What’s next? Our 2026 Preview 🔮
/Happy Holidays!
We have vote results for you! Each year, People Powered members decide our top priorities, through a process called People Powered Decides, then we turn these priorities into action. Most of our accomplishments so far are the result of this bottom-up decision-making. We’re thrilled to share the 2026 priorities with you below!
In the spirit of giving, will you contribute to this work by joining People Powered as a member or making an end-of-year donation, if you haven’t already?
Unveiling the 2026 member priorities
Our members voted to allocate $50,000 from our budget to a few key priorities:
Participation 4 Peace: Research on the usage of participatory democracy for peacebuilding and truth-seeking initiatives worldwide, to inform the creation of a proposal for a pilot program.
Democracy Stories Lab: Imagining the future of democracy: Hold an open call to collect stories and creative content about the future of democracy, and give monetary prizes and visibility to winning submissions.
Facilitation toolkit for participatory democracy: Create a facilitation toolkit that equips beginners with accessible methods, resources, and hybrid options for launching participatory democracy initiatives in their communities.
Mentorship for members: Provide free expert mentorship and coaching to 10 members, so members can help each other grow and address common challenges.
Special thank you to our partner One Project for providing a digital platform for this decision-making.
Outcomes of the 2025 member priorities
We’re also celebrating the completed work that members prioritized last year:
New guidance on the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence for participation, through updated digital participation guide, tool ratings, online courses, and case studies
New resources to support democracy and participatory practices in schools
Incorporation of People Powered in Europe (in Ireland) to reflect the global nature of our organization and help raise funds for our collective work. Members also voted to incorporate in Latin America, but we are pausing that work until later in 2026, since incorporation in Ireland took longer and cost more than expected.
What’s next in 2026
We’re working on exciting plans for 2026, including:
Democracy narratives: We’ll share comprehensive global research on how to talk about democracy, in order to boost trust and engagement.
Inclusion: We’ll provide new support and resources for engaging marginalized communities in government decision-making.
Climate democracy: We’ll double our support for local climate engagement and participation programs.
Artificial intelligence: We’ll integrate AI into our global resources and programs to help you access and use knowledge more easily.
Convening: We’ll move all this work forward at the People Powered 2026 Convening in Nairobi - reserve your discounted tickets and rooms now!
The next year will be critical for our work to renew democracy. Will you show your support, by joining as a member or making an end-of-year donation?
Have a restful break, and we look forward to seeing you in 2026!!!
— The People Powered team