2020 Vision Ventures is a financial initiative that aims to promote investments in digital and technological innovations for left-of-center causes. The initiative is led by Democratic operative Nick Chedli Carter, who also manages the associated Resilient Democracy Fund. ¹

Nick Chedli Carter

Nick Chedli Carter oversees both 2020 Vision Ventures and the Resilient Democracy Fund as the managing director of Resilient Democracy. ² A seasoned Democratic operative, Carter’s political career spans the Vermont Democratic Party, Democracy for America, Keith Ellison for Congress, Hillary for America, Friends of Bernie Sanders and Progressive Voters of America, and Bernie 2016. Carter also engaged in direct lobbying and worked to advance the Affordable Care Act during his tenure at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. ³

Carter is a member of the board of directors at the Center for Digital Democracy, National Vote at Home Institute, Color of Change PAC, and the Organizing Empowerment Project. ⁴

Democracy Alliance

2020 Vision Ventures is linked with a collective of wealthy Democratic and left-of-center individual and institutional donors known as the Democracy Alliance. At the 2018 Fall Investment Conference, 2020 Vision Ventures hosted a session entitled “Innovation in Political Messaging: Moving Beyond Facebook.” The panel featured representatives from Black Voters Matter, Equality Labs, MoveOn, and Swayable. Additional hosts include Sandor and Faye Straus of the Firedoll Foundation, Voqal, Sarah Williams, and Propel Capital. ⁵

Carter was also a moderator for a panel hosted by 2020 Vision Ventures, the Rockefeller Family Fund, Propel Capital, James Gollin, and the AFL-CIO entitled “Relational Organizing: Empowering Our Communities, Getting to Scale, and Winning.” Participants included representatives from Faith In Action, For Our Future, Voces de la Frontera, the Movement Cooperative, Analyst Institute, and Push Black. ⁶

Funders Committee for Civic Participation

Under the auspices of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation, 2020 Vision Ventures hosted an event with Ethan Frey of the Ford Foundation and Julie Fernandes of the Rockefeller Family Fund entitled “From Transaction to Transformation: Relational Organizing as a Winning Civic Engagement Strategy.” Cosponsors included the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Economic Opportunity Funders, Health and Environmental Funders Network, Philanthropy New York, and the United Philanthropy Forum. ⁷

America Votes State Summit

2020 Vision Ventures participated in a panel entitled “Relational Organizing: Leveraging Relationships to Build Power” alongside representatives of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees of Wisconsin (AFSCME); Community Change Action; and Win Justice at the 2019 congregation of the left-of-center America Votes State Summit. ⁸

Investments

2020 Vision Ventures, together with the Resilient Democracy Fund, has targeted a number of investment opportunities with left-of-center causes. Organizations identified included Planned Parenthood, Black Voters Matter, Color of Change, Accelerate Change, Organizing Empowerment, Vote at Home, Push Black, Data for Progress, Voces de la Frontera, and the Center for Popular Democracy. ⁹

1. Carter, Nick Chedli. LinkedIn. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-carter/.
2. “About.” Resilient Democracy. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.resilientdemocracy.com/about.
3. Carter, Nick Chedli. LinkedIn. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-carter/.
4. Carter, Nick Chedli. LinkedIn. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-carter/.
5. “Democracy Alliance: Taking Our Democracy Back (2018 Fall Investment Conference).” Accessed December 17, 2020. https://eclinik.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/393377199-democracy-alliance-full-fall-2018-agenda.pdf.
6. “Democracy Alliance: Taking Our Democracy Back (2018 Fall Investment Conference).” Accessed December 17, 2020. https://eclinik.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/393377199-democracy-alliance-full-fall-2018-agenda.pdf.
7. “FROM TRANSACTION TO TRANSFORMATION Relational Organizing as a Winning Civic Engagement Strategy .” Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/event/from-transaction-to-transformation-relational-organizing-as-a-winning-civic-engagement-strategy/.
8. “America Votes State Summit 2019 Agenda.” Accessed December 17, 2020. https://americavotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/State-Summit-2019-Agenda-2.18.19-3.pdf?x62106.
9. “Investment Opportunities.” Resilient Democracy. Accessed December 17, 2020. https://www.resilientdemocracy.com/investment-opportunities.