About
Our Mission
Democracy Matters (DM) empowers students with a voice in politics, skills for life-long civic engagement, and the passion to create a just, fair, and inclusive democracy. Our non-partisan college and high school chapters inspire and mobilize students to take action. DM students fight to expand voting rights, defeat the power of big money in politics, and uplift social justice activism.
- We fight voter suppression
- We register new voters
- We get big money out of politics
- We resist attacks on democracy
- We engage with current political/social issues
- We build broad coalitions
- We lobby for democracy reforms & government transparency
- We organize at the local, state and national level
Our History
Democracy Matters was founded in 2001 by NBA basketball player, poet, and activist Adonal Foyle. With his parents, Joan and Jay Mandle, college professors and life-long organizers, Foyle created a non-partisan organization that built a national network of student chapters engaged in social justice activism.
DM’s staff, experienced in grassroots organizing and campus activism, trains student interns and chapter members for effective social change. Our annual Summits bring student activists together to network, share best practices, and plan programming that can build a democracy truly of, by, and for the people.
Our Founder & President
I started DM campus chapters to inspire students to stand up to the big money interests corrupting our democracy and to fight against voter suppression. Our students are a powerful voice in the pro-democracy movement sweeping the country.
Foyle’s commitment to Democracy Matters has been widely hailed in the press, including in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and more. Adonal’s belief in the power of student activism is the driving force behind Democracy Matters.
The NBA recognized Adonal’s commitment to democracy with their “Community Assist Awards.” Other awards include The Greenlining Institute’s prestigious Change Agent Award, the City of San Francisco’s Sports Hero Award, and induction into the Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.
Foyle graduated from Colgate University in 1998 Magna Cum Laude with a degree in history. He received a Master’s Degree in Sports Psychology at the John F. Kennedy University. He is a veteran NBA center, drafted as a first-round lottery pick in 1997. Retiring as a player after 13 years in the NBA, Adonal now works as a TV sports commentator and a Sport Psychology Consultant, writes poetry and children’s books, and volunteers in the San Francisco Bay area where he lives.
For more information, visit www.adonalfoyle.com.
Staff
Executive Director
Joan Mandle, Ph.D.
Joan Mandle has been the Executive Director of Democracy Matters since 2001. She is also Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Emerita, at Colgate University, where she directed the college’s successful Women’s Studies Program and founded Colgate’s Center for Women’s Studies.
From her years as a student political activist, Joan has been deeply involved in movements and efforts to reform the political system. She also served as Campaign Manager for incumbent Congressman Robert W. Edgar of Pennsylvania.
Awards from the League of Women Voters of Oakland, the Sociologists for Women in Society, Citizen Action of New York and others have recognized her work.
National Field Director
Anita Moore
Anita is driven by a sense of urgency in our current political system to work for the rights of citizens through social justice and activism. She has worked with migrant, Native, and underrepresented communities in North America, advocating for equal access and a political voice in these times of hardship. She received her degree in Masters of Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, and presently lives in the heart of North Carolina, her home state. Anita is a musician and artist, integrating these tools in her activism work. She also teaches critical thinking at Alamance Community College.
The Democracy Matters Institute, Inc. is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The materials posted on this website are educational in purpose. The problems cited therein are with the electoral system. The Democracy Matters Institute does not intend to target any specific politician or party.
Student Testimonials
It’s good to feel I am making changes in the world. We have made a lot of progress on this campus raising awareness and engaging students in reforming voting rights and money in politics.
Democracy Matters has given me hope that we’ll be able to create change and make our democracy truly the people’s.
Democracy Matters gives students a reason WHY they believe what they believe. Very slowly but surely Miami is becoming used to being a beacon for social change and the campus now is unrecognizable from the campus we started working on in the fall.
I have learned so much about money in politics, voting reform, and about successful and effective organizing!
This is our first semester and we have had success already. Next semester we want to EXPLODE on the campus!
Board of Directors
Adonal Foyle, President, Founder and President, Democracy Matters; Retired NBA Player
Jay Mandle, Ph.D., Treasurer, W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics Emeritus, Colgate University; Author, Money on My Mind
Mike Burke, Author “On the Wing” column, Chesapeake Bay Journal; former senior environment and energy aide to Senator Ben Cardin
Brandy Bones, Vice President, ICF, , former DM Campus Coordinator at Colgate University
Daryn Cambridge, Senior Director, Learning & Digital Strategies at International Center on Nonviolent Conflict; Peace Educator in Residence at American University
Adam Eichen, Equal Citizens, journalist, co-author of Daring Democracy. Former DM intern at Vassar College
Bonnie Hallam, Program Coordinator at Bryn Mawr College, formerly of the Food Trust
Max Stahl, Former Democracy Matters Assistant Director
Burt Weltman, Retired Professor, William Patterson University
Iridian Lucas-Garcia, former DM intern, Dutchess Community College
Lillian Thorne, former intern, Simmons University