Strengthening global democracy through powerful civic engagement and informed, inclusive dialogue

The SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University was founded in 2017 with a $150 million gift from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

We are a multi-disciplinary academic and public forum dedicated to strengthening global democracy by improving and expanding civic engagement and inclusive dialogue, and by supporting inquiry that leads to real-world change.

By building integrated partnerships with scholars, practitioners, students, and the public, we use research to identify and sharpen strategic choices that members of the public and civic and political stakeholders around the world can make to realize the promise of democracy.

Link to the SNF Agora Institute hub

The onAir Network is a human-curated, AI-assisted network of topic hubs that bring together online communities of experts, students, organizations, and other stakeholders … to LEARN more about a field and advance its research-driven knowledge base; DISCUSS key issues and challenges; and CO-CREATE exploring and implementing solutions. A key onair feature is that members control where and how their content and conversations are shared – free from paywalls, algorithmic feeds, or intrusive ads.

The onAir platform and hubs enable members to:

• Control when, where, and how to share their knowledge;
• Find their interest communities & Co-create networks & hubs with them;
• Discover new knowledge & Develop Innovative Solutions;
• Find Common Ground & Make a Difference.

Our Future onAir hub aggregates the best knowledge, people, and organizations seeking to better address challenges related to Nature, Health, Science, Technology, Society, and Nations.  Our support for the People’s Internet hub reflects our commitment to social media that are based on Decentralized Social Network Protocols.

Becoming an onAir member is simple and free.  All that is required is your first and last name, your email address, your zip code and display name. All of your account information is kept private except for your display name.

Over the past four years, Democracy onAir has been working with over 50 interns majoring in government, global affairs, communications, and the information sciences to develop the US Democracy onAir network of 50 state governance and elections hubs. The US Democracy Network serves as a model network for other countries.  Former interns are now working on creating networks for other countries such as the India Democracy Network.