Social Impact Fund
Project Title
For core support of the KW Foundation's work on civic engagement and social media
Date
Sep. 12, 2024
Duration
12 months
Description
Founded by Kerry Washington, the KW Foundation aims to empower members of the entertainment industry to help expand voting rights and support a more equitable democracy. In 2020, the foundation launched Influence Change—an initiative that leverages major entertainment influencers to ensure that the maximum number of voters can participate in elections. Through this initiative, more than 250 celebrity artists have publicly encouraged nonpartisan voter turnout and combatted disinformation campaigns that seek to weaken public trust in elections, resulting in more than 1.5 billion social media impressions. The initiative has also garnered $60 million in earned media value and reached an estimated 150 million people of voting age. In partnership with peer organizations in the field, the KW Foundation produces sophisticated messaging campaigns and develops effective tools to measure influencers’ impact and efficacy. With Corporation support, the KW Foundation will continue its voter education work leading up to the 2024 elections.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the KW Foundation
Date
Sep. 15, 2022
Duration
12 months
Description
Founded by actor and public figure Kerry Washington, the KW Foundation aims to empower members of the entertainment industry to help expand voting rights and support a more equitable democracy. In 2020, the foundation launched Influence Change, which leverages the reach of more than 250 celebrity artists to publicly encourage voter turnout and to combat disinformation campaigns that seek to weaken public trust in elections. In partnership with peer organizations in the field, it produces sophisticated messaging campaigns and develops effective tools to measure influencers’ impact and efficacy. With Corporation support, the KW Foundation will continue to support artists and influencers in promoting voter participation and pro-democracy messaging. It will also partner with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Constructive Communication to improve its ability to analyze social media engagement data and optimize programmatic impact. It is expected that this research will inform the wider nonpartisan voter engagement field.
Website
Project Title
For core support of the KW Foundation
Date
Sep. 10, 2020
Duration
12 months
Description
Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the role of government and voting has become even more important, particularly for vulnerable populations. Kerry Washington, a nationally known actor and public figure, has launched Influence Change 2020, an initiative to leverage major entertainment influencers to ensure that the maximum number of voters can safely participate in the upcoming elections. With Corporation support, the KW Foundation will support these influencers in their efforts amplify the digital work of on-the-ground advocates and other nonpartisan civic engagement organizations executing critical Get-Out-the-Vote work. The influencers will engage black, Latinx and youth voters, in particular, through partnerships with social media groups like PushBlack, Pulso, and Parents Together. The Corporation is joining the Ford Foundation and the Movement Voter Project in supporting this initiative.