back rights, and seeking to create a country in their own image, a country that only works for the few, not for all. And we won’t let them win.
As we look ahead to 2024, we know our work will be needed more than ever and you will see us in more courts and communities than ever before. At this pivotal moment, we’ve got no option but to take on the hardest fights for the American people. And we know that when we fight, democracy wins.
Onward,
