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Storytelling Academy

Overview

Through narrative and storytelling, we—as individuals, communities and nations—can learn how to make choices in response to the challenges of the uncertain world we live in. Narrative is how we communicate our values through stories, bringing alive the motivation we need for changing the world. Because it engages the head and the heart, narrative can instruct and inspire, not only teaching us about why we should act but also moving us to take action.

In this course, participants will learn the Public Narrative Framework and will develop stories about why they are called to leadership (“story of self”), how their values are connected to the collective values of their communities (“story of us”), and what challenges to our values demand urgent action (“story of now”). They will also learn basic practices on how to effectively coach and support others in developing and sharing their own stories.

Who is this course for?

  • Organizers, campaigners, communicators who are interested in the craft of storytelling.
  • Activists who are seeking to hone their storytelling skills to move people to action.
  • Leaders who want to sharpen their story to engage more people in their work.

What will you learn?

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Share your personal narrative in compelling, impactful, and inspiring ways
  • Adjust your personal story for various audiences
  • Begin coaching others on how to develop their personal narrative
Lesson Plan

Narrative for Leadership & Story of Self

  • Learn about the power of storytelling as a leadership tool
  • Practice developing and sharing a personal narrative
  • Practice asking curious questions and coaching others’ narratives

Story of Us

  • Learn how to use group narratives to intervene in moments of crisis, and elevate moments of celebration
  • Practice developing and sharing community narratives that motivate & inspire people
  • Practice asking curious questions and coaching others’ narratives

Story of Now & Linked Narratives

  • Learn how to use stories of urgency and opportunity to agitate and motivate action
  • Practice developing and sharing stories that cut through the noise and focus activity
  • Practice asking curious questions and coaching others’ narratives

Expectations

This is an interactive course with live practice. We ask participants to write in the chat box, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion. During breakouts, all participants will be asked to practice. We encourage, but do not require, participants to turn on video at all times, and especially during breakout discussions. If you are unable or unwilling to practice during breakouts, we ask that you let our Lead Trainer know, and you will not be placed in a breakout room. While we will respect that choice, we offer that this course may not be for you as the bulk of the learning happens in the breakout practice.

Participants should set aside about 2–3 hours a week for coursework—including attending live webinar sessions, and reviewing session pre-work.

Training Dates

  • Aug 20 – Sep 10, 2025

4 weeks, virtual

Wednesdays
6:00–8:00 pm ET

$75–$350*

Apply by August 8, 2025

Apply

*Please refer to the Training Policies page for more information on our sliding scale system. Please reach out to grassroots@repower.org if you have any questions.

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at grassroots@repower.org if you require further assistance.

Campaign School Series

Overview

Our Campaign School Series are designed as mini workshops for the everyday organizer. We have identified a lesson plan of foundational and core trainings that will help talented organizers (like you!) build, win and sustain campaigns. These workshop style sessions will run for 2.5 hrs, two days a week (please refer to sidebar for specific dates). Each mini workshop will prepare you to build effective, transformative, and winning campaigns. From building healthy campaign culture to ensuring safety protocols for your canvassing team to building scripts for different audiences, we’ve curated these sessions with the busiest leaders in mind. Did we mention these trainings are FREE?!

Workshops

Launching & Managing Canvasses

In this two-part workshop we will focus on one of the key ingredients of a successful field program: the door-to-door canvass. Participants will learn how to effectively set up canvasses and manage canvass staff through best practices and role playing.

Script Building for Different Audiences

In this highly interactive session, we will overview and practice different types of organizing language and framing that will help shape and inform how we use communications to build successful field programs. Participants will role play and practice drafting an effective script that connects your target audience with desired outcomes.

Building Healthy Campaign Culture

Healthy Campaign Culture should be seen as one of our love languages; particularly the one where we are affirmed, held, honored, and supported to handle the long, laborious campaign days in the field. We invite you to explore best practices and frameworks to be a proactive, intentional and thoughtful leader, supporting healthy campaign culture within your field operations to motivate and develop your base and campaign staff who will build the powerful, people-led movements we all envision.

Physical Safety

Political violence and voter suppression tactics are at an all-time high this election season. In response to this reality, we’ve created this brand new workshop to prepare leaders to build organizational practices that address, respond to and prevent violence and harm targeted to disrupt electoral organizing efforts. Join us for this 2.5 hour training to strengthen your internal and external electoral safety practices for your campaign.

Digital Security

The Digital Security training will support participants to better understand the difference between safety and security, to practice making their campaigns more secure across all devices, and to become more confident in their ability to protect themselves and others from potential harm online.

Who are these workshops for?

  • Grassroots organizers, base builders, campaigners who can facilitate inclusive, productive and positive work environments
  • Folks who have 3+ years of organizing experience
  • Folks who aren’t able to attend our virtual or in-person Campaign School for Issue Organizers this year
  • Experienced managers with strong interpersonal and organizational communication skills
  • Leaders with a commitment to racial, gender and economic equity 
  • Previous experience working in metrics-driven campaigns for direct voter contact
  • Organizers and Communications folks who are new to the digital organizing landscape and want to learn the fundamentals of launching or maintaining a digital presence
  • Folks who are tasked to take their traditional organizing strategy and use it for online engagement
  • 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
  • Folks who would like to hone any of the skills listed above

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at electoral@repower.org if you require further assistance.

Campaign School for Issue Organizers

Overview

Campaign School for Issue Organizers is built to support issue-focused organizers to connect the dots between elections and year-round issue-based organizing. Through the boom and bust of election cycles, many grassroots organizations find themselves scrambling when money is brought in during big election years. This training will equip organizers in the skills and tools they need to be prepared for these moments.

In this course, we will take participants through the full-cycle of electoral campaigning, from how to calculate a win number and create a field plan, to campaign budgeting and fundraising, to launching and managing a canvass. While the primary focus is on electoral skills, this course is intended to build the confidence, rigor and strategy that organizers need to transfer these skills to issue-based grassroots organizing. This is a four-week course that meets twice a week, for two hours per session. Participants will have access to coaches throughout the duration of this course.

Who is this course for?

  • Grassroots Organizers, Base Builders, Campaigners who want to build inclusive, productive and positive work environments
  • Issue-focused organizers who are, or will be receiving, C3 or C4 dollars to manage electoral programs to uplift issue-focused campaigns ie. ballot measures, pro-working class candidates, etc.
  • Folks who have 3+ years of organizing experience

What will you learn?

At the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Create a strategic, winning, and movement-building campaign plan
  • Incorporate healthy campaign culture into your work
  • Build strong teams of paid and volunteer staff to drive your campaign
  • Craft persuasive and effective scripts for organizing conversations
Lesson Plan

Overview a Field Plan and Direct Voter Contact Basics
Learn why you need a field plan and program to be successful. Get an overview of what a field plan looks like, how to create your “North Star” (i.e. your campaign Win Number), and the basics of direct voter contact. 

Campaign Budgeting & Fundraising
Understand your role as fundraisers while building your confidence, and how to hold leadership in raising election dollars before, during, and after a campaign cycle.

Targeting Voters & VAN
Learn how to target the key voters that your campaign needs to talk to, how to determine your win numbers, and the basics on how to use the Voter Activation Network (VAN) and navigate its limitations. 

Base Building and Digital Tools
Explore how to build an inclusive base of support and how to craft what you say to your base once you have identified them. 

Script Building
Practice organizing conversations to help shape and inform our field programs. Participants will role play and get the opportunity to write an effective script that connects your target audience with desired outcomes.

Building a Volunteer Program
Identify the 5 elements of a great volunteer program, understand your role in volunteer recruitment and retention, and how to develop volunteer leadership through a ladder of engagement.

Launching & Managing Canvasses
Learn one of the key ingredients of a successful field program: the door-to-door canvass. Participants will learn how to effectively set up canvasses and manage canvass staff.

Managing Up & Across Your Team
Learn to better coordinate and communicate with their peers and managers in order to achieve the shared vision and goals of the campaign.

If you’re applying to an in-person training, please read our latest COVID-19 protocol before proceeding with your application.

COVID-19 Protocol

Training Dates

  • Jun 24 – Jun 26, 2025

3 days, in-person

Minneapolis, MN

$275–$5,500*

Apply by May 2, 2025

Apply

4 weeks, virtual

Mondays & Wednesdays
3:00–5:00 pm ET

$75–$350*

Opening Soon

*Please refer to the Training Policies page for more information on our sliding scale system. Please reach out to electoral@repower.org if you have any questions.

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at electoral@repower.org if you require further assistance.

Introduction to Digital Organizing

Overview

Intro to Digital Organizing is a 3-week course curated to teach organizers the fundamentals of building online campaigns. Participants will learn the skills necessary to develop a digital base and presence for their online work. In a “post-COVID” world, our communities are more online than ever, and digital organizing is no longer a “nice-to-have,” but a must-have tactic for winning.

At re:power we approach Digital Organizing through a relational-organizing lens—understanding that the work in the digital realm is not meant to replace what is happening offline. This course will help anyone new to the world of online organizing understand best practices on content creation, strategic messages, building audiences, social media and more.

Who is this course for?

  • Organizers and Communications folks who are new to the digital organizing landscape and want to learn the fundamentals of launching or maintaining a digital presence
  • Organizers who see the importance of digital organizing but are unsure where to start.
  • Leaders, Organizers, and other non-profit folks who want to skill up to work in the field of digital organizing.

What will you learn?

At the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Make assessments about your audience in order to tailor content.
  • Build strategic messages and storytelling to cultivate community and move people to action.
  • Write effective emails, and mobile messages.
Lesson Plan
  • Session 1: Intro to Digital Organizing
  • Session 2: Finding Our People Online
  • Session 3: Email Writing & Targeting
  • Session 4: Building Online Communities
  • Session 5: Mobile Campaigning
  • Session 6: Digital Safety & Security

Applications Closed

  • Feb 18 – Mar 6, 2025

3 weeks, virtual

Tuesdays & Thursdays
6:30–8:00 pm ET

$75–$350*

Apply

*Please refer to the Training Policies page for more information on our sliding scale system. Please reach out to {contact email} if you have any questions.

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at digital@repower.org if you require further assistance.

Grassroots Organizing School

Overview

re:power Fund’s Grassroots Organizing School is an 18-week course built to provide BIPOC grassroots organizers with the training and support necessary to develop a baseline of relational organizing skills.

The curriculum, based on Professor Marshall Ganz’s successful “Leadership, Organizing, and Action” program, is designed to take participants through a full campaign learning journey and includes sessions on public narrative as a leadership tool, building organizing relationships, creating interdependent leadership teams, developing campaign strategy, and taking action with your community. 

Relational organizing is at the heart of Grassroots Organizing School’s approach. At re:power Fund, we believe that movements must center base building in all their strategies and that engaging new people, developing their leadership capacity, and placing them in positions of real responsibility is essential to long-term success beyond any individual campaign. With that in mind, our entire curriculum is built to enhance our organizers’ relational skills and their capacity to distribute responsibility and develop the leadership of others.

Who is the course for?

  • Organizing professionals who are doing 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. Ideal candidates are actively responsible for building out a base of people in order to engage them in political work.
  • Leaders who are excited to build relationships, to invest in the leadership of others, and to build teams of purpose-driven leaders.
  • Movement activists who are looking to make a substantial investment in themselves and their work

What will you learn?

Course modules include:
  • Introduction to Organizing
  • Coaching as a Leadership Practice
  • Public Narrative: Stories of Self, Us, and Now
  • Relationship-Building
  • Building Interdependent Leadership Teams
  • Creating Shared Strategy
  • Tactics & Timeline
  • Mobilizing for Action
Structure

The course will launch with an in-person convening. Following that, we will meet virtually every week from June 9 until August 25. Participants will also be required to meet once every 2 weeks with an assigned small group of peers to complete a group assignment (a Skill Practice Assignment, or “SPA”).  

We’ll close with a final in-person convening.

Expectations

This is an intensive, interactive course, with high expectations for participation. 

During lectures & sections:

  • We ask participants to write in the chat box, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion. 

Outside of class time, participants will be asked to:

  • Apply their learning to their work in real time, 
  • Complete required readings,
  • Write biweekly reflection papers, and 
  • Complete biweekly short group projects alongside a small group of other participants. 

Participants should expect to spend about 5 hours a week for coursework—including attending live webinar sessions and completing assignments.

There are limited spaces available for participants in this course. Please be prepared to meet these expectations if you apply.

Make-up Policy

In case of a work or family emergency that cannot be rescheduled without putting jobs/health in jeopardy, participants may miss up to two scheduled sessions (lecture or sections). Make-up work will be required.

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

COVID-19 Protocol

Cancelled

  • May 29 – Sep 7, 2025

18 weeks, in-person & virtual

Virtual Info Session:
Register Here
April 29 – 6-7pm ET

In-person Opening:
May 29–Jun 1, 2025
Ohio

Virtual Sessions: June 9–Aug 25, 2025

In-person Closing:
Sep 5–7, 2025
Maryland

$350–$7,000*

 

*Please refer to the Training Policies page for more information on our sliding scale system. Please reach out to grassroots@repower.org if you have any questions.

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at grassroots@repower.org if you require further assistance.

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. On day 5, you’ll present your work to the full group and receive feedback from trainers.

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
  • Organizing Insight: Folks 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.
  • Openness to learning: Regardless of experience in organizing online, 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.

What will you learn?

  • 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

Expectations

This is an intensive 5-day in-person course with high expectations for participation. 

During training sections and breakouts we ask participants to be present, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion. Participants will be asked to work in groups to complete a group-based assignment. While some time will be structured for group projects, groups are expected to work together outside of class time as-needed to complete the assignment.

There are limited spaces available for participants in this course. We ask that you commit to meeting these expectations if you apply to the training.

If you’re interested in this course, but not able to join us in person—please check out our virtual Introduction to Digital Organizing course which offers the same curriculum in an online format and paced out over 3 weeks.

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

COVID-19 Protocol

Training dates

No upcoming trainings

*Please refer to the Training Policies page for more information on our sliding scale system. please reach out to digital@repower.org if you have any questions.

Policies & FAQ

For more information regarding payment, refund policy, and other frequently asked questions, please refer to our Training Policies page. Contact us at digital@repower.org if you require further assistance.