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Training

Empire Health Foundation

At the end of 2023, our Movement Building program partnered with the Empire Health Foundation (based in Spokane, WA) to support them in developing local BIPOC organizing capacity through training their grantee organizations. An all-WoC team led a 2-day Storytelling Workshop, customized to support participants in identifying real world applications for storytelling in organizing, which they got to practice live. We followed that up with a 2-day Train-the-Trainers with a select group of participants from the original cohort, who will be supported locally to continue to transmit these practices to other leaders and organizations.

Video by Empire Health Foundation

For 2024, Empire Health Foundation is seeing re:power as a key partner in developing local capacity and they have asked us to set up a partner contract where we’ll reserve close to 80 seats in public trainings across all our program areas for EHF grantees. We’re excited about the impact that can result from having so many participants from a single region sitting in all our programs and we look forward to continuing to support those organizations in 2024 and beyond.

State Voices Women of Color Cohort

From September to December, re:power facilitated a 9-week Women of Color Leadership Development Cohort for a group of 20 staff from across State Voices’ network, who hold roles ranging from Communications Associate to Organizing Director to Development Manager. The State Voices network now has more women of color staff than ever before and this program is focused on investing in their leadership and growth. 

We deepened our connection to State Voices after one of their staff participated in our February 2023 public cohort and recommended the program to the State Voices network. This participant stated:

“The content shared and worked through was unexpected but so needed—I love how you all connect everyday things that we often use for coping mechanisms as a way to harness our leadership and feel more connected to our inner selves. Thank y’all ❤️ “

State Voices participants from the Winter 2023 Cohort were enlightened and refreshed from their recent cohort experience. Many stated this opportunity helped them connect on a deeper level with other State Voices staff which enhances the work they do across the State Voices table.

“Thank you for the opportunity to be in this space and to heal. We as women of color do need to heal ourselves before we can heal the community.”

WoC – State Voices cohort member

Our WOC Cohort Alum are ambassadors for re:power and they stay connected to re:power by attending additional trainings, becoming facilitators for the cohort, and facilitating opportunities for re:power to partner with other organizations.

We look forward to seeing how our growing base of WoC alumni will continue engaging with us and championing our work in the future!

“This is magical and it works.”

WoC – State Voices cohort member

American Federation of Teachers

What we love about this work is the opportunity to train leaders across different social movements. In August, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) partnered with us to train 25 staff members from the National Political Department in developing a national volunteer activists program, slated to launch in 2024.

The AFT is gearing up to mobilize and organize its members, everyday individuals, and students, ensuring the safeguarding of public education across school board, state, and federal elections in the next five years.

The training introduced state and national staff to a relational organizing approach that can complement their electoral mobilizing strategies and tactics for the 2024 campaign cycle. There was a primary focus throughout the training on how electoral organizing connects to year-round organizing and movement building.

The curriculum included:

  • Developing a Transformative and Winning Field Plan
  • Campaign Strategy Development
  • Base Building and Direct Voter Contact
  • Building a Volunteer Program and Ladder of Engagement
  • Internal Team Management/Building Healthy Campaign Culture
  • Campaign Messaging & Communications
  • Introduction to Digital Organizing and Finding Our People Online

Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement

From May to August, we partnered with the Boston Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) to train 15 immigrant residents of the city in grassroots organizing, as part of their “Immigrants Lead Boston” (ILB) program. The ILB has run for the past 4 years as a civic education project, helping immigrant residents of Boston navigate local government, but was reimagined this year into a unique collaboration with re:power.

Working closely with the Executive Director of MOIA, Monique Tú Nguyen, the Movement Building team rebuilt the program from scratch to focus on community organizing skills—helping the cohort learn how to share stories, build relationships, build teams and strategy, and take action alongside their communities.

re:power Director of Movement Building Programs Conrado Santos speaks at the ILB graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of City of Boston Mayor’s Office.

The program was a success and concluded with a beautiful in-person graduation ceremony at Boston City Hall, where participants were granted certificates by Mayor Michelle Wu. Our team is also in early conversations about potential new avenues for continuing the partnership, including training graduates on how to lead sessions in their native languages, expanding the program, and more!

ILB graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of City of Boston Mayor’s Office.
Fresh graduates of the ILB program. Photo courtesy of City of Boston Mayor’s Office.

Inatai Foundation

In August, we partnered with the Inatai Foundation to conduct a two-day candidate training for 29 of their staff in conjunction with partners from the Empire Health Foundation. While some of the staff expressed interest in pursuing public office, the primary goal of the training was to enhance their understanding of power. This knowledge aims to enable them to allocate their funding more strategically, supporting grantees dedicated to building long-term power through the electoral arena.

The training served as an opportunity for our team to update our curriculum, which has been in use since the Wellstone and New Organizing Institute era. We integrated modern updates that directly address the lived experiences of our participants and the current political landscape and pandemic challenges we are all navigating.

“I really enjoyed the training and it was structured in a way where I felt like I learned content and had the chance to practice what I learned and I know this will help me retain all the information. I found it especially helpful that all the trainers pushed the folks in the training to use critical thinking / scenario mapping as it helped me absorb and practice applying the information. I’d love to participate in future trainings from this group if possible!”

Inatai Foundation training participant

Throughout the training, participants immediately applied their newly acquired skills by engaging in a mock scenario. They were organized into teams to manage a fictional candidate campaign and present their campaign field plan, showcasing their learning on various topics covered.

Incorporating new facilitation techniques and methods, we aimed to inject dynamism and spaciousness into the training environment. This involved eliminating a strictly time-bound agenda and integrating team-building activities and icebreakers. These additions helped alleviate the intensity and information overload experienced throughout the day.

“Just a really well-prepped and high quality training. You all were able to take really big concepts and make them digestible to the group. So appreciative of everything you all did. I continue to hear nothing but excellent feedback from colleagues about the training. Not only has it increased folks’ understanding and knowledge of campaign planning, but it has also spurred folks to action.”

Inatai Foundation training participant