Who’s involved?
Our vision, values, membership criteria, activities and governance procedures have been codesigned by over fifty individuals and organisations from all four nations of the UK. The Network is hosted by Democracy Club and The Politics Project.
STEERING GROUP
We have a democratically elected Steering group made of representatives from our membership. The Steering Group meets on a regular basis and is composed of 14 members serving annual terms, including a permanent seat for the host organisation.
Current members of the Steering Group include:
- Citizen Network
- Democracy Club
- Democracy Matters
- Elect Her
- Electoral Reform Society
- mySociety
- My Vote My Voice
- Newspeak House
- Notwestminster
- Operation Black Vote
- Public Interest News Foundation
- Runnymede Trust
- Sortition Foundation
- The Politics Project
- Unlock Democracy
THE COUNCIL OF REFERENCE
We have a Council of Reference (CoR) made up of individuals representing organisations from across the democracy sector. They are invited to join via Network Staff, to represent as diverse and wide a section of the sector as possible.
NETWORK MEMBERSHIP
Any individual or organisation can join the Democracy Network by providing some initial information here, and signing up to our value statements here.
GOVERNANCE & DECISION MAKING
Read about how we’re governed here.
POLITICAL INCLUSIVITY
We firmly believe that a stronger democracy is best secured when people from across the political spectrum all work hard to to see it improved.
Given this, we actively seek to include people with different opinions, perspectives and backgrounds. This includes having representatives in key governance structures from all four nations of the UK, and all our major political traditions.
HOW WE ARE FUNDED
Following a call for proposals, Involve was awarded an initial three-year grant of £350,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (JRRT) in 2021, which included a contribution of £50,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), to develop, incubate and coordinate the Democracy Network.
The Democracy Network has also been awarded £150,000 from the Open Society Foundation in 2022, £50,000 from ChangemakerXchange in 2023 and £15,000 from the University of Southampton Web Science Institute in 2024.
In 2025 Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust awarded the Democracy Network £120,000 to support the Power & Voice Programme.
The Democracy Network was awarded two additional grants by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust in 2025.
Further funding will be sought to expand our work and other income generating activities are being explored.
