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Community Conversations: Digital and Data That Will Win in ‘24

About the Conversation

The next Presidential election is less than 18 months away and the mills are already spinning. Can Ron DeSantis really win? Will he be worse than Trump? Can Biden unify the left? Do progressives and democrats really have a chance to win the Senate?

In the current electoral landscape, pop culture and politics are being consumed together like never before and there is a constant, intentional barrage of misinformation online aimed at BIPOC communities. Organizations across the progressive movement have begun developing strategies and implementing tactics designed to reach and mobilize voters in November ‘24. This includes identifying opportunities for digital tactics and data science to engage online audiences aligned with our values – but we’ve got to cut through all that noise to do it.

Join our next Community Conversation on Tuesday July 25th at 5:00pm (EST), featuring a panel of seasoned electoral campaigners, data scientists, and digital strategists for an open discussion with re:power’s alumni community about anticipated opportunities for digital and data to engage voters, beat back misinformation, and build an active progressive voting block that will win in 2024 and beyond.

Closed captioning will be available during this webinar.

Alumni Exclusive Event

This webinar is part of our Community Conversations series and is open to re:power alumni only.

Event Ended

Type Event
Category Movement Technology
Cost Free
Dates Jul 25,
Location Online
Time Tuesday 5:00-6:00 pm ET
RSVP

Digital Organizer School

Overview

The Digital Organizer School (DOS) is re:power’s core offering for progressive organizers, digital practitioners, and communicators who are looking to build technical skills and invest in strategic ability and leadership within the movement. Applicants will be asked to commit to full participation which includes a pre-training online gathering and a 5-day in-person training. 

Digital Organizer School is an intensive 5-day training designed to meet people at different points in their career. Whether you are brand new to digital organizing or have been practicing for 1–3 years, you will discover new skills and tools, new strategies and approaches for your work and new relationships with others across the movement. We emphasize strategic decision-making and leadership development to make the training a powerful experience for participants at all levels.

At DOS, you’ll learn how to execute essential digital tactics such as writing effective emails, shifting dominant narratives, online ads, organizing on emerging media platforms, and analytics. You’ll also focus on strategic decision-making and developing digital organizing plans that will be most impactful in your unique community. Finally, you’ll invest in your own leadership at your organization or campaign. This emphasis on strategic decisions and leadership development makes the training a powerful experience for participants who arrive with varying levels of digital organizing experience. 

The program begins with an intensive 4-day in-person training where you’ll work in teams to practice what you’re learning through a campaign simulation. At the end of the week, you’ll present your work to the full group and receive feedback from trainers. Upon returning home, you’ll receive continued support as you implement what you’ve learned through trainer office hours and options to take other re:power online courses.

Who is this course for?

  • Field Organizers and Communications folks who are new to the digital organizing landscape
  • Digital Organizers with under 3 years of experience
  • People who want to learn how to integrate a digital program into their current organizing campaign
  • Folks who work for organizations with a digital presence but would like to learn how to be in the role of digital organizing and engagement

Ideal applicants come from all walks of life, from seasoned organizers and campaigners looking to sharpen their skills, to beginners who are passionate about organizing and want to start their learning journey. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:

Openness to New Things: Whether you have years of experience in sending email blasts and setting up online ads or are brand new to digital organizing, we are interested in organizers who are excited about challenging themselves to learn new ways of doing the work and partnering with others to come up with creative solutions. People should come ready to be present and engaged.

Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional politico, but we’re looking for applicants with experience doing organizing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of a campaign effort or are seeking to build one.

Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings—it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We want organizers to be open to new ideas regarding it and to the ideas and contributions from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.

Curriculum/ Training topics

  • Writing emails 
  • Building strong digital relationships with your supporters
  • Challenging dominant narratives & incorporating stories into your online campaigns
  • Analytics & Testing 
  • Online Advertising 
  • Mobile Campaigning 
  • Digital Security
  • TikTok and New Media
  • Online Fundraising 
  • Storytelling Online 
  • Content Creation & Design for the Movement

We will be meeting in person for this course. Please read our latest COVID-19 protocol before proceeding with your application.

COVID-19 Protocol

Applications Closed

Type Training
Category Movement Technology
Cost Sliding scale* $2,000–3,500 (full cost)
Dates Mar 27, Mar 28, Mar 29, Mar 30, Mar 31,
Location Austin, TX

*We believe people with more wealth, privilege, and access to money—and who benefit from systems of oppression—should pay more. If you work at an organization with more than 60 employees, please ask your employer to cover the full cost of this training. If there’s anything that would help you make the request, please let us know.

We know that this might be a new way of looking at things. Please reach out to digital@repower.org if you have any questions.

Additional Information

Questions? Please contact us at digital@repower.org

Database Management Using SQL

Overview

If you are looking to manage data using something more powerful than a spreadsheet, this course is for you. You will learn how the backend of a database works. SQL is a coding language that is used to build many databases. It’s likely that you’ve used a database built with SQL! 

In this course, you will practice finding data in a database, adding data to a database, and learn the fundamentals for building your own database. For the duration of this course, we will provide sample data, and a “sandbox” account where you can work with the data.

Who is this course for?

Pre-requisites: 

  • No prior SQL knowledge is necessary; you should however understand how to do use the Vlookup formula in Excel or Google Sheets.
  • If you are looking to learn Vlookup, you can take our Building Analytics Reports in Google Sheets course
  • If you already know some SQL, including WHERE, SUM, and AVG, we suggest taking one of our other courses.

Ideal applicants come from all walks of life, from seasoned organizers and campaigners looking to sharpen their skills, to beginners who are passionate about organizing and want to start their learning journey. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:

Technical Aptitude: Whether you have experience in organizing online or not, we are interested in organizers and campaign practitioners who want to rapidly develop their technical skills.

Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional politico, but we’re looking for applicants with experience doing organizing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of a campaign effort or are seeking to build one.

Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings – it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We want organizers to be open to new ideas regarding it and to the ideas and contributions from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.

Lesson Plan

  1. Intro to SQL + Data Structures
  2. SELECT Statements
  3. Aggregates
  4. JOINS
  5. Case Statements
  6. Maps + GIS

Questions? Please email data@repower.org.

Applications Closed

Type Training
Category Movement Technology
Cost $100–$600 (full cost)*
Dates October 4 –October 20
Location Online
Time Tuesdays & Thursdays 6:30-8:00 pm ET

*We believe people with more wealth, privilege, and access to money—and who benefit from systems of oppression—should pay more.

If you work at an organization with more than 60 employees, please ask your employer to cover the full cost of this training. If there’s anything that would help you make the request, please let us know.We know that this might be a new way of looking at things. Please reach out to data@repower.org if you have any questions.

Additional Information

Building Analytics Reports in Google Sheets

Overview

In this course you will learn to make an analytics dashboard and other visualizations in order to evaluate program efforts and share your evaluation with other team members in a way that’s easy to understand.

Who is this course for?

Staff across departments: Data, organizing, digital, communications, and fundraising staff will all find that this course takes their work to the next level. You will be provided with sample data for all assignments.

Pre-requisites: Before taking this course, you should know what a row and column is and how to add numbers; we will send a review beforehand. If you already know how to use the Vlookup formula or Pivot Tables, you may be too advanced for this course.

Ideal applicants come from all walks of life, from seasoned organizers and campaigners looking to sharpen their skills, to beginners who are passionate about organizing and want to start their learning journey. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:

  • Technical Aptitude: Whether you have experience in organizing online or not, we are interested in organizers and campaign practitioners who want to rapidly develop their technical skills.
  • Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional politico, but we’re looking for applicants with experience doing organizing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of a campaign effort or are seeking to build one.
  • Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings — it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We want organizers to be open to new ideas regarding it and to the ideas and contributions from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.

Lesson Plan

  • Week 1: Intro to Movement Data & Cleaning Data with Vlookup and more
  • Week 2: Creating Analytics Reports with Countif and Pivot Tables
  • Week 3: Presenting Analytics with Column Charts and more

Applications Closed

Type Training
Category Movement Technology
Cost Sliding scale* $200–$600 (full cost)
Dates April 12 –April 26
Location Online
Time Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 pm ET

*We believe people with more wealth, privilege, and access to money—and who benefit from systems of oppression—should pay more. If you work at an organization with more than 60 employees, please ask your employer to cover the full cost of this training. If there’s anything that would help you make the request, please let us know.

We know that this might be a new way of looking at things. Please reach out to data@repower.org if you have any questions.

Additional Information

Questions? Please contact us at data@repower.org

VAN/EveryAction Administration

Overview

This course focuses on the core skills and decision-making practices necessary to manage voter data for an issue or legislative campaign. You will learn how to use the Voter Activation Network (VAN) to build lists, cut turf, build counts and crosstab reports and more. You will also learn to manage the events calendar and schedule email blasts in EveryAction. 

VAN is a toolset used by progressive campaigns and organizations across the country. EveryAction is an accompanying fundraising management platform. Participants will be provided access to a VAN/EveryAction “sandbox” account with sample data for the duration of the course.

Who is this course for?

Volunteers and field organizers: If you are a volunteer or field organizer who has used VAN to enter data or look up voters, this course will take your skills to the next level. 

Tech-savvy individuals: This course is appropriate for people who are looking to get into movement data─maybe you’ve never used VAN, but you have experience managing a database. However, if you already know how to cut turf and build counts and crosstab reports, we suggest taking one of our other data and analytics courses.

Ideal applicants come from all walks of life, from seasoned organizers and campaigners looking to sharpen their skills, to beginners who are passionate about organizing and want to start their learning journey. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:

  • Technical Aptitude: Whether you have experience in organizing online or not, we are interested in organizers and campaign practitioners who want to rapidly develop their technical skills.
  • Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional politico, but we’re looking for applicants with experience doing organizing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of a campaign effort or are seeking to build one.
  • Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings – it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We want organizers to be open to new ideas regarding it and to the ideas and contributions from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.

Lesson Plan

  • Week 1: Introduction to VAN and Targeting
  • Week 2: Building Targets
  • Week 3: Walk Lists, Cutting Turf and MiniVAN
  • Week 4: Bulk Uploads and Counts/Crosstabs
  • Week 5: Forms and Email Blasts
  • Week 6: Bringing It All Together—Final Exercise

Applications Closed

Type Training
Category Movement Technology
Cost Sliding Scale* $200–$800 (full cost)
Dates May 9 –May 25
Location Online
Time Tuesdays & Thursdays 6:30-8:00 pm ET
Apply

*We believe people with more wealth, privilege, and access to money—and who benefit from systems of oppression—should pay more. If you work at an organization with more than 60 employees, please ask your employer to cover the full cost of this training. If there’s anything that would help you make the request, please let us know.

We know that this might be a new way of looking at things. Please reach out to data@repower.org if you have any questions.

Additional Information

Questions? Please contact us at data@repower.org

Data Strategy

Overview

This is a crash course in “movement data,” with a deep dive into data for legislative advocacy and organizing (including distributed organizing). Over the course of three weeks, participants will practice building an organizing plan with metric goals, learn how models work, and develop tests. They will also investigate and practice working with open data, and assessing the data safety of their organization.

This course is intended to be taken with a data engineering course. In 2023, we will be offering Building Analytics Reports in Google Sheets and VAN/EveryAction Administration in April and May. Please fill out the respective interest forms to receive updates on these data engineering courses:

Building Analytics Reports in Google Sheets
VAN/EveryAction Administration

Who is this course for?

Staff across departments: This course is helpful for staff across departments: Data, organizing, and digital staff will all find that this course takes their work to the next level.

Future Data Managers & Directors: Past students have successfully pivoted to data manager & data director roles after completing this course.

Ideal applicants come from all walks of life—we welcome everyone from data practitioners looking to sharpen their skills, to complete beginners who are passionate about organizing. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:

  • Open to new things: Participants should be excited about challenging themselves to learn new ways of doing the work and partnering with others to come up with creative solutions. 
  • Technical Aptitude: Whether you have experience working directly with data or not, we are interested in organizers who are able to pick up new technical skills quickly and proficiently. If you like spreadsheets and lists, or investigating innovative ways of organizing, you may be a good fit.
  • Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional politico, but we’re looking for applicants with experience doing organizing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of an organizing effort or are seeking to build one. 
  • Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings—it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We encourage organizers to be open to new ideas regarding inclusive politics, especially from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.

Course Expectations

This is an interactive course. We ask participants to write in the chat box, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion. We understand that folks have a lot going on though, so if you are not able to participate in a breakout discussion you can let the tech moderator know.

We encourage, but do not require, participants to turn on video during breakout discussions.

Participants should set aside about 5 hours a week for coursework—including attending live webinar sessions, homework, and optional office hours.

Optional office hours: Every other Friday, 3:00–4:00 pm ET

Lesson Plan

  • Session 1: Intro to Movement Data
  • Session 2: Data During the Electoral Cycle
  • Session 3: Data for Issue Organizing Campaigns
  • Session 4: Data Collection & the Ladder of Engagement
  • Session 5: Open Data
  • Session 6: Next Top Model

We will provide supplemental materials on Tests and Experiments, as well as Digital Safety, and also be able to answer questions on those topics during office hours.

Questions? Please contact us at data@repower.org

Applications Closed

Type
Category Movement Technology
Cost $200–600 (full cost)*
Dates February 14 –March 2
Location Online
Time Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:00-4:30 pm ET

Additional Information