Watch the 2017 Personal Democracy Forum live stream.

Over the past few months we’ve seen a surge in civic activism in communities across America. From the history-making women’s march to the march for science, ordinary people have begun to get more involved in attempting to shape the policies and decisions that affect their lives. This year, Knight Foundation is sponsoring the Personal Democracy Forum as it explores how we can strengthen our democratic institutions and civic life.

This annual conference will bring together civic leaders, technologists, journalists, and others to discuss society’s most pressing issues. Speakers such as New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, net neutrality expert Tim Wu, and other civic leaders will take to the stage this year. Broad topic areas being explored include civic technology, ideas and provocations, media Innovation, and grassroots and digital organizing.

As a foundation that firmly believes that a healthy democracy requires informed and engaged communities, we are supporting the following two panels at this year’s conference:

Thursday, June 8, 4 – 5 p.m.

“Resourcing Independent, Trustworthy Journalism,” Kimmel Center Room 907

• Jennifer Fiore, co-founder,  Factual Democracy Project
• Sarah Bartlett, dean, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
• Bill Frischling, co-founder and CEO, FactSquared
• Jay Rosen, journalism professor, New York University
• Wendell Potter, founder, Tarbell

Thursday, June 8, 5:15 – 6:15 p.m.

“Technopoly and Its Discontents: What to Do About Big Media Platforms,” Kimmel Center Room 803

• Lina Khan, legal fellow, New America
• Sabeel Rahman, assistant professor of law, Brooklyn Law School
• Nicco Mele, director, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Tim Wu, professor, Columbia Law School

These conversations will explore ways to restore trust in quality journalism and the role that technology platforms play in the information age, a topic Knight Foundation recently explored through a Prototype Fund open call for ideas to address concerns about the spread of misinformation, which received more than 800 applications. The winning ideas will be announced at the Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference in Phoenix on June 22. At this year’s Personal Democracy Forum, we look forward to continuing the conversation around these issues and working with civic leaders to strengthen our communities as well as our democracy.

For a full schedule of events, click here.

Eva Pereira is a technology innovation associate at Knight Foundation. Email her via [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @EvaNPereira.