A note from the Institute’s Jose Cornejo and Oluwakemi Oso

In January, we launched the Higher Ground Institute with a clear goal: to build a hub for early innovation, experimentation, and technological adoption across the Democratic and progressive space. Combining the strengths of Higher Ground Labs and Cooperative Impact Lab, we're focused on closing the critical gap between technological innovation and strategic transformation. 

Our work begins with three high-impact areas: transforming how we engage communities through media innovation, strengthening our movement's preparedness against the challenges of the new Trump administration, and accelerating AI adoption to reimagine traditional campaign tactics. Through research, experimentation, and strategic investment, we'll help organizations build lasting power and create meaningful change. Learn more about the Institute's vision.

We want to hear your perspective: What do we need to do to break out of our old ways of doing things and drive meaningful innovation? Reach out to us at [email protected] with your thoughts.

Join the Higher Ground Institute on April 2nd at 1PM ET for an AI training to boost progressive messaging online. This hands-on training, presented in partnership with Vocal Media, will equip you with practical AI tools and prompt engineering techniques that can dramatically speed up your content creation process. Learn how to leverage powerful platforms like Descript and Opus Clip to produce more content in less time, helping progressive messages break through the noise and compete effectively in digital spaces.

Across the country, grassroots movements, advocacy organizations, and progressive campaigns are mobilizing to resist Trump’s aggressive attacks on the government, democratic norms, and institutions that provide checks on his power. Technology is playing a critical role in these efforts, equipping activists with better ways to coordinate, track legislative threats, and amplify their message with precision.

Take a look at some of the tools available right now to support our movement.

Since launching the Progressive AI Lab, HGL has played a major leadership role in advancing AI in campaigns and shaping the conversation around its responsible use. We believed, and still believe, that AI is poised to transform our society and industries as we know it.  But for all of AI’s transformative potential, 2024 was clearly the experimentation cycle—not the widespread adoption cycle—for AI. Read the impact of HGL’s Progressive AI Lab.

Every cycle, Higher Ground Labs releases the Election Tech Survey to assess how political technology is used and purchased by progressive campaigns and organizations. First launched in 2020 and now in its third cycle, this survey tracks trends in adoption, effectiveness, and persistent gaps in electoral tech. With more in-depth analysis coming soon in our 2024 Political Tech Landscape Report, take a look at some of the key findings from this year’s survey.

This year, our portfolio companies delivered transformative impact across the progressive ecosystem. Together, they’ve helped mobilize millions of voters, strengthen security, and drive innovation in the digital tools powering our movement. Read about Endaoment's fourth year of decentralized philanthropy, including donation breakdowns, outbound grants deployed, and causes supported; Chorus AI's work helping nonprofits, campaigns, and advocacy organizations save thousands of hours in 2024 through advanced document management, social media tool suite, research tools, and more; Social Currant's year partnering with creators to bring important issues to audiences where they are; Oath’s work analyzing over 2000 races & directing more than $37,000,000 to the races with the highest Impact Scores; and Quiller’s year powering campaigns and organizations of all sizes to draft and deploy high-quality, effective fundraising & outreach content.

Check out 40+ political tech job openings on the HGL Portfolio Jobs Board. Apply to Director of Strategic Partnerships at Swayable, Talent Partner at Clipbook, Senior Research Strategist at Grow Progress, and many more.