About Proximate

We’re We’re Proximate – an independent media outlet covering movements for participatory problem-solving.

Launched in October 2023, our mission is to make sense of this global moment of turbulence through the lens of money and power - how money given away, how it’s invested, and how it is distributed by governments domestically and internationally.

We’re interested in models that shift decision-making power to people with lived experience – those proximate to the problem.

Our VERTICALs

Here are our verticals. Each one explores how financial flows shape our world.

Philanthropy

  • Grassroots Grantmaking – exploring trust-based & participatory philanthropy today
  • Community Philanthropy — the interplay of money between the Global North and the Global South
  • Unlocking Abundance – exploring the conversation about DAF reform in the United States  

Frontlines

Regions

How money moves within specific ecosystems and geographies.

Economy

  • Nuts & Bolts – how participatory investing works in practice
  • Accountability Games – how untaxed dollars are invested in communities
  • Laying the Foundation – exploring the policy foundations for participatory investing models

Democracy

  • Beyond Elections – exploring participatory democracy, between and beyond elections
  • State of Assembly – what's new with citizen's assemblies around the world
  • How We Gather – what are the ingredients that make for a successful public gathering?

Foundation World

How institutional giving is evolving — or resisting change.

  • Grassroots Grantmaking – Exploring Trust-Based & Participatory Philanthropy – who decides, who receives, and what changes when power is shared.
  • Community Philanthropy — the interplay of money between Global North–Global Majority
  • Endowments – the quiet giants. How philanthropic endowments are managed, governed, and increasingly shifted.

Heirs & Billionaires

The rise of next-gen givers and the shadow of old money.

  • DAF Reform – our Unlocking Abundance series explores how donor-advised funds are being challenged and reimagined.
  • Donor Advisors – the quiet brokers and gatekeepers shaping how the wealthy give.
  • Next-Gen Philanthropy – globally, how young billionaires and heirs are rewriting (or recycling) legacy models of giving.

Frontlines

How money moves at the ground level — and how it’s managed and stewarded by those closest to the work.

  • Common Ground – how dollars are managed; our series on the future of fiscal sponsorship.
  • Rethinking Resources – a newsletter on resources for grassroots leaders.
  • Peer-to-Peer Learning Series – a deep dive into how frontline leaders learn across borders, from urban farming in the US to community ambulance models across Africa

Pathways

Emerging projects on different systems of money moving…

  • Repairing Development – Beyond the traditional development model — what comes next?
  • Proxonomics – exploring the rise of participatory investment models in the United States: from the design of democratic funds, to negotiations over community accountability, to the historical and policy foundations shaping what’s possible.
  • Beyond Elections – What makes a democracy function between and beyond elections?

Regions

How money moves within specific ecosystems and geographies.

  • Proximate Brasil
  • Proximate East Africa
  • Proximate Samip

Proximate is an independent media platform covering movements for participatory problem-solving. We look at the news through the lens of money: how it’s given away, how it’s invested, and how it’s distributed by government.
We are a fiscally sponsored project of Movement Strategy Center.

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