Re-imagining democratic and economic systems in Europe.
“Changemakers for Democracy is a 12-month fellowship that equips Europe-based practitioners, movements and collectives with the funding, community and support they need to advance democratic renewal and new economic paradigms.”
A Proven Fellowship for Democratic Renewal
The inaugural Changemakers for Democracy fellowship brought together 16 fellows representing 15 initiatives from across Europe, providing funding, tailored support and a trusted community to strengthen democratic innovation. The programme was made possible through the generous support of Open Society Foundations.
Why This Matters
Europe is facing growing polarisation, democratic backsliding and increasing pressure on civic space. Addressing these challenges requires bold, imaginative approaches that strengthen democratic participation, rebuild trust and explore more inclusive economic models. Our Fellowship amplify efforts which work on:
Democratic Renewal
Our core democratic institutions are in crisis. Often citizens believe their elected leaders and institutions are distant, unaccountable and unrepresentative. Political systems often contribute to, rather than solve, complex problems such as polarisation, climate change and inequality.
Democratic Renewal is about re-imagining democratic systems, including the narratives, processes and models that underpin them. This programme seeks to support people who share the belief that shifting power relations in decision making, governance and new forms of democracy need to be at the core of tackling existing and emerging challenges.
A New Economic Paradigm
Democracy and our economic systems and paradigms are intrinsically intertwined, and existing democratic systems remain largely wedded to a neoliberal economic system that is actively harming people and the planet.
Innovative democratic systems and actors can play a critical role in supporting the emergence of a new, more just and equitable socio-economic paradigm and the new ideas, approaches and policies which emerge from it could play a key role in renewing and sustaining democracy in Europe.
Amplifying Alternatives
Regardless of political affiliation, there is a general consensus that our current political and economic systems are broken, but the contours of a new paradigm have not yet become clear.
Compelling ideas and groundbreaking experiments in democracy and economy exist but often suffer from a lack of traction, support, or public exposure.
People need tangible examples of viable alternatives to the current models we inherit, to inspire them to defend democracy and explore new models of citizen engagement to regain their political agency.
Let’s re-imagine democratic and economic systems in Europe, together!
Our Fellowship Model
Capacity Building
Fellows receive tailored capacity-building support to strengthen their leadership, organisations and initiatives. This includes dedicated funding to access expertise, coaching and services from trusted providers, alongside bespoke support from ChangemakerXchange’s network of partners. Fellows also receive communications and advocacy support to help amplify their work, grow their visibility and increase their impact.
Connections
The fellowship brings participants together through immersive in-person summits that foster trust, peer learning and long-term collaboration. Throughout the programme, fellows connect with one another, engage with leading practitioners and ecosystem partners, and build relationships that continue well beyond the fellowship itself.
Funding
Each fellow receives a grant of €50,000 to accelerate their initiative, alongside additional collaborative seed funding to support cross-border projects developed with fellow participants through a participatory budgeting approach.
Co-Creation and Co-Learning
Beyond the fellowship, participants become part of ChangemakerXchange’s global community of social innovators, activists and movement builders. Fellows gain lifelong access to a trusted peer network, learning opportunities and spaces to collaborate with changemakers working across regions and disciplines.
Community
Fellows get the opportunity to connect with and learn from others working across different dimensions of democratic and economic renewal, helping to seed inspiration and build solidarity between movements in Europe. They will also get a chance to join the global CXC network, which includes life-long access to resources and regular opportunities to connect, learn & co-create with social innovators, activists and movement builders across the world.
At the heart of ChangemakerXchange is a vibrant close-knit community of nearly 1,500 people from 130 countries working on a vast range of issues, as well as hundreds of partners on all continents of the world. See below selected examples of our members and their initiatives.
The International Student Environment Coalition provides young people with the resources to start and engage in grassroot movements for climate and environmental justice. Harrison Ashangwa, International Student Environment Coalition
Dutty Up Yuh Fingah is a non-partisan, politically neutral youth group with the aims to improve youth voter education, increase youth voter turnout, promote fair & free elections, and provide a platform for youth to discourse on democracy
Joy Napier, Duty Up Yuh Fingah
YEP encourages, empowers, and enables young people to lead social change by creating innovative opportunities for inclusive youth participation.
Rebekka Dober, YEP (Youth Empowerment & Participation • Austria
Chilli is a digital app that leverages the power of community, habits, and daily actions to drive tangible change and tackle pressing local and global challenges with the power of AI. Christian Vanizette • France
#FreeInterrail (now #DiscoverEU) is a campaign to convince the European Commission to give out free Interrail tickets to all Youth in the EU in order to create intercultural understanding and empathy across youth in Europe. Vincent-Immanuel Herr, Activist & Initiator of #FreeInterrail
The Black Curriculum trains teachers across the United Kingdom and Europe on their approach towards teaching Black history.
Lavinya Stennett, The Black Curriculum
Our Advisory Committee
Nani is an internationally recognised human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human rights, social justice, and technology. Nani Jansen Reventlow (she/her), Systemic Justice
Alberto Alemanno is the Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law & Policy at HEC Paris and at the College of Europe, Bruges. He also is the founder of The Good Lobby. Alberto Alemanno (he/him), Good Lobby
Romy is the Managing Director of the Guerrilla Foundation, a member of Leap Collective, and on the advisory board of Arising Quo. Romy Krämer (she/her), Guerilla Foundation
Laura leads Ashoka’s Changemaker Europe initiative, dedicated to cultivating a transformative perspective on democracy and civic participation. Laura Batalla Adam (she/her) – Ashoka
Claudia is the Founder and CEO of DemocracyNext, an international non-profit, non-partisan research and action institute that champions Citizens’ Assemblies as a way of citizen-led decision-making. Claudia Chwalisz (she/her) – DemocracyNext
Alba is a Programme Manager at The European Programme of the Open Society Foundations with a focus on efforts regarding Democratic Renewal. Alba Gutierrez (she/her)
The need for democratic renewal continues to grow across Europe. Building on the success of the inaugural fellowship, we are seeking philanthropic and institutional partners to help launch the next edition of Changemakers for Democracy and support the next generation of democracy changemakers.
