A group of leaders have come together to create Democracy Northwest, a project to explore what philanthropy can do to strengthen democracy. Through an initial convening, two focus groups, sessions at the Philanthropy Northwest annual conference and other conversations, participants are broadening the conversation, sharing strategies to strengthen democracy and using democratic practices to strengthen philanthropy in turn. This discovery process generated a range of ideas to further explore and develop. In the action phase of the project, participants will identify the most promising ideas and support further inquiry, create programs, tools and participate in communities of practice to support them. This document summarizes the main ideas that emerged through the Discovery Phase.