Convening 2023

Please join us for TWO VIRTUAL AFTERNOONS where we will share our latest research findings and strategize together around ways to implement these learnings to support powerful organizing and civic engagement programs across the country in the lead up to 2024!

POWER IN PRACTICE

October 4 - 5, 2023 | 12:30 - 5:00 pm ET
RSVP deadline: September 29, 2023
Convening Agenda
Oct 21, 2021
10:00 am
-
10:50 am
Welcome
Opening
description

Welcome to the DPI FUND Learning Community!

moderator
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REsources
Oct 21, 2021
10:55 am
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11:45 am
Measuring What Matters in the Fight for Our Democracy
Plenary
description

Our political industry in the last few decades has come to treat citizens as consumers and not participants, with an increasingly market-driven approach to politics. The impact on research, learning, and metrics has largely been to target citizens as atomized individuals, to measure treatments delivered to these individuals, and to evaluate the impact on an individual basis with voter turnout and partisan support the primary indicators. However, in this learning community, we are focused on growing a healthy, multiracial democracy: driven by and working for powerful grassroots organizations. What does research, learning programs, and metrics look like when our focus is the health of our democracy and power rooted in democratic practice? In this session we will share innovations from the DPI community in the last year around researching and measuring organizing inputs, collective capacities and power in practice. In a case study, Color of Change will share their progress and challenges as they work to put the civic leadership of their members at the center of their evaluation and metrics.

moderator
Ethan Frey
Program Officer
Ford Foundation
Speakers
Arisha Hatch
Vice President
Color of Change
Shannon Talbert
Senior Organizing Director
Color of Change
Elizabeth McKenna
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
11:45 am
-
11:55 am
Break
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 21, 2021
11:55 am
-
12:55 pm
Finding Missing Voters: Busting the Myth of “If it isn’t in the VAN, it doesn’t exist.”
Concurrent Sessions
description

As tech tools and unreliable voter lists have taken over civic and political outreach, many voters of color are being left out. This session will focus on the communities left unseen by the political industry’s voter files in the wake of the techno-political revolution and how organizing groups are innovating their own solutions to find them. DPI Analyst Miriam McKinney Gray and Michael Ingram from Florida Rising will lay out the problem: how race modeling, vote propensity scoring, and voter file matching redlines communities with the most untapped power and how overdependence on data tools and algorithms leave millions of potential voters unreached. Staff from the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, ISAIAH, and the AAPI Force will share their effective methods for reaching their communities and propose sustainable wide-reaching solutions for member based organizations.

moderator
Miriam Mckinney Gray
DPI Fund
Speakers
Amity Foster
Data Manager
ISAIAH/Faith in Minnesota
Timmy Lu
Executive Director
AAPIs for Civic Empowerment
Derrick Smith
Data Manager
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
11:55 am
-
12:55 pm
The Power of Political Homes
Concurrent Sessions
description

We know from political science that individuals do not make decisions about their democratic participation in isolation but in community with their families, neighbors, and values-based institutions. These are “political homes”—spaces of belonging and powerbuilding in their communities. In this session, we will hear from researchers and organizers about how they have come together to develop learning agendas to understand “political and social homes” and their role as containers for collective action. Over the next year, the DPI community will embark on a multi-state, multi-researcher project that examines how participants in organizing groups define a “political home” and what they seek when joining one. The research will also explore the meaning and value associated with the idea of a “political home” among unaffiliated potential members and how organizations can meet the interests of those seeking a political home.

moderator
Katrina Gamble
Founder and CEO
Sojourn Strategies
Speakers
Brian Fullman
Lead Organizer
ISAIAH
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
1:00 pm
-
2:00 pm
Lunch Break
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 21, 2021
2:05 pm
-
2:35 pm
Disrupting Assumptions about Black Political Engagement
Welcome Back
description

For too long BIPOC communities have been treated by the political industry as monolithic collectives to be mobilized to outcomes defined by someone else’s goals. At DPI we believe that the most powerful way to increase political participation and civic action is not through tactical, transactional interventions but through support of and deference to base-building organizations. These grassroots groups deeply understand each constituency’s narratives and beliefs about politics and power and can build actual collective power to win change for the long term. This conversation will share how the DPI community is building a more nuanced understanding of the Black community and their orientation towards power and politics through strategic partnerships between organizations and culturally grounded researchers. Through thoughtful research informed by organizers, we’re disrupting political assumptions about Black voters as cynical and uninformed and learning about how to support and sustain Black political engagement for the long term.

moderator
Ashley Shelton
Founder, President and CEO
Power Coalition
Speakers
Ranada Robinson
Research Director
New Georgia Project
Terrance Woodbury
CEO & Founding Partner
HIT Strategies
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
2:40 pm
-
3:20 pm
How to Understand Diverse Values and Political Identities in Communities of Color
Strategy Session
description

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REsources
Oct 21, 2021
3:35 pm
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4:30 pm
SESSION 2A - How Art and Culture Move Political Narratives
Concurrent Sessions
description

MODERATOR: Prentiss Haney (Co-Executive Director, Ohio Organizing Collaborative) SPEAKERS: Ray Block (Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State University), Arekia Bennett (Executive Director, Mississippi Votes), Marshall Shorts

moderator
Prentiss Haney
Former Co-ED
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Speakers
Ray Block
Associate Professor
Penn State University
Arekia Bennett
Executive Director
Mississippi Votes
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
3:35 pm
-
4:30 pm
SESSION 2B - “She Said What?” Organizing in the Age of Disinformation
Concurrent Sessions
description

MODERATOR: Sandhya Anantharaman (Interim Director of Programs, Kairos Fellowship) SPEAKERS: Jung Hee Choi (Deputy Director, Power California), Vanessa Kelly (Digital Director, New Georgia Project)

moderator
Sandhya Anantharaman
Interim Director of Programs
Kairos Fellowship
Speakers
Jung Hee Choi
Deputy Director
Power California
REsources
Oct 21, 2021
4:30 pm
-
4:45 pm
Reflections and Synthesis
Concurrent Workshop
description

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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
10:00 am
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10:15 am
Welcome to Day 2! What are you excited for today?
Opening
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
10:15 am
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10:45 am
Volatility, Despair and Hope: A Path to Multiracial Power in the Midwest
Plenary
description

MODERATOR: DaMareo Cooper (Director of Place Based Power, Center for Popular Democracy) SPEAKERS: Heather McMahon Calhoun (Senior Project Manager, Community Building Strategies), Kirk Noden (Community Building Strategies), Mary Sobecki (Executive Director, The Needmor Fund)

moderator
DaMareo Cooper
Director of Place Based Power
Center for Popular Democracy
Speakers
Heather McMahon Calhoun
Senior Project Manager
Community Building Strategies
Kirk Noden
Community Building Strategies
REsources
Oct 22, 2021
11:00 am
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11:40 am
Mapping the Path to Multiracial Power in Your Region
Strategy Session
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
11:40 am
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11:50 am
Break
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
11:50 am
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12:50 pm
SESSION 3A - Organizing to Change the Rules: How to Move Local Election Officials
Concurrent Sessions
description

SPEAKERS: Alex Gomez (Co-Executive Director, ACE/LUCHA), Tomas Robles (Co-Executive Director, ACE/LUCHA), Hannah Furstenberg-Beckman (Researcher, Local Election Officials: Discretion and Democracy Project)

moderator
Speakers
Alejandra Gomez
Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment
Tomas Robles
Co-Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment
Hannah Furstenberg Beckman
Program Officer
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust
REsources
Oct 22, 2021
11:50 am
-
12:50 pm
SESSION 3B - Engaging Returning Citizens Beyond the Election Cycle
description

MODERATOR: Andrea McChristian (Law & Policy Director, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice) SPEAKERS: Ronald Pierce (Democracy & Justice Fellow, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice), Pastor Rhonda Thomas (Faith in Florida), Hannah Walker (UT Austin), Ariel White (Associate Professor, MIT)

moderator
Andrea McChristian
Law & Policy Director
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Speakers
Pastor Rhonda Thomas
Faith in Florida
Hannah Walker
University of Texas Austin
Ronald Pierce
Policy Analyst
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Ariel White
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
REsources
Oct 22, 2021
11:50 am
-
12:50 pm
SESSION 3C - From Protest to Participation: On the Frontlines of Youth Civic Engagement
Concurrent Sessions
description

MODERATOR: Tova Wang (Democracy Fellow, Ash Center, Harvard Kennedy School) SPEAKERS: Jerusha Conner (Villanova),Kei Kawashima-Gisberg (Newhouse Director, Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts CIRCLE), Johnnie Lotesta (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Appalachian State University), Destini Philpot (GoodKids MadCity)

moderator
Tova Wang
Democracy Fellow
Harvard Kennedy School
Speakers
Jerusha Conner
Professor of Education
Villanova
Kei Kawashima-Gisberg
Newhouse Director
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts (CIRCLE)
Johnnie Lotesta
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Appalachian State University
REsources
Oct 22, 2021
1:00 pm
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2:00 pm
Lunch Break
description

moderator
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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
2:05 pm
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3:05 pm
Organizing and Operatives: Building the Political Culture Shift We Need to Win Real Change
Welcome Back
description

MODERATOR: Andrea Mercado (Co Executive Director, Florida Rising) SPEAKERS: Doran Schrantz (Director, ISAIAH), Mike Podhorzer (Advisor, AFL-CIO)

moderator
Andrea Mercado
Co Executive Director
Florida Rising
Speakers
Doran Schrantz
Executive Director
ISAIAH
Mike Podhorzer
Advisor
AFL-CIO
REsources
Oct 22, 2021
3:15 pm
-
4:10 pm
Operationalizing Our Influence Agenda
Strategy Session
description

We conclude with a set of small conversations to discuss what we can do together to elevate organizer voices in the political industry; what research, data, and tech is needed to elevate organizing; what we need to do to increase philanthropic support for organizing and year-round base-building; and what more we need to do to effectively support BIPOC communities and grassroots organizations in the policy and electoral battles to come!

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REsources
Oct 22, 2021
4:10 pm
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4:30 pm
Reflections, Synthesis, and Next Steps
Concurrent Workshop
description

moderator
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REsources
Jul 20, 2022
1:00 pm
-
1:15 pm
The election is right around the corner. What are we doing here?!
Welcome
description

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
1:15 pm
-
1:30 pm
Hello? Mic Check? Who's here?
Connection
description

What you get: An opportunity to meet others in the (virtual) room, have fun, and practice our relationship building skills. ‍ Who: Everyone

moderator
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REsources
Jul 20, 2022
1:30 pm
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2:30 pm
What is Winning?
Plenary
description

Recent Supreme Court decisions, coupled with the January 6th hearings, have made it clearer than ever that we are operating in a politically charged, high stakes, power arena. How should organizers think about “winning” in this context? What is our role in this power arena?

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
Ethan Frey
Program Officer
Ford Foundation
Ashley Shelton
Founder, President and CEO
Power Coalition
Doran Schrantz
Executive Director
ISAIAH
Alejandra Gomez
Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
Using the Election Season to Build Power
Concurrent Sessions
description

Every cycle organizations hope to emerge from the election more powerful with stronger members and greater leadership. At DPI we have learned that a key to achieving that goal is to have systems for tracking member and leader engagement that are as rigorous as those used to track voter contact. How can an organization do that?

moderator
Tianyi Hu
DPI Fund
Speakers
Eddie Carmona
Director of Campaigns
PICO California
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
2:30 pm
-
3:30 pm
Brains Over Brawn: Building Strategic Capacity to Strengthen Your Organization
Concurrent Sessions
description

In their groundbreaking book Prisms of the People, Hahrie Han, Liz McKenna and Michelle Oyakawa found that powerful base building organizations build a culture and set of practices where groups of individuals can adaptively deploy their resources to move power strategically. But how can organizations do that important work in an election season when it is easy to reduce our members and volunteers to cogs in a voter contact machine?

moderator
Speakers
Regina Schwartz
Consultant
DPI Fund
Shannon Talbert
Senior Organizing Director
Color of Change
Sadie Dean
Senior Training Manager
Color of Change
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
3:30 pm
-
3:45 pm
Break
description

moderator
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REsources
Jul 20, 2022
3:45 pm
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4:45 pm
How to Use Organizing to Achieve Election Reform
Concurrent Sessions
description

In many jurisdictions, local elections officials have broad discretion over voting policies and practices. How can organizations develop productive relationships with their local elections officials to promote the implementation of pro-voter practices?

moderator
Speakers
Tova Wang
Democracy Fellow
Harvard Kennedy School
Bridgett King
MPA Director & Associate Professor
Auburn University
Tomas Robles
Co-Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
3:45 pm
-
4:45 pm
Understanding and Influencing the Political Power Infrastructure to Protect Our Elections
Concurrent Sessions
description

What forces shape the political environment and create political “weather?” What role can and does organizing play? Drawing on an in-depth case study of a state-wide campaign to protect democracy in Michigan in the wake of the 2020 election, this session surfaced lessons about how groups can insert themselves in larger power struggles and build the structures and strategic capacity necessary to anticipate and counter well-funded and media-savvy political opponents.

moderator
Elizabeth McKenna
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
Speakers
Art Reyes III
Executive Director
We The People Michigan
Branden Snyder
Senior Advisor
Detroit Action Education Fund
REsources
Jul 20, 2022
4:45 pm
-
4:45 pm
What did we learn? What do we still want to know?
ReFlection
description

moderator
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REsources
Jul 21, 2022
1:00 pm
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1:15 pm
Welcome Back! Who do I need to say hi to? What do we need to tackle today?
Welcome
description

moderator
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REsources
Jul 21, 2022
1:15 pm
-
2:10 pm
Less is Not More: Expanding the Electorate to Win Change
Plenary
description

Multiracial Democracy demands multiracial participation, so where is everybody? How did we end up with an electorate that is missing half the eligible population? And what can we do right now to turn this around?

moderator
Speakers
Terrance Woodbury
CEO & Founding Partner
HIT Strategies
Carlos Odio
Co-Founder & Senior VP of Research
Equis Labs
Bishop Dwayne Royster
Executive Director
POWER Interfaith
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
2:10 pm
-
3:05 pm
The Most Effective Influencers: Identifying and Growing Members as Social Network Leaders in Your Electoral Program
Concurrent Sessions
description

Social scientists continue to affirm that when it comes to politics (or anything really) people listen most to those closest to them: friends, family, co-workers. So how are organizers adapting their electoral programs to prepare volunteers to be leaders in their own social networks?

moderator
Speakers
Joy Cushman
Senior Strategic Advisor
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Fabi Maldonado
Political Director
Voces de la Frontera
Sandhya Anantharaman
Interim Director of Programs
Kairos Fellowship
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
2:10 pm
-
3:05 pm
Building Political Agency: The Latest from Our Narrative Research
Concurrent Sessions
description

DPI has prioritized understanding narrative frameworks that connect uniquely with Black, Latinx and AAPI communities through research shaped by and for organizers. In this session, we shared what we learned about narratives that can be used to craft effective organizing content that can be applied in multiple contexts including digital content.

moderator
Speakers
Katrina Gamble
Founder and CEO
Sojourn Strategies
Ranada Robinson
Research Director
New Georgia Project
Tram Nguyen
Co-Executive Director
New Virginia Majority
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
2:10 pm
-
3:05 pm
From Exclusion to Inclusion: Organizing to bring returning citizens and their families into political engagement
Concurrent Sessions
description

In recent years, returning citizens and their allies have made important progress in the work to remove legal barriers to voting for formerly incarcerated people. Our challenge now is to develop and implement strategies to connect with and inspire returning citizens to fully realize their political agency.

moderator
Speakers
Davin Phoenix
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of California, Irvine
Daniella Flores
Program Officer
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
Ronald Pierce
Policy Analyst
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
3:05 pm
-
3:15 pm
Break
description

Go get a snack, you (always) deserve it!

moderator
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REsources
Jul 21, 2022
3:15 pm
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4:15 pm
How to Apply Empowering Narrative Frames in Your Voter Mobilization Program
Concurrent Sessions
description

From our previous research with HIT Strategies and New Georgia Project, we learned that power narratives move Black voters to take more political action. Use these learnings and insights from our initial Latinx and AAPI values research to share best practices for developing engaging scripts that promote and support Black, Latinx, and AAPI political action.

moderator
Speakers
Destiney Golden
Sojourn Strategies
Kaelyn Seymour
Civic Engagement Data Director
MOVE
Serena Perez
Membership Director
Florida Rising
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
3:15 pm
-
4:15 pm
Racism in Algorithms? How to bring a skeptical eye to your voter file data and find missing voters through engagement
Concurrent Sessions
description

We all know that the voter files are flawed. Black, Latinx, AAPI, and Native people are disproportionately missing and vote propensity (VP) scoring is frequently inaccurate. Join organizing data leaders as they share tools, strategies, and practical tactics for developing and implementing alternative methods to reach constituents.

moderator
Speakers
Derrick Smith
Data Manager
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Jamie Harris
Senior Data Manager
Color of Change
REsources
Jul 21, 2022
4:15 pm
-
4:45 pm
Great Minds: Break out by role to share a-has and capture key points for follow up with your community
What Next?
description

What you get: Meet your fellow Funders, Directors/Lead Organizers, Organizers, Data leads, Communicators. Prioritize follow up and future interventions in your zone of influence

moderator
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REsources
Jul 21, 2022
4:45 pm
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5:00 pm
Wrap it up!
Wrap it Up!
description

Next steps, deep breaths

moderator
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REsources
Oct 4, 2023
12:30 pm
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12:55 pm
Welcome
Plenary
description

Welcome to the DPI FUND Learning Community!

moderator
Speakers
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
12:55 pm
-
1:40 pm
Shifting the Political Paradigm
Plenary
description

This opening panel explored the challenges of the current political paradigm, where politics is extractive, transactional, and driven by political operatives in NY or DC, how that political “common sense” undermines multiracial democratic practice, and what we can do together to create and realize a new paradigm where the political system builds power in Black, Latino, AAPI, and Native communities that they can use collectively to win change.

moderator
Speakers
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Alejandra Gomez
Executive Director
Arizona Center for Empowerment
Terrance Woodbury
CEO & Founding Partner
HIT Strategies
Bishop Dwayne Royster
Executive Director
POWER Interfaith
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
1:40 pm
-
2:30 pm
Power in Practice
Plenary
description

For over three years the DPI Organizing Lab has studied the work that base-building organizing groups undertake to build the power they need to achieve policy, electoral, and ideological impact. On this panel, leading practitioners and funders discussed what we have learned so far and what it will take to shift our sector to a clearer focus on building power.

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
Elizabeth McKenna
Assistant Professor of Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
Prentiss Haney
Former Co-ED
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Doran Schrantz
Executive Director
ISAIAH
Heather Creek
Associate Director, Program Strategy & Learning
Democracy Fund
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
2:30 pm
-
2:45 pm
Break
description

moderator
Speakers
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REsources
Oct 4, 2023
2:45 pm
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3:45 pm
Measuring Power: Base Building and Leadership Discussions
Plenary
description

DPI Organizing Lab groups have learned that collecting data on event participation by members is the best way to document their day-to-day powerbuilding work. In this session, we shared learning on what it takes to set up a system to collect the right data, how to secure the buy-in of organizers, and what types of analyses support learning from this data to improve your base-building program over time.

moderator
Joy Cushman
Senior Strategic Advisor
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
2:45 pm
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3:45 pm
Three Breakout Workshops
Breakout Groups
description

In these workshops organizers and researchers shared what they have learned about measuring power and creating opportunities for participants to wrestle with the implications for their programs in Michigan, Ohio, and California in 2024.

moderator
Speakers
Alex Navarrette
Detroit Action
Molly Shack
Interim Co-Director
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Tamara Lunan
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Lisa Thornton
PICO California
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
3:45 pm
-
3:50 pm
Measuring Power: Influence, Impact and Data
Plenary
description

Transition to part two

moderator
Joy Cushman
Senior Strategic Advisor
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
3:46 pm
-
4:45 pm
Strengthening Data Systems to Support Organizing
Plenary
description

DPI released a report documenting the significant challenges with integrating volunteer and leader member data across platforms. At this workshop, we shared updates on the memo’s recommendations and discuss the steps we can take over the next several months to strengthen organizing-based data integration, particularly for state groups.

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
Carter Kalchik
Mongoose Strategies
Derrick Smith
Data Manager
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Jason Berkenfeld
OneOne Ventures
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
3:46 pm
-
4:45 pm
Show Me the Power: Mapping Power Networks and Landscapes
Plenary
description

Join Joy Cushman to walk through the power network and landscape analyses she and Liz McKenna designed with Organizing Lab groups to help them see how power is operating in their state. In this session, we will demonstrate how organizations can replicate this analysis and discuss the questions that such an analysis can help surface to strengthen an organization’s strategic capacity.

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
Joy Cushman
Senior Strategic Advisor
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Ranada Robinson
Research Director
New Georgia Project
Art Reyes III
Executive Director
We The People Michigan
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
3:46 pm
-
4:45 pm
What Does Power Look Like? Indicators of Power Impact and Influence
Plenary
description

This workshop will share learnings on how to use social media and other tools to identify external indicators of influence and stronger power relationships.

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
Tianyi Hu
DPI Fund
Alexa Horwart
ISAIAH & Faith in Minnesota
Christopher Mann
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
REsources
Oct 4, 2023
4:45 pm
-
5:00 pm
Closing Reflections and Preview Day Two
ReFlection
description

Together, we will make sense of our learning from Day One and tee up the key themes and questions for tomorrow.

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
12:30 pm
-
12:50 pm
Welcome Back!
Plenary
description

Welcome Back!

moderator
Julie Fernandes
Managing Director of the DPI Fund
Associate Director | Rockefeller Family Fund
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
12:50 pm
-
1:45 pm
Narrative, Agency & Belonging
Plenary
description

We all know that organized, collective action is a critical strategy for winning change. And we have learned that perceptions of power are critical building blocks for political action. But what are the factors that help members join and stay connected to base-building organizations and see those organizations as “political homes” that operate as containers for building power for collective action? This panel discussed the role that narrative, agency and belonging play in the work to build and sustain powerful political movements and how those insights can translate into impact.

moderator
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No items found.
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
1:45 pm
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1:50 pm
One Size Does Not Fit All: The Power of Listening, Values, and Emotion
description

For too long, the traditional political industry has seen Black, Latinx, AAPI, and Native people as political objects rather than political agents. This translates into a lack of curiosity about the values and political identities that make up these diverse and complex communities. In these breakout workshops, we shared recent DPI research and learning that explores the core values and interests that drive civic engagement in communities of color.

moderator
Speakers
Katrina Gamble
Founder and CEO
Sojourn Strategies
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
1:45 pm
-
2:45 pm
Lessons from Values Cluster Research: Understanding & Engaging Voters
Concurrent Sessions
description

Leaders from the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and HIT Strategies will share the findings from their summer values cluster work with Black voters in Ohio. They will outline how they are currently engaging two of those clusters in this fall’s organizing and electoral work and explore lessons from that work for 2024 and beyond!

moderator
Speakers
No items found.
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
1:45 pm
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2:45 pm
Mitigating the Impact of Incarceration on Returning Citizens, Their Families, and Communities
Concurrent Sessions
description

Davin Phoenix, author of The Anger Gap: How Race Shapes Emotion in Politics, has collaborated with organizers in Florida, Louisiana, and Kentucky to understand the impact incarceration has on the family, friends, and communities of returning citizens. In this session, we discussed lessons from this research, including the way that returning citizens and their communities can forge a sense of linked fate through organizing that empowers and sustains localized political action.

moderator
Speakers
Davin Phoenix
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of California, Irvine
Pastor Rhonda Thomas
Faith in Florida
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
1:45 pm
-
2:45 pm
Canvassing as a Tool to Build Belonging & Power
Concurrent Workshop
description

Multiple research projects have shown that to be effective at increasing voter engagement and collective action, organizing programs need to reach Black and Latino voters authentically and regularly to connect and promote a sense of community and to share policy updates and help voters realize the impact of government action. This session will explore how organizations can shape their year-round canvassing programs to maximize their building belonging and power.

moderator
Speakers
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REsources
Oct 5, 2023
2:45 pm
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3:00 pm
Break
description

moderator
Speakers
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REsources
Oct 5, 2023
3:00 pm
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3:30 pm
Who is missing? Most of us
Plenary
description

Our broader political industry is primed to meet White, higher income, and frequent voters where they are and ease their participation in all elections. However, those voters account for less than half of the electorate in any given election. In this session, and the breakouts that follow, we focused on learning from researchers and organizers about how to find, engage, and organize high opportunity voters who are often otherwise ignored by candidates and campaigns.

moderator
Speakers
Bonnie Kwon
Policy Officer
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Andrea Mercado
Co Executive Director
Florida Rising
Kendra Cotton
CEO
New Georgia Project and New Georgia Project Action Fund
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
3:30 pm
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3:35 pm
Strategies for Including ALL Voters
Breakout Groups
description

INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOPS

moderator
Speakers
Bonnie Kwon
Policy Officer
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
3:35 pm
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4:30 pm
Barbershops and Festivals: Maximizing Use of Same-Day Registration
Concurrent Sessions
description

In the last several years, a number of new states have enacted same-day registration. However, new research from DPI, Harvard, and the Analyst Institute shows that in places where the program is newly available, not many people are using it. This session was about strategies to maximize the adoption of SDR, particularly with young people and people of color.

moderator
Speakers
Tova Wang
Democracy Fellow
Harvard Kennedy School
Brian Fullman
Lead Organizer
ISAIAH
Eric Jeng
Asian Community Development Council, Nevada
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
3:35 pm
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4:30 pm
Supplementing the Voter File to Find Missing Voters
Concurrent Sessions
description

State voter files provide the backbone of voter mobilization programs. However, 40% of Black and Latino eligible voters do not show up accurately on the file. This workshop was about current strategies being used by state-based organizers and data managers to supplement the voter file with census and other public data to make sure all eligible voters are included in outreach.

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Oct 5, 2023
3:35 pm
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4:30 pm
Meeting People Where They Are: Arts & Activists
Concurrent Sessions
description

Art in many forms has been a critical part of sustaining American movements for centuries. How are current organizers incorporating art and artists into their power-building efforts? What impact does this have on their campaigns and on the artists and members involved?

moderator
Speakers
Ray Block
Associate Professor
Penn State University
REsources
Oct 5, 2023
4:30 pm
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5:00 pm
Final Reflections: Bringing it all Together
Wrap it Up!
description

moderator
Alicia Myles
University of California Berkeley
Speakers
Bonnie Kwon
Policy Officer
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Carter Kalchik
Mongoose Strategies
Davin Phoenix
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of California, Irvine
REsources
Sep 4, 2024
10:00 am
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10:59 am
2024 Black Values Media Briefing
description

On Wednesday, September 4, 2024, POWER Interfaith in PA, New Georgia Project, and Detroit Action Education Fund released a national study of the Black electorate which, for the first time, analyzes segments or values clusters of the Black community. Katrina Gamble, PhD, Founder and CEO of Sojourn Strategies, and Terrance Woodbury, Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of HIT Strategies, conducted the research. The research was not conducted in support of any candidate.

moderator
Speakers
Katrina Gamble
Founder and CEO
Sojourn Strategies
Ranada Robinson
Research Director
New Georgia Project
Branden Snyder
Senior Advisor
Detroit Action Education Fund
Gregory Edwards
Interim Executive Director
POWER Interfaith
REsources

Join us to explore more research and innovation projects housed in the DPI Research Library.