Future-Proofing Southeast Michigan Starts With Safeguarding Democracy

By Jon Quinn, Democracy Advisor

Across all their passions, interests, and areas of philanthropy, Fred and Barbara Erb recognized a key enabling factor that made progress possible: democracy. Unfortunately, our democracy has faced real challenges over the past decade. Mis- and disinformation have eroded trust in civic institutions and processes. Efforts to protect and expand voting rights and access to the ballot have faced obstacles at local and national levels. And political violence has re-emerged as an unfortunate feature of public life.

In 2022 Michigan voters passed Proposition 2, which expanded voting rights (e.g., early voting and vote by mail drop boxes) and clarified key provisions of election law (e.g., when military ballots must be postmarked to count). In 2023, the state passed a set of implementing laws that included provisions such as allowing certain groups of people to be pre- or re-registered to vote and regulating the use of artificial intelligence in political advertising.

This landscape—its opportunities and challenges—acted as a backdrop for the Foundation as it moved through a strategic planning process for its 10-year spenddown. That process involved conversations with family members and close associates who knew Fred and Barbara well, and who shared how important a strong and stable democracy was to them.

In reflecting on Fred’s and Barbara’s interests, and in response to threats to the stability of our democracy, the urgency of the 2024 elections, and the recent adoption of major reforms to the way Michigan votes, the Foundation’s board decided to adopt a focus on democracy as a core program area for its work during the spenddown period.

The priorities in this program area reflect Fred’s and Barbara’s interests in democracy, the board’s view of the best role the Foundation can play, and the needs of the current moment. With the goal of promoting voter engagement and ensuring fair election administration, the Foundation will support work that:

• Enables voters in Southeast Michigan to register and turn out to vote in every election.
• Ensures free and fair election administration through advice and counsel to election administrators, support for legal issues, and efforts to combat misinformation.
• Protects voters’ access to the ballot – particularly those who have been historically targeted by voter suppression efforts.

In early 2024, as part of its exploration of this work, the Foundation awarded $2 million in grants to organizations that are working towards these priorities. The organizations we supported are among a broad coalition of actors that worked, during this election cycle, on registering and turning out voters; ensuring that municipal and state election officials could effectively, and without interference, administer the 2024 primary and general elections; and protected voters’ ability to exercise their vote. While many of them work statewide or at a national level, our grants supported their work in Southeast Michigan. Grantees included the following organizations:

• ACLU of Michigan
• Michigan Voices
• Mothering Justice
• Promote the Vote
• States United Democracy Center
• Voting Rights Lab

As with much of the Foundation’s work, there’s more to come. Over the course of 2025 we’ll share more information about the next steps for this program area. What’s clear to us is that this work will remain vital. A central theme of our strategic plan is about future-proofing the place we call home. We want to do what we can to make sure the people and organizations that do the work can continue to do so long after we close our doors in 2034. We know this period presents an opportunity to support organizations that are working to ensure a strong, vibrant, and inclusive American democracy. We look forward to sharing more as our plans emerge.