News & Ideas
The Context Podcast
The Context is a podcast from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, about the history, trends, and ideas shaping democracy in the United States and around the world. Every episode, host Alex Lovit, a senior program officer and historian with the foundation, interviews someone who has seen it all—scholars, politicians, journalists, and public servants.
Our Work
We advance our work across five focus areas. Through these focus areas, we promote democratic principles and values and counter attacks on democracy.
- 1
Defending Inclusive Democracy
Defend inclusive democracy by raising awareness of and responding to its greatest threats.
- 2
Information for a Democratic Society
Provide the public with information to heighten awareness of the needs of democracy and to enable the public to recognize authoritarian threats.
- 3
Democracy and Community
Strengthen community voices, mutuality, and collective action for greater citizen engagement and influence over local problem-solving and government.
- 4
Democracy and the Arts
Integrate the unique power of the arts into the Kettering Foundation’s work locally, nationally, and internationally.
- 5
Democracy around the Globe
Strengthen an international community of partners to promote and defend inclusive democracies around the globe.
Fellowships
The Charles F. Kettering Global Fellowship for Advancing Inclusive Democracies is a six-month program designed to promote leadership in global civil society and to nurture and support those working to build inclusive democracies around the world.
The Charles F. Kettering Foundation Dayton Democracy Fellowship is a one-year program designed to support innovative leaders, changemakers, and dreamers who are building movements for inclusive democracy in their communities and in our wider world.
The Katherine W. Fanning Fellowship in Journalism and Democracy is awarded to journalists and scholars from around the world whose work furthers the lifelong commitment to journalism in service and democracy made by Katherine Fanning, an innovative and influential newspaper editor and publisher.
This fellowship award is named for David Mathews, who served as president and CEO of the Kettering Foundation from 1981 to 2022 and is now president emeritus.
The Charles F. Kettering Foundation has established an elite group of senior fellows to work with the foundation to advance our pro-inclusive democracy mission.
