- Rita Allen Foundation

All Grants

The below list reflects the Rita Allen Foundation's current and past grants to leverage the growth of transformative ideas in their earliest stages, going back to when our first staffed office was established following an influx of new resources. Read more about the Foundation's history here. In addition to the descriptions below, explore our website to learn more about our work, including highlights from the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program and our investments to foster informed civic engagement, as well as what we're learning along the way.

2015

Young Leaders in Science and Social Innovation

Coverage of Pain Research for Patients to Elevate Public Awareness and Understanding of Chronic Pain +
Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center $100,000

Coverage of Pain Research for Patients to Elevate Public Awareness and Understanding of Chronic Pain

RELATED STORY: RELIEF Opens New Channels for Exploring Pain Research

Since 2011, the Pain Research Forum has served as a virtual meeting space for basic, translational and clinical pain researchers throughout the world. The Pain Research Forum provides freely available research news and other content and resources to promote discussions and collaborations around the basic biology of chronic pain, as well as clinical studies aimed at advancing new therapies. Chronic pain is an under-recognized and costly problem that affects more than 100 million individuals in the United States alone. Support from the Rita Allen Foundation is enabling the Pain Research Forum to produce webinars and podcasts, accessible stories about new research, and enhanced resources, which will empower patients with the objective information they need to advocate for advances in basic research and clinical care. This grant builds on the Rita Allen Foundation’s support of pain research through its American Pain Society Scholars program, now in its seventh year.
2016 Science Media Symposium +
WGBH Educational Foundation $150,000

2016 Science Media Symposium

The WGBH Educational Foundation has been a leader in science storytelling for more than four decades, with programs that include the award-winning science documentary series NOVA. The Rita Allen Foundation is a key supporter of the 2016 Science Media Symposium (SMASH16), which is presented through a partnership between WGBH and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

SMASH16 will convene more than 350 leading scientists, media professionals and educators for a three-day symposium to improve public engagement in science through media, with a special focus on film, digital media and audio/radio. WGBH and the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, with input from leading science media organizations, will create a new website for the biennial Symposium, allowing for wider participation and sharing of best practices in science communication among Symposium attendees, educators and the general public before, during and after the event.
Developing a Comprehensive Community Engagement Evaluation Framework +
The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science $150,000

Developing a Comprehensive Community Engagement Evaluation Framework

RELATED STORY: Finding the Questions that Matter

The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab) builds open-source hardware and software that enable scientists and community members to collaboratively investigate local environmental health issues. The Rita Allen Foundation previously supported the expansion of Public Lab’s outreach efforts to communities in the Northeast United States confronting environmental health risks. With funding from the Rita Allen Foundation, Public Lab is now partnering with science and environmental education specialists at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, to analyze its impact on individuals and communities and create a framework for ongoing evaluation of community science projects. This project will contribute to a deeper understanding of community science efforts, and is intended to result in broadly applicable approaches to benefit a variety of organizations. The Rita Allen Foundation is also supporting Public Lab’s participation in the Fund for Shared Insight’s Listen for Good initiative, which is working with select nonprofits to create a widely applicable system for collecting and using feedback from stakeholders in the social sector. The Rita Allen Foundation is among the core funders of the Fund for Shared Insight.
Rita Allen Foundation Scholars +
Class of 2015 and Continuing Scholars $2,850,000

Rita Allen Foundation Scholars

Since 1976, the Rita Allen Foundation has awarded millions of dollars in grants to early-career biomedical scholars. These grants allow them to establish labs and pursue research directions with above-average risk and promise. Learn more about the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program.

Civic Literacy and Engagement

Unlocking High-Quality Science for the Wider Community +
The Conversation US $350,000

Unlocking High-Quality Science for the Wider Community

The Conversation, first launched in Australia in 2011, is an independent news organization that actively seeks and supports academics who apply their expertise to write accessible, engaging articles on newsworthy topics. The Conversation US, launched in 2014, accounts for a growing proportion of The Conversation’s total readership. With funding from the Rita Allen Foundation, The Conversation US has built an editorial team for science and technology, expanding the volume and reach of its content and growing its network of contributors and partner institutions. The team has placed a special focus on working with a new cadre of early-career scientists from U.S. universities. These researchers gain valuable experience with communicating their work to the public, thanks to The Conversation’s collaborative editing process, which includes a content management system that automatically flags overly complex language. Crucially, The Conversation’s content is Creative Commons-licensed, allowing anyone, including popular news sites such as The Washington Post, Slate, Quartz and The Huffington Post, to republish articles at no cost, thus reaching more than 7 million readers each month.
Expanding TurboVote Corporate Partnerships +
Democracy Works $150,000

Expanding TurboVote Corporate Partnerships

RELATED STORY: Partners for Democracy

Democracy Works is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization using technology to help voting information “fit the way we live” in the 21st century. Democracy Works technologists partnered with the Pew Charitable Trusts, Google, and state and local election officials to develop the Voting Information Project, which has been supported in part by the Rita Allen Foundation. The Voting Information Project collects and disseminates polling information and election results into standardized, readily available online formats, and will provide data for more than 70 elections in 2016. The Rita Allen Foundation also supported the advancement and expansion of Democracy Works’ TurboVote, an online application that streamlines voter information. Partnerships with higher education networks helped to bring TurboVote services to more than 250,000 people by 2014. Additional funding from the Rita Allen Foundation will allow Democracy Works to move toward financial sustainability through new partnerships with companies and other nonprofits.

The Rita Allen Foundation is also supporting a project that will bring the lessons of Democracy Works’ growth to aspiring social entrepreneurs. Seth Flaxman and Kathryn Peters launched Democracy Works after earning master’s degrees in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Now, the Harvard Kennedy School Case Program has created a case study and companion video on Democracy Works, to be used in teaching public policy students how to analyze a problem, gather resources and take actions to address it.
2016 Accelerator +
Fast Forward $50,000

2016 Accelerator

Fast Forward aims to bolster and broaden the success of emerging tech-based nonprofits by providing startup funds, training and mentoring to teams of social entrepreneurs through its annual Accelerator. Each summer, Fast Forward chooses a new cohort of groups working to apply technology for social good, with special attention to fostering diversity among tech nonprofits. Each organization receives support to help improve and scale its product, establish nonprofit governance, and raise funds. The groups also benefit from connecting with tech and philanthropy leaders, building “an ecosystem of support for tech nonprofits.” Fast Forward occupies a distinctive niche, seeking to apply the model of for-profit tech accelerators to the nonprofit world. In 2016, Fast Forward is partnering with the Rita Allen Foundation to select a promising startup that seeks to strengthen civic engagement through technology.
The Chicago Way +
The OpenGov Foundation $200,000

The Chicago Way

RELATED STORY: The OpenGov Foundation’s Seamus Kraft Receives James Madison Award for Promoting Government Transparency

A partnership between The OpenGov Foundation and the office of Chicago Clerk Susana Mendoza aims to fully digitize the city’s legislative process, streamlining the system and expanding opportunities for citizen involvement. The Chicago Way will provide the first-ever unified digital platform for crafting, sharing and amending legislation. The OpenGov Foundation will collaborate with city employees to develop a law-drafting tool that produces a standardized, machine-readable output, in contrast to the typical hodgepodge of PDF documents that continues to create headaches for governments and citizens alike. To enable citizen feedback on proposed legislation, The OpenGov Foundation will adapt Madison, “a government policy co-creation platform” that invites annotation and interaction. After laws are signed, the new integrated system will continue to provide user-friendly access and opportunities for feedback. The Chicago Way builds on ChicagoCode.org and other open-source tools already being tested by local and state governments as part of The OpenGov Foundation’s Free Law Founders collaboration. The system is intended to be broadly applicable, with the potential to modernize lawmaking in the nearly 90,000 government entities across the United States.
Participation Lab
Participatory Budgeting Project $75,000
Participatory Budgeting Evaluation, Research and Communications +
Public Agenda $75,000

Participatory Budgeting Evaluation, Research and Communications

RELATED STORY: New Report Surveys Growth of Participatory Budgeting

Public Agenda, a nonpartisan organization that fosters progress on divisive issues through research and public engagement, is working to evaluate and maximize the impact of participatory budgeting across North America. Public Agenda will develop national standards and shared tools for evaluating participatory budgeting, support and coordinate local evaluations, aggregate and analyze data from across sites, gather perspectives on the process from elected officials, and communicate their findings to advance and broaden the best practices in participatory budgeting. For example, to better understand the effects of digital tools, Public Agenda will analyze potential associations between using these tools and key outcomes like participation levels. The results will guide improvements in these tools and in the overall process, with the ultimate goal of helping participatory budgeting to fulfill its democratic potential.
Democracy Works Case Study +
Harvard Kennedy School of Government $30,000

Democracy Works Case Study

RELATED STORY: Partners for Democracy

Democracy Works is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization using technology to help voting information “fit the way we live” in the 21st century. Democracy Works technologists partnered with the Pew Charitable Trusts, Google, and state and local election officials to develop the Voting Information Project, which has been supported in part by the Rita Allen Foundation. The Voting Information Project collects and disseminates polling information and election results into standardized, readily available online formats, and will provide data for more than 70 elections in 2016. The Rita Allen Foundation also supported the advancement and expansion of Democracy Works’ TurboVote, an online application that streamlines voter information. Partnerships with higher education networks helped to bring TurboVote services to more than 250,000 people by 2014. Additional funding from the Rita Allen Foundation will allow Democracy Works to move toward financial sustainability through new partnerships with companies and other nonprofits.

The Rita Allen Foundation is also supporting a project that will bring the lessons of Democracy Works’ growth to aspiring social entrepreneurs. Seth Flaxman and Kathryn Peters launched Democracy Works after earning master’s degrees in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Now, the Harvard Kennedy School Case Program has created a case study and companion video on Democracy Works, to be used in teaching public policy students how to analyze a problem, gather resources and take actions to address it.
Hearken +
Public Media NJ (NJTV) $62,000

Hearken

Hearken is part of a multi-outlet pilot to test new models for engaging the community in journalism, supported in collaboration with the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Wyncote Foundation.
Knight News Challenge on Elections +
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation $125,000

Knight News Challenge on Elections

This Knight News Challenge awarded 22 grants for innovative projects to encourage civic participation before, during and after elections. The challenge is a collaboration between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the Hewlett Foundation and the Rita Allen Foundation. The winners, selected from more than 1,000 submissions, include a searchable archive of campaign speeches, an open-source tool for mining campaign-finance data, a toolkit to help election offices better inform prospective voters and an effort to help people with prior felony convictions apply to restore their voting rights.
Councilmatic +
Participatory Politics Foundation $150,000

Councilmatic

To provide citizens with better access to the workings of city councils, the Participatory Politics Foundation has developed an online tool called Councilmatic. This open-source application allows community groups and individual citizens to follow the actions of their city council and local agencies by searching a user-friendly database of proposed legislation, voting records and meeting minutes. Councilmatic will also provide simple text-messaging tools to improve communication between council members and their constituents. With funding from the Rita Allen Foundation, the Participatory Politics Foundation is partnering with HeartGov, the Open Civic Data project and with several elected officials to pilot Councilmatic in New York City and Chicago, with the goal of bringing the tool to more American cities in the future. NYC Councilmatic launched on September 30, 2015, at the Code for America Summit. In March 2016, Councilmatic was a finalist in the inaugural South By Southwest Interactive “Civic Pitch” event, which included a live demonstration for a group of a dozen U.S. mayors. Civic technologists sponsored by Code for America, which the Rita Allen Foundation has also supported, created an early version of Councilmatic currently in use in Philadelphia.
Networking Media Makers, Funders and Experts to Improve Science Communication +
Media Impact Funders $50,000

Networking Media Makers, Funders and Experts to Improve Science Communication

RELATED STORY: Philanthropy, Media and the Value of Evidence
Digital Democracy +
Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo $165,000

Digital Democracy

Digital Democracy is a new online platform using technology to increase the transparency and accountability of state legislatures. Housed at the Institute for Advanced Technology and Public Policy at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Digital Democracy has created a searchable video database of recorded California legislative hearings. The database will empower the media, citizens and watchdog groups to find and share video files and transcripts of hearings on topics of interest. Integrated data on campaign contributions and lobbying activities will help users track influences on the legislative process. With funding from the Rita Allen Foundation, the Digital Democracy team is refining the tool’s software and user interface and assessing the project’s outcomes in preparation for introducing Digital Democracy to other states.