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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

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.

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. 

Planned Parenthood Federation of America & Center for Working Families Fund

In 2020, re:power Fund (our c3 entity) and our partners Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Center for Working Families Fund (CWFF) received a collaborative grant to support the work of BIPOC Women, Femmes, and GNC folks across the country, and more specifically the South.

These three partner organizations came together to assess the needs of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) women, femmes and gender non-confirming (GNC) folks to launch a pilot program investing in their leadership through training, coaching and leadership development, and supporting them in carrying out campaigns that build the power of BIPOC communities. What was conceived as a year-long in-person intensive training program, quickly pivoted into tailored virtual support for both organizations as we all endured an important year for civic engagement amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Through our own trainings and this partnership, re:power conducted 16 trainings for more than 235 participants located in 15 different states, mainly in the South and Midwest─GA, SC, NC, MS, LA, VA, TN, TX, AZ, MI, PA, NV, NJ, NY, and the Pacific Northwest. We equipped trainees with skills and knowledge ranging from organizing and campaign planning, to digital and data strategies, to effective online facilitation, and we also held space for people to process grief and find strength and resilience in community.

Partnership with each organization

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

C3 Voter Registration work with Raiz and Black Organizing Program

In March, PPFA worked with re:power Fund to train 20 Planned Parenthood affiliate staff on core c3 voter registration organizing fundamentals.  The mission was to train people of color on how to register voters through key data management skills such as VAN (particularly using the VR tab), building a field plan, and using social media/digital tools to find and identify opportunities to connect with BIPOC communities for the Shout Your Vote! campaign.  Originally scheduled as a multi-day in-person training, re:power Fund responded to COVID-19 by quickly transitioning the event to a three-day virtual training with a focus on digital organizing, social media, and VAN as opposed to field tactics.

Participating affiliates included: Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates,  Planned Parenthood Advocates of Texas, Planned Parenthood Arizona, Planned Parenthood North Central States, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, and Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates.

“Anoa was amazing! She was so patient and made me feel so comfortable using VAN.”

PPFA trainee

Supporting an Equitable and Inclusive Shift to Online Spaces

In April, re:power Fund supported PPFA to make an equitable and intentional shift to online spaces by leading a training of trainers with over 50 affiliate staff on facilitating equity and learning in the online environment. This webinar provided an opportunity for participants to learn how to lead online inclusive learning spaces via Zoom. Participants also learned best practices on how to manage racial micro-aggressions and dog whistles in an online learning environment.

Supporting PPFA’s Black Organizing Program and Planned Parenthood Generation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Summit—August 2020

re:power Fund supported PPFA’s Black Organizing Program and Planned Parenthood Generation youth work by supporting the design and facilitation of the 2020 HBCU Summit. The summit took place virtually before the 2020 fall semester and included participation from over 30 HBCU student leaders and supporting staff. re:power Fund trainers led a session on issue campaign planning for 36 student leaders.

“This is the 2nd re:power Fund training where I’ve cried. Your trainings allow for BIPOC people to be seen and acknowledged.” 

PPFA trainee
Center for Working Families Fund

The audience for this program was Black Women, Femmes, and GNC folks in the Southeast, including South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia new members. CWFF used re:power’s online trainings to build membership and support for Bet On Us, a project that offers a political home for Black women and gender nonconforming folks to organize their communities, build power and run for office. Bet on Us was built on the realization that Black women and GNC people are the backbone of our democracy, and that their input is critical to address the interlocking systems of oppression and racial capitalism that inform so many electoral and legislative decisions. 

Training Topics and Highlights

  • Starting in March and ending in September 2020, trainings took place monthly on the first Tuesday, for a total of 6 trainings. Topics included fundamental principles of organizing and power-building, one-to-one meetings, police reform versus defunding the police, and understanding and identifying self-interests.
  • The majority (76% of attendees) of the Bet On Us attendees indicated in our closing poll that they had attended more than 3 Bet on Us Trainings. 
  • Even in areas where CWFF is newly expanding its reach, Black women and GNC folks have a clear appetite for engagement, especially in light of the  vacuums left by exiting presidential campaigns.
  • Several participants located specifically in more rural towns in GA indicated that the Bet On Us series was a unique and important space to help them build out their plans and skills for C3 voter engagement, specifically focused on Black folks in their cities and towns. 
  • Content from the Bet On Us training series impacted campaign culture during the general election. This resulted in a commitment to building multiracial and age diverse leaders, including deeply engaged campaign staff as young as age 14.  

“So happy to be in community with Black women and talking about these issues.”

“This has been a highlight of my day.”

“Thank you for the space you created today. It was so necessary.”

CWFF feedback

Coaching Across Both Organizations

In addition to trainings, re:power Fund provided individual strategic coaching sessions to PPFA and CWFF organizers. Coaching support for Bet On Us staff organizers in Georgia and South Carolina provided a space to debrief participant reactions and connect upfront training content to local hub meetings. PPFA organizers in Michigan and North Carolina sought support for internal affiliate culture changes and feedback on engaging and maintaining volunteer relationships through intentional digital organizing.

Over the course  of two sessions per person (eight total sessions), organizers discussed: 

  • Relationship building
  • Role clarity 
  • Understanding measures of success
  • Coalition partners
  • Working effectively online 
  • Intentional digital campaigns

“Being able to feel free in my brownness and having the opportunity to be trained by BIPOC women is something I have never experienced before. It was really helpful to hear trainers talk about connecting with audiences through a racial justice lens.”

State Infrastructure Fund

In 2020, re:power Fund partnered with the State Infrastructure Fund (SIF) to train 88 grantees, across 30 states, on digital organizing and civic engagement. The majority of grantees were focused on election protection work and voter turnout and mobilization. More than 187 people participated in this training series and they represented the communities who re:power Fund and SIF seek to center in our work—70% identified as BIPOC and 71% identified as women. 

In a pivotal election year that coincided with the pandemic, organizers needed to quickly build and strengthen their digital organizing skills. re:power Fund worked with SIF to assess grantees’ needs and, based on the results, we developed two different offerings: an Intro to Digital Organizing course that covered the fundamentals of digital organizing for participants who were newer to the field, followed by an Intermediate Digital Organizing course where participants deepened their knowledge and skills. 

The two courses spanned three months and included the following topics:

Intro to Digital Organizing 

  • Building Power through Digital Organizing
  • Finding Our People & Messaging Online
  • Email Writing & Targeting
  • Growing Online Communities
  • Mobile Campaigning
  • Digital Safety

Intermediate Digital Organizing 

  • Leadership Ladder
  • Design Training
  • A/B Testing
  • Intro to Analytics (Sheets)
  • Storytelling Strategies Online
  • Rapid Response Assignment

Based on the feedback we received, we feel confident that the trainings enabled organizers to transition their important work to the digital realm, and to continue engaging historically underrepresented voters and protecting the integrity of the election. 

“I’m already using the tools I’ve learned to organize better and more impactful digital campaigns.”

SIF Particpant

One participant said, “I’m already using the tools I’ve learned to organize better & more impactful digital campaigns,” while another said, “I have legit changed my entire digital strategy and our team has seen a direct increase in our numbers and actions taken.” 

This work was led by Rose Espinola, a contractor with re:power Fund.

Mayors Innovation Project

In partnership with the Mayors Innovation Project, re:power hosted a two-day training in August 2019 in South Carolina called High Road Governance: A Workshop for New Mayors – Helping Mayors Build the Skills to Transition from the Campaign Trail to City Leadership. This training was focused on enhancing the skills of participants around governing and the agenda included the following topics: 

  • Leadership Style Mapping
    • Understanding  there are multiple leadership types, what their own leadership style preference is and why others are still needed for a strong team
    • Reflecting on ways to seek out and support other styles of leadership in work
  • Governing as a Progressive
    • Transitioning campaign priorities into governing priorities
    • Reviewing different leadership styles and how those can be put to best use while moving policy
  • Developing an effective message
    • Learning how to develop a message around an issue to be effective in achieving their objectives
  • Communicating an effective message
    • Best communicating an effective message: Surround Sound, Effective Messengers, Message Discipline, and more
    • Overviewing different ways and avenues to get our messages out
  • Power Mapping
    • Identifying and mapping power dynamics involved in moving their agendas

This training included nine mayors from cities in several different states with populations ranging from 8,000 to just under one million. All mayors in attendance were in their first term and in terms of demographics, 55% of participants used he/him pronouns, 45% used she/her, 55% identified as Black, and 11% identified as LGBTQ. 

This work was led by Mackenzie Taylor, former re:power staff member.