20-05-2025
Reimagining Democracy For The 21st Century
To advance inclusive and resilient democracies, Yordanos Eyoel is building up a transnational civil society ecosystem for learning, collaboration, and innovation. Here she shares more about founding Keseb and how her team supports democracy as both a vision and a practice for everyday life.
Ashoka: Yordanos, you started Keseb in 2022 – what inspired you?
Yordanos Eyoel
Yordanos Eyoel: Since 2016, particularly in the U.S., a growing number of organizations have focused on reforming democracy. My initial entrepreneurial insight came a few years later, around 2020, as the field was coming to realize that there's an anti-democratic playbook – and it's global. It was being wielded in different ways within national contexts, but the trends and the tactics were very similar around the world and the anti-democratic actors were organized and learning from each other. This was being recognized in academic circles, but there was no clear path for practitioners to do something about it. So I started asking, how can we set up a countervailing pro-democratic network that is transnational?
Ashoka: You call the leaders in the network you are building 'democracy champions.' Why?
Eyoel: A lot of democracy work has been defensive. From our early days on, I was intentional about not calling the network of actors that we work with (or the field overall) democracy defenders, but instead democracy champions. We wanted to ask a different question: How do we defend aspects of democratic institutions while building toward something new? The intention here is to reimagine 21st century democracy and bring different actors to contribute the building blocks – that's why we call ourselves democracy champions. We want to define ourselves by what we are 'for,' not by what we are 'against,' and invite others to be a part of that.
Ashoka: What does Keseb focus on today?
Eyoel: We've taken different strategies from complementary fields. For example, my background is in social innovation and venture philanthropy and aspects of our model come from that world. Network building is another strategic lever. We bring practices from think-tanks for intelligence gathering and research. So all this has culminated in a set of initiatives, the first being a fellowship for a mosaic of leaders from three diverse democracies – Brazil, South Africa, and the U.S. To date, we've supported twelve groups from these countries. We're also looking to catalyze new innovations. Our field intelligence initiative produces research and analysis, distilling insights into transnational products. And we are working to contribute to a positive narrative for inclusive democracy. An example of the type of product we create to energize the field is our new digital magazine, The Outlook, which was released last week.
Ashoka: Who is the fellowship for and how does it work?
Eyoel: Not every democracy champion is an entrepreneur, but a subset are. We honed in on these innovators and designed a fellowship for and with them. We curate a deep trust-based community where the Fellows are learning from each other as well as subject matter experts from all over the world. They are also supported one-on-one by our team. For our in-person convenings, we try to create unique experiences and joyful moments. Not just about the substance of what the Fellows are doing, but also creating a container for them to just take a break and connect with each other as people, not only as organizational leaders. This is critical, particularly in moments of high stress. In addition to building this type of community, we provide financial capital to the organizations and wellness stipends to the Fellows. So we are as focused on supporting the leaders as we are on their organizations. That flows through everything that we do.
Ashoka: Zooming out, you make a distinction about the vision and operations of democracy. Why?
Eyoel: I find it helpful to see democracy as both a vision and a form of governance. What people are frustrated with and where there's demand for change is around the model of governance, how democracy has been operationalized into institutions and leadership practices, and whether or not it's been responsive to people's daily needs and grievances. The vision of democracy, though – this is about the rule of law, representation, the pursuit of equal rights for all. I'm less convinced that there is a backlash against these values as much as perhaps an interrogation that they've yet to be fully realized. So when I think about people being democracy champions, it's for these values.
Ashoka: Many people see voting as the main, or only, way to engage in their democracy. Help us see the broader picture.
Eyoel: Elections and voting are central to a democracy, but a democracy is of course broader. Democracy shows up in the way we engage with each other. It shows up in the way we deal with ideological disagreements, not just in the public arena, but even in our private lives, how we wrestle with discomfort, how we think about not just our own well-being, but the well-being of those around us. At the very micro individual level, it's about how you realize your own potential and live with dignity in whatever society you're in. Democracy is supposed to facilitate that. At the community level, there's also being free to create associations, to come together and organize for collective action. Having a robust civil society, from churches to community groups to non-profit organizations, has been part of the rich history of U.S. democracy, for example. And that's where people of all backgrounds and walks of life have an opportunity to engage and shape the future of democracy – beyond elections.
Yordanos Eyoel is an Ashoka Fellow.
This interview is condensed for length and clarity by Ashoka.
