For decades, progressive philanthropy has poured millions into national advocacy headquartered in Washington, D.C. – funding think tanks, coalitions, and federal policy campaigns. Meanwhile, the grassroots organizers and community-based nonprofits representing the almost 800,000 people who live here have been chronically underfunded.

This neglect has never been neutral. It has been a choice to prioritize the optics of national impact over the reality of local struggle. And now, the stakes of that choice are clear: Washington, DC is becoming a testing ground for authoritarianism in America.

D.C. as a laboratory for anti-democratic tactics

Congress routinely overrides the will of D.C. residents, attempting to strike down laws on criminal justice reform, reproductive health, and harm reduction, for example. Despite paying taxes (the highest average federal taxes per household and per capita), serving in the military, and contributing to the nation’s economy, D.C. residents have no voting representation in Congress. Our lack of statehood means that the basic principle of “consent of the governed” simply does not apply to us.

And when those in power want to exercise unchecked federal authority, they do it here first. In 2020, the National Guard was deployed in D.C. to intimidate residents and protesters during the Black Lives Matter uprisings – tear gas and military force unleashed against people demanding justice in their own city. Today, that same power is again being mobilized, with the Guard deployed without the consent of our elected leaders. No mayor or governor elsewhere in America lives under this kind of constant federal override, and as the threats loom to exercise this power over other densely populated Black cities, it is only because D.C. has served as the proving ground.

D.C. is not just a backdrop for national politics. It is the political laboratory where anti-democratic tactics are refined before they are exported across the country.

The conflict I carry

I write this not only as the Managing Director of Frontline Solutions, working with funders across the nation, but as a Black woman living and raising a family in Washington, D.C. Every day, I am in conversations with foundations that prioritize commitments to equity, justice, and democracy. They fund inspiring work in cities and states across America – fighting voter suppression, building grassroots power, defending civil liberties. And yet, when it comes to my own community, their dollars rarely reach us.

This is the conflict I carry: I help design strategies to strengthen equity and democracy nationwide while watching my daughters grow up in a city where democracy is systematically denied. They walk to school past federal agents, asking if their friends’ families will be kidnapped by ICE. They hear helicopters circling overhead and wonder if danger is coming closer to home. Meanwhile, I mute myself on Zoom calls with funders so no one hears the sound of militarization above my neighborhood, as I help shape investments that too often leave D.C.’s frontline organizations behind.

The same movements philanthropy celebrates elsewhere – tenant unions, youth organizing, reproductive health advocates, voter and election protection, food justice networks are alive and fighting in D.C, but starved for resources. The disconnect is not only frustrating. It is heartbreaking. And it is dangerous.

D.C. as a deedbed for democracy

Yet here is the paradox: the same conditions that make D.C a testing ground for authoritarianism also make it one of the most powerful places to envision and create new models of a just, inclusive, and equitable multi-racial democracy.

Because Washingtonians live without full rights, we have developed strategies of resistance, solidarity, and self-determination that are rich with lessons for the nation. Our mutual aid networks proved vital during the pandemic and continue to serve as a safety net for thousands today. Our youth organizers are advancing bold visions for safety beyond policing. Our tenant associations are fighting for housing justice in one of the most expensive cities in America. Our organizers connect and mobilize people across lines of difference.

D.C is where the cracks in our democracy are most visible, but also where the blueprints for renewal are being drawn. To invest in D.C is not just an investment in our city; it is an investment in the future of American democracy.

What philanthropy must do

If progressive philanthropy is serious about defending democracy, advancing justice, and protecting communities, it must:

1. Fund D.C.-based grassroots groups whose deep relationships and organizing experience are the strongest defense against authoritarian overreach.

2. Commit to multi-year organizing investments that go beyond crisis response and build durable power over time.

3. Center D.C. voices in national strategy, ensuring the lessons from communities living under federal overreach inform broader movement work.

4. Resource D.C. nonprofits that uphold our social safety net, making sure Washingtonians are housed, fed, educated, and healthy, because strong communities are the bedrock of a resilient democracy.

5. Invest in D.C. as a site of democratic innovation, resourcing the organizers and institutions that are designing new models of multi-racial governance, community care, and civic power that the rest of the country urgently needs.

D.C isn’t just the seat of federal power. It is both the frontline of the fight for democracy and the proving ground for its renewal. The question for philanthropy is not whether to show up – it’s whether you will stand with Washingtonians before the authoritarian playbook perfected here comes for the rest of the country.

History will remember whether philanthropy treated D.C as merely a backdrop – or recognized it as the place where the future of democracy in America is being decided and redesigned.

This post was originally published on Next City.