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Team re:power

Democracy Alliance—New American Majority Action Fund

In 2020, we partnered with the New American Majority (NAM) Action Fund to train 30 of their grantees across 11 electoral battleground states on digital organizing and infrastructure. This work helped to support the larger mission of the NAM Action Fund and the Democracy Alliance by electing progressive candidates, passing progressive policy changes at the state level, and implementing successful voter mobilization campaigns.

In June 2021 the NAM Action Fund asked us to come back for a second time and we launched a Digital and Communications cohort with their grantees. The cohort, which consisted of 13 staff of progressive state-based organizations, was created out of the recognition that many groups lack digital and comms expertise in-house, and that staff who hold those roles often do not have peers with whom they can strategize. Several participants appreciated that, in addition to skills-building, the cohort also focused on relationship-building and coaching.

“The opportunity to work with a professional mentor and small groups was invaluable in getting critical feedback that was very helpful.”

NAM Action Fund grantee

The trainings were also directly applicable to participants’ day-to-day work. One person told us they were already “trying A/B testing with our mailers” while another shared that they had presented our training materials on definitions of power with their staff.

Director of NAM Action Fund, Becca Guerra said, “The NAM Fund sought to find a training organization with deep content knowledge, verified cultural competency, and a deep enthusiasm for building the skillset and leadership of our grantee participants. Working with re:power has been a dream! Our initial training cohort led by re:power was a huge success with our grantee participants raving about the program. We are now about to kick off our second training cohort through re:power, which will serve as true professional development for our grantee leaders. The re:power team brings their expertise to every conversation but allows our team space to co-create the final products. We cannot recommend re:power enough—they are an incredible asset to building the capacity of our movement!”

The NAM Fund sought to find a training organization with deep content knowledge, verified cultural competency, and a deep enthusiasm for building the skillset and leadership of our grantee participants. Working with re:power has been a dream! 

Becca Guera, Director of New American Majority Action Fund

The pain of leading while Black

May 25, 2021 marked one year since George Floyd was murdered by the police.

re:power Executive Director Karundi Williams used this solemn occasion to reflect on what Black leadership looks and feels like in a world where Black bodies are constantly under attack. 

“I am trying to create a new reality for people like me — not only in our impact work but also within my organization, and so are many of my fellow executive directors of color across the country. We are all trying to answer an impossible question: How do we lead when faced with the never-ending and persistent trauma we are experiencing in America?“

Read her piece in the Philanthropy News Digest.

Alumni Spotlight: Cassy Jones-McBryde

Today, we’re talking with re:power alum Cassy Jones-McBryde who is the Black Organizing Program Manager with Planned Parenthood of Michigan. In her role, she’s responsible for making sure Black people are centered in reproductive access and sexual education. Cassy participated in our We Will Not Be Muted Training series last fall.

Q: What does power look like to you?
A: Power is the ability to change the conversation – with yourself and with those around you. It’s also knowing your worth and knowing your voice is valid.

re:power affirmed the difference between being busy versus being strategic. The cohort sustained me during this isolating election cycle and helped us all understand that our liberation is bound together. I also learned new ways to be unapologetic when advocating for my people.

Cassy Jones-McBryde

Q: When have you felt most proud of your work?
A: The fact that I am able to do intentional work for my people! I cannot imagine what I would be doing outside of this. Despite the trauma and both micro and macro-aggressions, I am so grateful to be able to do this work.

Q: In what ways has re:power’s training supported you?
A: I appreciate being in a community with people of color and particularly women of color that are able to speak truth to power. I learned not to be afraid to do the things we need to do for our people. I learned a lot of real community building that was missing in this election cycle. We generally operate in transactional ways and it was good to be refocused on connecting with the community.

What is Justice?

Yesterday, George Floyd’s murderer was found guilty on all three charges. This verdict confirms what we already knew—that what the world witnessed last summer, as we watched a Black man slowly die at the hands of a White Minneapolis police officer, was murder. But let’s be clear, this is not Justice. 

This guilty verdict is the bare minimum that America owes George Floyd, and this conviction is important. But, the reality is that Chauvin, the officer who murdered George Floyd, is the product of a larger system—a system of policing that was created from its inception to control and harm Black bodies. Chauvin’s actions represent a system working exactly as it was designed. The conviction and sentencing will not bring George Floyd back to us.

Mere moments before the guilty verdict was delivered, Ma’Khia Bryant—a 15-year old Black girl—was shot four times by a police officer in Columbus, OH. She is now another victim of this state-sanctioned violence on Black and Brown bodies across the country. Black folks will be forced to listen to the justifications of this violence, but the reality is another Black person has been erased from existence. 

So what is Justice? Justice is about dismantling the system that allowed this atrocity, and the many others like it, to happen. Justice is reimagining and fundamentally transforming the system that continues to murder its own people. Justice is moving beyond holding an individual accountable to ensuring that the system that breeds and shields murderers is held accountable. Justice is a due process under the law, not a system where police decide to be judge, jury and executioner. It must be a re-envisioning of what it means to protect Black people and other people of color in this country. It must see Black people as those who are worthy of protection and investment, not as those the system is protecting itself against. Justice is bringing an end to the current system of policing in the United States as we know it.

We are proud of the case George Floyd’s legal team assembled and grateful to all of the witnesses who shared their trauma on the stand to ensure this verdict, and to Attorney General Keith Ellison for filing these charges against an Officer. And we’re left wondering, what is it going to take?  

It’s been almost one year since George Floyd was murdered, and in that time we have witnessed continued killings of Black and Brown people at the hands of the police. Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, David McAtee, Rayshard Brooks, Andre Hill, Marvin David Scott III, Duante Wright, and Adam Toledo.  What will it take to see these people as humans deserving of life? What will it take for the state to recognize that their system is flawed and must be changed? 

What will it take for Justice to be served?

Take care of yourselves.

Strengthening the Infrastructure For Black-Led Social Change

 Our Executive Director Karundi Williams recently joined the Association of Black Foundation Executives, the National Council on Responsible Philanthropy, and a panel of dynamic nonprofit Black leaders for a public conversation on how philanthropy can help realize a more just and equitable world beyond February.

Her fellow speakers included Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, Founder & President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC); Raymond Pierce, President and CEO, Southern Education Foundation and Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).

They had a very candid conversation that touched on the current trend within philanthropy to invest in racial equity and Black-led organizing and social change organizations. Karundi, and all of the other panelists, made it very clear that Black-liberation – and the liberation of all marginalized and oppressed groups – is not trendy, and should be funded with the urgency these issues require. 

You can watch the video of that conversation below.

Alumni Spotlight: Kristerfer Burnett

Kristerfer Burnett is a City Councilman in Baltimore and an alum of our Progressive Governance Academy.

Q: What does power look like to you?

A: Power is when organized people mobilize around a shared collective vision to bring about change to their communities, institutions, and our democracy.

Q: If you could scream something from the rooftops that you want people to know about organizing, what would it be?

A: Effective community organizing must be rooted in truly authentic relationship building, deep listening and understanding, and 1-1s are the “bread in butter” of effective organizing work – and it takes time! Don’t rush it.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you carry with you in your organizing work?

A: Being an organizer and being an activist are very different roles in movement building. We as organizers have to ensure that the identification of problems in a community, and the development of solutions to those problems are theirs alone – leave your own biases and solutions at the door! People may not always come to the same desired outcome that you’d like to see, but it’s their lived experience that needs to be honored.

Q: What do you wish you knew or what do you wish someone would have told you when you were first getting started in organizing?

A: The importance of self-care! As an organizer, so much of your time in the work is spent meeting people where they are, literally and figuratively, and that can take a toll on you in many ways. But you are only helpful to our communities if you are able to bring your full self into the work – so develop a wellness plan to ensure you can do that.  

Q: What are some of the biggest organizing lessons you took away from 2020?

A: This past year, and the three that proceeded it, were particularly difficult to organize in because there were so many problematic issues all occurring at the same time and all seemingly as important as the next. So the biggest lesson for me was to prioritize issues that arose from community and not to lose focus on elevating those to the forefront of the work.