Exploring the Intersections: Bridging, Organizing & Democracy — Together
As you’ve no doubt seen in the headlines, things feel shaky.
The military has been deployed in Los Angeles. Political institutions are strained. Leading democracy scholars warn the U.S. is drifting toward “anocracy” — an unstable mix of authoritarianism and democracy. People are unsettled. Some are scared. Many are asking:
What can I actually do right now that matters?
One Way to Start: Come Talk with Me
→ Open Office Hours:
Mondays & Fridays → calendly.com/duncanautrey/drh
I’m holding open office hours each week — a space to reflect, connect, and explore together. Bring a question, a stuck point, a tool you love, or just curiosity.
Bring a question you’re wrestling with.
Bring a project you want to move forward.
Bring a resource you’re looking for — or one you want to share.
Bring something that feels stuck, or something that’s just starting to spark.
Office hours are a space to think things through, explore options, and get pointed toward what might help — tools, people, trainings, or new ways of seeing the work.
What I’m Doing
Since early 2024, I’ve been managing the Democracy Resource Hub — a curated collection of tools, trainings, and organizations that support democracy work across the fields of organizing, bridge-building, and participatory governance. Lately, that work has expanded into a role we're calling the “Walking Librarian.”
I’m now in the middle of a field-wide listening tour — connecting with organizers, peacebuilders, civic innovators, and democracy practitioners. The goal is to map what’s stuck, what’s shifting, and what people need to keep moving forward. I’m translating those insights into tools, cross-field trainings, and new ways to support this ecosystem.
Surfacing insights from relational conversations
Mapping intersections and tensions between fields
Connecting people with tools, trainings, and each other
And out of the findings from that: Co-creating cross-field trainings rooted in what people are really asking for
🎥 Watch: What Is the Democracy Resource Hub?
A 3-minute introduction to how the Hub is designed, what it includes, and why it matters right now.
This work is supported by the SHIFT Action Lab, which exists to experiment at the intersection of three key movements:
✊ Organizing and Power-building
🕊️ Bridging and Peacebuilding
🧭 Democracy Strengthening and Participatory Governance
What I’m Hearing So Far
🧩 Bridge-building needs more organizing muscle.
There’s a growing sense that bridging work too often “preaches to the choir” — drawing folks who are already predisposed to dialogue. One person reflected, “We keep designing these conversations for people who are already on board. We need to create spaces that actually draw in people who aren’t already trained up.” The emerging push is to reach broader audiences through stealth entry points and to integrate more of an organizing mindset — invitation, relevance, strategy — into the bridging space.
🔥 Protest is potent — but people want pathways.
Practitioners voiced a desire for resistance work that doesn’t stop at saying “no.” One comment captured this clearly: “We need ways to organize resistance that don’t just provoke backlash — that feel strategic, that help us build power and vision at the same time.” There’s energy around connecting civil resistance to long-term goals, narrative framing, and sustainable organizing practices.
🤝 Inclusion across divides is harder (and more urgent) than it sounds.
Many people want to build truly ideologically diverse spaces — but without diluting their values. As one person put it: “It’s not that we don’t want conservatives in the room. But we don’t want to pretend that authoritarianism is just another opinion.” There’s a live tension between holding openness and maintaining principled boundaries — and people are craving better frameworks to navigate that.
These conversations are already surfacing insights and shifts that point toward something bigger: a movement that’s not just reactive, but regenerative — grounded in real relationships, practical tools, and shared work across our fields.
Explore the Democracy Resource Hub
If you haven’t visited yet, the Democracy Resource Hub is a curated online library that the Action Lab built out to support people like you — practitioners who want to act with clarity, build with others, and strengthen democracy from wherever they stand.
🔎 Browse the Directory of networks, training orgs, and resource libraries
📂 Use the curated collections to find concrete tools you can use if you're group is mired in internal conflict; how to run a citizens assembly; how to stay calm when someone is saying something that you find insane; and more.
I just returned from the American Democracy Summit, and I’ll be at the 22nd Century Initiative gathering next, continuing the listening. Trainings and resource toolkits are in the works. This isn’t just about better information — it’s about a more connected movement.
🎥 Watch: How to Navigate the Democracy Resource Hub
This short video shows how to explore resource pages, directories, and curated tools — using Peacebuilding as an example, but the structure is the same across the Hub.
Have Something to Share?
If you feel like you’re holding a perspective or experience that should be part of this listening tour — especially something that bridges fields or offers insight into what’s emerging — I’d love to hear from you.
While I’m already reaching out to a broad range of folks, I’m always open to hearing from people whose work or wisdom might not be on the usual map.
→ If you'd like to be part of the Listening Tour (where I ask the questions):
calendly.com/duncanautrey/democracy
→ If you have questions or want help navigating resources (my office hours):
calendly.com/duncanautrey/drh
Or reach out directly:
📬 librarian@democracyresourcehub.org
Let’s explore the intersections — together.