What do we do and who are we?
Root Change is a social change organization that strengthens democracy by helping communities build trust, collaboration, and collective power. We support Civic Trust Labs -intentional spaces where residents identify shared challenges, design local solutions, and bridge divides. With expertise in participatory design, systems thinking, and peer-driven learning, Root Change helps communities test new approaches and share lessons across the civic health ecosystem. We connect local insights to national conversations, ensuring grassroot innovations shape broader efforts to reduce polarization and revitalize civic spaces.
Why fund our work?
We aim to raise $75,000 to launch up to 3 new Civic Trust Lab pilots. Funds will directly support: Community Leadership & Facilitation: Training and resourcing local leaders to convene inclusive, trust-building labs. Micro-grants for Civic Experiments: Providing seed funding for residents’ ideas to bridge divides and strengthen community power. Learning & Storytelling: Capturing insights and amplifying community-led solutions nationwide so others can adapt and replicate.
How do we measure success?
We define success by how communities shift relationships, trust, and civic action. We measure: Participation & Diversity: Who is at the table and how fairly all voices are included. Experiments & Outcomes: Number and quality of community-designed initiatives tested through labs. Trust & Collaboration: Pre/post assessments of civic trust, connection, and local problem-solving.
Where do we work?
We operate across the US. We also share lessons, tools, and insights across a growing ecosystem of civic actors to inform and inspire broader movements. Our Civic Trust Labs operate within specific communities and states as well.
Why are we featured in Strengthening Civic Spaces? Tell me more!
Civic Trust Labs directly strengthen civic spaces by creating inclusive, community-led environments where residents can engage across differences, rebuild trust, and co-create solutions. By resourcing grassroots leadership and connecting local experiments to national learning, Root Change equips communities to safeguard democracy and strengthen civic infrastructure for the long term.
The Community Independence Initiative (CII) is transforming lives and building financial freedom for families in Malawi.
Building Community Resilience.
All communities are complex environments that face unanticipated challenges such as natural disasters, sudden changes to the economy, political upheavals, or technological shifts. We believe that a community is resilient when its members are able to harness resources, local knowledge, and social capital to recover quickly and become even stronger after being faced with shocks or stressors.
Root Change works to support community resilience through our peer-driven change (PDC) initiatives and local capacity-strengthening activities, which emphasize community-generated resources and solutions. Our community resilience work is built on PDC principles of self-determination, mutuality, and financial support, which can be seen in tools and activities to support this work such as social labs, lean experimentation, Constituent Voice feedback, peer-to-peer learning models, and the Community Independence Initiative.
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