A year-end message from NED President and CEO Damon Wilson.
In 2025, people around the world stood up for freedom under extraordinary pressure, often at real personal risk. They chose courage over silence. And what sustained them was the knowledge that they were not alone.
This was the central truth of this year. In a period of deep uncertainty for democracy worldwide, the National Endowment for Democracy demonstrated that the American people stand by those who seek freedom. Thank you for your support of our work, our partners, and our common cause.
As authoritarian governments intensified repression, closed civic space, and weaponized law and technology, those on democracy’s frontlines faced harsher conditions than at any point in recent memory. A historic contraction in support for democracy worldwide compounded the strain. For the organizations we support, these were not abstract trends, but daily realities that reshaped how they operated, survived, and persisted.
We recognize we are in a world where the brakes on freedom have been hit hard. But despotic tactics are themselves evidence of demand. The more tyrants clamp down, the more citizens insist on dignity, voice, and self-government. Repression is not a door closing; it is evidence that people are knocking. Each crackdown is a sign that democratic aspirations endure. Amid this uncertainty, one thing remained constant: the resilience, courage, and clarity of the people defending freedom—and NED’s ability to stand with them, act decisively, and sustain their work when others could not.
Across regions, we were inspired by courageous democracy advocates moving the needle on freedom and fundamental rights. In countries such as Bangladesh, Syria, Moldova, Guatemala, Bolivia, Malawi, and Nepal, citizens seized fragile openings, started the hard work of bolstering or building more democratic institutions, pressed for fair elections, reclaimed civic space, and laid foundations for longer-term democratic progress. Across the NED family, we stood alongside those shaping their own democratic futures. As citizens refused to be bystanders, we supported efforts to shift from protests to solutions-oriented political engagement and policy development on issues that led to citizen frustration.
At the same time, we expanded support where authoritarian pressure continues to harden. NED strengthened networks focused on China, Russia, and Iran to counter digital censorship, economic coercion, religious persecution, and transnational repression. We protected high-risk partners in Cuba, Venezuela, and Burma, helping independent journalists, labor organizers, faith leaders, and human rights defenders continue operating under the world’s most restrictive systems. Through rapid-response funding, NED moved quickly to protect democratic actors during moments of heightened repression, authoritarian assault, or the rapid closing of civic space.
Taken together, these realities reinforced a vital lesson of this year: strengthening democratic resilience abroad is inseparable from safeguarding security and freedom at home. When democratic institutions are weakened abroad, authoritarian powers gain space to export instability, coercion, and corruption—making sustained support for democratic resilience a practical investment in U.S. security and global leadership.
What struck me most throughout 2025 was not only our partners’ courage, but their clarity. Even amid fear and fatigue, they remained focused on the long game—building democratic infrastructure that can endure beyond any single election, protest, or leader. Their resilience is not accidental; it is built through trust, networks, and sustained investment over time.
This work has become both harder and more essential—and meeting this moment requires that NED evolve as well. Over the past year, we made difficult but necessary choices to ensure that the maximum possible resources reached the frontlines of democracy. In 2025, 83 percent of our funding flowed directly to democracy advocates on the ground, reinforcing our commitment to efficiency, impact, and accountability, with the additional 17 percent used to ensure we have best-in-class systems and processes for due diligence, risk management and mitigation, digital security, and research and development.
We are transforming the business of democracy support to meet the realities our partners face. Guided by a new five-year strategy, we are aligning resources and capabilities across the NED family to achieve greater strategic effect. We expanded the use of digital currency so funds reach grantees quickly and securely without high transaction fees. We are harnessing secure artificial intelligence to modernize our systems, accelerate learning, and better support partners operating under constant threat. We launched NED’s Impact Lab, an engine for experimentation and evidence-building that helps us test assumptions, learn faster, and ensure our resources deliver the greatest possible impact. We are adapting our Fellows programs into a “Democracy Accelerator” hosting activists, scholars, and leaders who incubate new ideas, advance democratic learning, and help shape the movement for freedom worldwide.
These transformations are not about change for its own sake. They are about ensuring that NED remains the most effective, trusted, and resilient institution delivering venture-like capital to fuel democracy. We are sharpening our investments to focus on the freedom entrepreneurs who are adapting most effectively in a rapidly changing world.
Democracy’s challenges are not abstract—they are lived daily by people confronting corruption, repression, and economic exclusion. As repression intensifies and funding for this critical work declines, those on democracy’s frontlines have borne the heaviest costs—forced into exile, stripped of livelihoods, or targeted simply for defending fundamental freedoms. This work ultimately is about courageous individuals.
With the help of supporters like you, NED established the Carl Gershman Fund for Democracy Advocates at Risk, in honor of our founding president, to provide critical financial support to these embattled activists when they need it the most, enabling them to get back on their feet and back on the frontlines of the fight for freedom. This fund enables NED to act quickly when support is most needed and assist with expenses for individuals that cannot be covered by federal funds restricted as grants to organizations.
Please consider a special end-of-year contribution to honor these individuals’ sacrifices. You will help provide urgent assistance, from emergency relocation and legal aid to psychosocial care, fellowships, and pathways back to meaningful work. This lifeline ensures that courageous individuals are not only protected in moments of crisis, but able to recover, rebuild, and continue advancing democratic change.
With deep respect and gratitude as we look ahead to 2026,
Damon Wilson
President and CEO
