CivicLex launches civic health collaborative across four communities with $900,000 from Knight Foundation
This investment highlights CivicLex and Knight Foundation’s commitments to strengthening civic health and shaping thriving communities.
CivicLex, the Lexington, Kentucky-based civic health organization, has announced a significant $900,000 investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch a new civic health collaborative. Led by CivicLex, the collaborative will support three other Knight Foundation communities across the American South and Midwest to build projects that align with CivicLex’s model for strengthening civic health. The inauguralcollaborative members, listed below, are part of the 26 communities where John S. and James L. Knight once owned and operated newspapers.
Wichita, Kansas - The Kansas Leadership Center
Tallahassee, Florida - The Village Square
Columbia, South Carolina - Richland Library
Through this investment, each partner organization will receive funding and has committed to raising local matching funds.
“CivicLex is a standout example of how community-rooted organizations can strengthen local democracy by helping residents better understand their local government and play a more meaningful role in the decisions that shape their communities,” said Lilly Weinberg, senior director of community impact at Knight Foundation.
Each organization will utilize their local knowledge and relationships to develop projects that help community members understand and get involved in local issues, connect with their neighbors, and have a say in decision making. CivicLex will provide tools and technical assistance to each site as they develop their projects.
These three strategies are the core of CivicLex’s model for strengthening civic health and reinvigorating local democracy. CivicLex’s work has been nationally recognized by Bloomberg, Forbes, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and more.
“Over the past nine years, CivicLex has become known for its work to strengthen local civic health,” said Richard Young, founder and executive director of CivicLex. “We’re grateful to Knight Foundation for their support of our work and their investment in our vision of how American communities can come together, learn from each other, and develop new ways to strengthen our shared democracy from the bottom up.”
At a moment when trust in civic institutions is at historic lows, communities across the country are searching for ways to rebuild connections between residents and their local institutions. This investment will support and amplify existing local civic infrastructure that helps communities understand challenges, engage meaningfully, and share lessons learned.
About CivicLex
CivicLex is a nonprofit strengthening Lexington’s civic health by helping community members understand and get involved in local issues, connect with their neighbors, and have a say in decision making. Founded in 2017, the organization works to make it easier for Lexington residents to solve local problems, together.
More information about CivicLex is available at civiclex.org.
About Knight Foundation
We are social investors who support democracy by funding free expression and journalism, arts and culture in community, research in areas of media and democracy, and the success of American cities and towns where the Knight brothers once had newspapers.
