Philadelphians paid attention to the mayor’s race. A new initiative aims to keep them in the conversation.

A citywide civic engagement initiative on Monday announced plans to spend $4 million to bolster local journalism and help Philadelphia residents get involved with local government over the next two years.

Every Voice, Every Vote was launched in 2022 as a $1.5 million effort by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the nonprofit organization that owns The Inquirer. While the project’s first effort was focused on the mayoral election, this second phase will be focused on keeping residents engaged under Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s new administration.

The previous project sought to engage Philadelphians in the election of the city’s 100th mayor, and encourage conversation about issues that affect residents’ daily lives rather than just who was winning. The initiative resulted in more than 365 projects undertaken by 130 partners, which included local media organizations, community organizations, and social media influencers.

Jim Friedlich, the executive director and CEO of the Lenfest Institute, said the project leveled the playing field for Philadelphians of varying ages and backgrounds through such efforts as community listening sessions and televised debates that incorporated public feedback.

“People who don’t vote say they don’t know why their vote matters, don’t see government influence their day-to-day lives, or they’re simply convinced that things will not change,” he said. “The new focus of the post-election project is to try to move the needle on those views and those challenges to show people how their vote does matter, how their government can and should work for them.”

The program will fund listening sessions, data- and solution-driven journalism, public forums, and opportunities for residents and government officials to speak, Friedlich said. Every Voice, Every Vote will also take on public issue awareness campaigns and public opinion research, and partner with social media creators.

“It’s the scale and the depth and the breadth and the diversity of the ways in which we engage, and the ways in which the variety of communities with whom we engage that is most exciting about this,” he said.

The initiative’s first round included 38 candidate forums across the city, voter guides published in 15 languages, nearly 600 pieces of content across various media organizations with a solutions-, service-, or community-driven focus, and a public-opinion survey that helped drive coverage.

The Inquirer was awarded $100,000 through the program last year to report on polling commissioned through the project, which resulted in a dozen in-depth front-page stories, develop a series of video interviews with candidates in their home neighborhoods, and help produce town hall meetings and debates.

The 2022 public opinion survey found that residents wanted the next mayor to focus on public safety and gun violence, along with public health, homelessness, infrastructure, and public schools. Parker promised that the city will be safer, greener, and cleaner, with economic opportunity for all. Friedlich said it’s important to track the city’s progress on all of these issues, and tell people how they can engage to hold the government — and themselves — accountable.

» READ MORE: This $1.5 million voter project for the 2023 mayoral election hopes to engage every neighborhood in Philadelphia

That’s why just months into the city’s new administration, Every Voice, Every Vote is launching again. Out of the $4 million dedicated to the effort, $2.875 million will be allocated to grants. The project will continue to seek to improve media coverage of local government and better engage residents in civic life, with hopes of improving voter turnout in the long run.

Sarah Glover, the vice president of news and civic dialogue at WHYY, said one of the various projects that WHYY News pursued with a $75,000 grant from the 2022-2023 program was a mayor matchmaking quiz that the organization wouldn’t have been able to produce otherwise.

”That had real impact, and was really interesting, and a new way to present elections coverage,” she said.

» READ MORE: Every Voice, Every Vote

Organizations interested in joining the effort can apply for funding for community-centered journalism or nonpartisan civic engagement projects to address the needs of underrepresented communities, such as:

Grants will range from $10,000 to $150,000 and run from May 2024 to November 2025. The deadline to apply is April 19 at 11:59 p.m.