The Kettering Foundation conducts research with organizations around the world that deal with problems of civil society and democracy. Nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, and government agencies in more than 70 countries have been involved. The foundation trades insights from its research for the experiences of others through exchanges, including a two-year series of conferences called Doing Democracy around the World (DDW). Alumni from these meetings are invited to follow up exchanges in the foundation’s spring multinational conferences.
Completion of the two-year DDW exchange is a prerequisite for the Kettering Foundation’s fellowships: the International Civil Society Fellowship, the Katherine W. Fanning International Fellowship for Journalism and Democracy, and the Lombard Fellowship, which includes distinguished scholars and civic leaders. These six-month, in-residence fellowships begin in January and July and involve working on foundation studies, which has proven the best way to get a command of the research.
The foundation also conducts a staff exchange with the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Studies and the School of International Studies of Peking University. In addition, Kettering has ongoing exchanges with the Núñez Foundation in Cuba and the Arab Network for the Study of Democracy. And for more than 50 years, Kettering has joined Russian organizations in the Dartmouth Conference.
Kettering also maintains a website, the International Civil Society Consortium for Public Deliberation, so that former fellows and exchange participants can continue to share problems they want to discuss and to report on projects.