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Non-profit

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)

Website:

www.pacefunders.org/
Location:

WASHINGTON, DC
Tax ID:

31-1705363
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2021):

Revenue: $924,225
Expenses: $878,872
Assets: $799,020
Executive Director:

Kristen Cambell
Type:

Civil engagement advocacy group

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Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), formerly known as the Grantmakers Forum for Community and National Service, serves as a “philanthropic laboratory” that engages in research and activism experiments to derive best practices for civil engagement advocacy.

As of September 2025, PACE has 102 members, many of which are left-of-center nonprofits, including the Ford Foundation, Arabella Advisors, Case Foundation, Foundation for Civic Leadership, and the Voqal Fund. 1 All members hold increasing democratic participation and changes to the electoral system as priorities.

PACE has spoken in favor of government spending to promote voting and protect voters against the coronavirus in the 2020 elections. 2

Members

PACE’s members are required to share investment information with PACE and pay dues on a sliding scale depending on their total grant-giving budgets. The scale starts at $1,000 per year. 3

PACE’s members as of September 2025 included:4

Experiments

Every two years, PACE establishes a new set of experimental “vehicles.” The organization gives grants to members and non-member nonprofits which engage in novel projects within each vehicle. 5

For the 2020-2022 period, PACE has five vehicles: “Community Curation” connects activists from diverse identities, locations, and ideologies to find synergies; “Learning Labs” forms conferences for activists to discuss current initiatives; “Collective Experiments” funds projects launched as joint ventures by other nonprofits; “Civic Philanthropy Research” studies the funding levels and impact of philanthropic ventures; and “Learning Out Loud” analyzes and summarizes data from the other vehicles. 5

Faith In/And Democracy

Faith In/And Democracy is a vehicle that began in 2019 that seeks to expand civic participation through outreach in religious communities. 6

Faith In/And Democracy is co-run by the Fetzer Institute, a non-denominational spiritual community organizer, and Democracy Fund, a left-of-center electoral systems policy nonprofit funded by liberal eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar. 6

Between 2019 and 2022, the Faith In/And Democracy granted roughly $1 million to 30 organizations claiming to be engaged in faith-based and pro-democracy work. 7

Donors

Democracy Fund is a member of PACE and granted the organization $100,000 in 2018 and 2019 for the Faith In/And Democracy vehicle. 8

In 2015, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the sixth-largest grantmaking foundation in America, gave $50,000 to PACE for “general operating support. 9

Leadership

Shannon N. Green is the President and CEO of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). She previously held senior roles in the U.S. government, including Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) and Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Task Force at USAID, as well as Senior Director for Global Engagement on the National Security Council. Before returning to public service in 2021, Green served as Senior Director of Programs at the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) and Director and Senior Fellow of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Georgia and an M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University, and has taught as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School. 10

As of September 2025, PACE’s board of directors includes: 11

CEO and president of the Ford Family Foundation Kara Carlisle

Brad Rourke, director of external affairs at the Kettering Foundation

Vanessa Tucker, senior program officer at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation 

Jen Algire, vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism 

Benjamin Chou, program officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Jason Garrett, senior vice president at the Freedom Together Foundation

Tamara Tweel, senior program director at the Teagle Foundation

Lauren M. Woods, director of abundance at the Grand Victoria Foundation

References

  1. “Current PACE Members.” PACE. Accessed April 4, 2020. http://www.pacefunders.org/members/.
  2. Rojc, Philip. “Virus-Proofing the Vote: Democracy Funders Respond to COVID-19.” Inside Philanthropy. file:///C:/Users/Matt/Downloads/Virus-Proofing%20the%20Vote_%20Democracy%20Funders%20Respond%20to%20COVID-19%20%20Inside%20Philanthropy.pdf.
  3. “Membership.” PACE. Accessed April 4, 2020. http://www.pacefunders.org/membership/.
  4. “Current PACE Members.” PACE. Accessed September 5, 2025. http://www.pacefunders.org/members/.
  5. “Pace Strategic Plan 2020-2022.” PACE. Accessed April 4, 2020. http://www.pacefunders.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/PACE-2020-2022-StrategicPlan-FINAL-1.29.20.pdf.
  6. “Faith In/And Democracy.” PACE. Accessed April 4, 2020. http://www.pacefunders.org/faith/.
  7. Campbell, Kristen, Aaron Dorfman, and Josh Rolnick. “Faith-Based Funding Can Help Protect Democracy.” Inside Philanthropy, June 4, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/6/4/faith-based-funding-can-help-protect-democracy
  8. “PACE (Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement).” Democracy Fund. Accessed April 4, 2020. https://www.democracyfund.org/portfolio/entry/pace-philanthropy-for-active-civic-engagement.
  9. “Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed April 4, 2020. https://hewlett.org/grants/philanthropy-for-active-civic-engagement-for-general-operating-support/.
  10. “Shannon Green, President & CEO.” PACE. Accessed September 5, 2025. https://www.pacefunders.org/shannon-green/.
  11. “Pace Board of Directors.” PACE. Accessed September 5, 2025. https://www.pacefunders.org/pace-board/.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: May 1, 2000

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2021 Dec Form 990 $924,225 $878,872 $799,020 $41,672 N $922,729 $1,326 $170 $172,449
    2020 Dec Form 990 $1,151,640 $825,931 $797,688 $35,464 N $1,147,750 $3,394 $496 $175,800
    2019 Dec Form 990 $822,858 $893,351 $398,965 $12,679 N $818,750 $3,682 $426 $153,196 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $493,151 $576,939 $505,643 $48,864 N $487,750 $5,044 $357 $149,161 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $305,707 $399,246 $556,588 $16,024 N $295,750 $9,655 $302 $154,458 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $414,719 $248,994 $500,295 $2,640 N $398,300 $16,357 $62 $139,500 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $187,052 $115,594 $333,670 $1,741 N $186,500 $500 $52 $49,500 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $156,815 $219,269 $261,223 $752 N $153,000 $3,778 $37 $153,502 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $220,864 $338,036 $330,647 $7,722 N $178,989 $41,708 $167 $198,708 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $408,078 $317,761 $442,089 $2,020 N $382,000 $25,660 $418 $192,920 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $378,716 $281,322 $354,398 $4,646 N $378,344 $0 $372 $182,000 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE)

    1717 RHODE ISLAND AVE NW STE 700
    WASHINGTON, DC 20036-3028