New Pluralists’ 2026 Breakthrough Fund is investing $5 million in seven local projects that bring communities together across class divides to act on shared challenges. Building on what we learned over the past five years, this grant program focuses on promising practices that have demonstrated their potential, enabling them to expand their impact and reach more people. It helps us imagine and test what could work at a greater scale to help people with different beliefs and backgrounds to navigate their differences, improve their lives, and cooperate for the common good. This vision of pluralism is deeply intertwined with American ideals of democracy, not as an electoral activity but as a way of life.


Why we chose to focus on class divides

Growing economic inequality undermines support for democracy. Wealth inequality in the United States has been accelerating over the past 50 years, and this yawning gap between rich and poor shapes our sense of opportunity. Recent polls show that most people continue to believe in the promise of the American Dream, but fewer than half believe it’s within reach for everyone. 

This economic anxiety exacerbates declining institutional and social trust. Many Americans, across different backgrounds and political beliefs, feel as if politicians and other powerful elites are pursuing their own interests and ignoring the concerns of everyone else. People are working hard yet falling further behind, feeling their lives grow more precarious and uncertain each year. When people feel powerless to improve their circumstances, we see grievance, resentment, and blame take root. We become increasingly susceptible to stories that divide us and cast some groups as “the enemy,” a slow slide into denying their fundamental humanity or excluding them from public life.

We also see stubborn disparities in civic participation. More affluent and educated Americans tend to be more civically engaged — not because they care more than those who earn less, but because they have more opportunities and bandwidth to participate in public life. Our communities also remain quite segregated, including by income, which means we’re less likely to encounter people who are different from us. Addressing class divides will require structural solutions, ones that give more people a hand in shaping the places they live and the decisions that affect them.

By focusing the 2026 Breakthrough Fund on class divides, we hope to strengthen American democracy in two key ways:

  1. Create opportunities for unlikely allies to come together across different backgrounds and beliefs, as that’s key for creating lasting solutions and reducing polarization.

  2. Expand who gets involved in civic life, with an eye towards who is missing and what stands in their way.

The good news is that there are countless examples of Americans who are doing just that. They’re coming together to improve their communities, hammer out solutions to issues that are deeply and widely felt, and shape their own futures. They are creating opportunities to gather with one another, acknowledge and heal our fractures, and move forward together. We know because we’ve invested in them over the last five years. And the 2026 Breakthrough Fund grantees represent the next wave that can inspire us to reduce toxic polarization and build a democracy that works for everyone.


Diverse practices addressing common concerns  

From Oregon to Florida, the Mountain West to the Midwest and the South, our grantees take distinct approaches to strengthening trust, cooperation, and belonging in local communities. That’s by design. At New Pluralists, we’ve long argued that there’s no quick fix or silver bullet for renewing our civic culture. We need multiple strategies — spanning bridge-building, community organizing, and collaborative problem-solving — and those strategies also need to reflect the cultures, traditions, and values of the people who call those places home.

But what surprised us most were commonalities we never envisioned – emerging issues that demonstrate precisely why this work matters so much right now. Despite the unique context of their regions, grantees are grappling with remarkably similar challenges that cut across class lines, creating opportunities for unlikely alliances. For instance, several are reckoning with how AI adoption and construction of data centers will reshape local economies, school systems, and water and land use. Others are taking on the housing crisis, where neighbors from different income levels, regions, and politics are building solutions together that uplift the entire community rather than fighting over scraps. And many are addressing persistent loneliness and separation caused by people staying home more often and losing their connection to their neighbors. 

While problem-solving is core to these projects, grantees also address obstacles to civic participation in creative ways. People don’t invest time or trust in systems that don’t deliver for them or their families. With long work hours, tough commutes, and competition from screens, few will choose a polarizing or boring meeting over family time. Several projects therefore make participation genuinely welcoming, accessible, and fun. Food, music, dancing, storytelling — these are essential to rebuilding trust in democratic institutions, not frivolous add-ons. They are creating settings that allow us to encounter each other and forge meaningful relationships, ones that can withstand stress when we disagree and sustain us when times get tough.


Creating a democracy that works for all

These seven awardees are showing us why pluralism matters — how it leads to more vibrant communities, while also delivering better results for people’s lives. Yet they represent just a fraction of the important work happening around the country to bridge class divides. We read many more compelling proposals than we could fund. 

Moving forward, we hope these efforts inspire even more funders to invest at the intersection of the economy and civic life, particularly work that is transforming a sense of grievance into a sense of agency, cooperation, and trust among neighbors who want to see their communities thrive. 

After all, bridging class divides is not just about people from different backgrounds getting to know one another, although that’s important too. It means building the relationships, structures, and shared purpose that communities need to solve problems that division has left unaddressed. Housing shortages, long commutes, technological disruption, public safety, and economic opportunity affect residents across class lines, even when they experience those problems differently. Bringing people together makes it possible to recognize that our interests are intertwined, so we can navigate a changing world more wisely and work together to make life better for everyone.