Andy's Reinventing Democracy Fund

My journey

Hi I'm Andy Paice. I used to be a Buddhist Monastic. After years of practice I realised that in order to be a happy and functional human being I had to listen to all the aspects of myself and not just the spiritually oriented ones.

Then at some point on my journey another realisation dawned. In order to have a happy and functional society the same thing applies:  we need to listen to all the voices and perspectives out there.

And so began my interest in democracy as a system of hearing the diverse voices of the people.

But as many of you might have noticed, our democracies are dysfunctional. They're dividing us and leaving so many feeling unrepresented. While a distant political class bickers, our input is limited to choosing sides once every few years by ticking boxes on ballot papers.

So my dismay at this situation led me to discovering a number of democratic innovations that are participatory, much more deeply inclusive and which use our incredible human diversity as a resource.

My work

Progressively I have got involved in convening, facilitating and campaigning for participatory spaces where diverse citizens can deliberate and create collectively wise proposals and solutions to social issues.

I'm now working pretty much full time (without salary) to create, promote and campaign for these innovations that can upgrade our antiquated, broken systems to be fit for the realities of 21st century.

Because of the pioneering nature of this democratic innovation work there are few opportunities to find conventional employment roles.  So in order to serve the greater good that can be achieved through following my purpose and passion I am turning to crowdfunding. 

The good news is that the US based Non-Profit organisation, the Co-Intelligence Institute is now seeking sustainable funding for my collaborative work for them. However that process will take a few months before I can receive a regular income from that. 

Let's act together!
The time is ripe for action as the world of politics is shifting now. So even if you don't have the time and space to work directly for this kind of positive change, together we can do it!

Supporting me to continue this work over the next few months is an act of synergy: your financial support fuels my activity which in turn fuels a greater process of making democracy deeper and wiser.

Here are the projects you'll be enabling through my work:

The Wise Democracy Project (Co-Intelligence Institute)

Reinventing Democracy YouTube Channel - Interviewing people in the field of democratic innovation from all over the world.

Campaign for A Citizen-led Constitutional Convention UK

Connecting King's Cross - a project to bring people from the diverse communities to find out what's important for them in the area.

 How the money will be used

I've calculated the sum of £7500 GBP ($9600 USD approx) to cover 5 months of modest living expenses (rent, bills, food, local travel = £6500) in my expensive hometown of London. Plus travel and expenses to participate at the EROLES Emerging Politics residency in Spain in August (=£1000)

Your contribution buys me the time to focus uniquely on the projects outlined above.

All contributors will receive a monthly newsletter outlining the work accomplished, personal insights and news from the field of upgrading democracy.

Thank you for reading, contributing and sharing!

Interviewing Uffe Elbaek (leader of Danish Alternativet Party) for the YouTube channel:

Hosting the conference calls and building a community of practice for the Wise Democracy Project with Tom Atlee, founder of the Co-Intelligence Institute:
Reinventing Democracy group Kings Cross, London: