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Advisory Committee
Researcher

Katrina Gamble

Founder and CEO
Sojourn Strategies

Dr. Katrina Gamble is the Founder and CEO of Sojourn Strategies, an all-women-run social impact consulting firm. She is a researcher and political strategist with more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of social justice policy and elections.  Katrina has deep, extensive relationships with grassroots organizations across the country. She has combined that network with her campaign experience to support successful pro-democracy campaigns in more than a half-dozen states, including two of the most expansive voting rights policies in the past two decades in New Mexico and Minnesota. She is a co-author of groundbreaking Black Values research featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and numerous outlets. Before moving into the social advocacy space, Katrina was an Assistant Professor at Brown University, where she conducted research and taught courses on congressional politics, social movements, and race and ethnic politics. She holds a PhD and an MA from Emory University and a BA from Smith College. 

Katrina is from the desert southwest (Arizona) but currently lives in Washington, DC, with her wife. When she’s not tending to her garden in DC, she enjoys traveling and exploring other cultures; so far, she’s visited over 50 countries.

Resources from

Katrina Gamble

Related resources
Understanding Black Values: National and State Level Survey Findings
This report provides a synthesis of cross-state and national research that documents the stories of Black voters, the DPI state partners involved, and key findings to maximize cross-learning amongst the state partners.
Building Civic Homes Webinar
This webinar is a discussion of key findings from the Building Civic Homes research report. In addition to sharing key takeaways from the research, we also heard directly from leaders of Poder NC and Building Freedom Ohio on how they are building civic homes within their organizations.
Building Civic Homes: Fostering Belonging, Agency, and Collective Impact
Over the course of two years, Sojourn Strategies conducted two phases of research to better understand what brings individuals into organizations and what sustains connection to the organizations.
Asian American Values: State-Based Research in North Carolina
This research project with North Carolina Asian Americans Together anchored itself in state-based, community-led efforts to better understand the complexity of values and identities that exists within the Asian American community.
OOC Rightfully Cynical Focus Group Deck
This deck summarizes the findings from the listening sessions conducted with "rightfully cynical" Black voters in Ohio.
OOC Rightfully Cynical Survey Deck
This deck summarizes the findings from a 2023 survey of "rightfully cynical" Black voters in Ohio.
OOC Statewide Survey of Rightfully Cynical Adults Wave 2
This deck summarizes phase 2 of the OOC Rightfully Cynical research in Ohio in 2024.
2024 Post-Election Briefing
State leaders and research partners helped us make sense of the election results and began to identify what we need to learn in 2025 and beyond to continue to strengthen our collective strategies to build and sustain a multiracial democracy in the United States.
AZ Latino Values Research
ACE led this research to support its organizing efforts. It is using the findings as it trains organizers and canvassers to reach eligible voters across Arizona. The findings will help organizers build a strong sense of community among Latino voters and ensure that outreach is done in meaningful ways.
2024 Black Values Media Briefing
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.
Black Values Research 2024
In 2024, HIT Strategies and Sojourn Strategies launched a follow-up survey to validate the 2022 Black values research to inform 2024 civic engagement programs.
Narrative, Agency & Belonging
This plenary's discussion from the 2023 DPI Annual Convening was about 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.
Black Political Literature Review 2020
Black politics in the United States, in the context of racial unrest and revolutionary demands, is a fraught yet fertile scholarly field. Unpacking the contours of how Black people conceptualize their relationship to the state, to society, and to one another is critical both because of the substantive need to...
Belonging, Community & Impact: What it means to build a Political Home
Sojourn Strategies conducted listening sessions to better understand how people engage with and participate in political homes, where individuals can build community with others who have shared values to impact change, in California, Louisiana, and Wisconsin.
Black Narrative Workshop
Last fall, the DPI Fund hosted a workshop on Black narrative and messaging. Presenters included Katrina Gamble from Sojourn Strategies, Janay Cody, and Terrance Woodbury of HIT Strategies.
The Power of Political Homes
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...
Political Homes - DPI Digest
This newsletter highlights key takeaways from the Belonging, Community & Impact: What it Means to Build a Political Home Report. What drives people to affiliate with power-building groups? Researchers collaborated with VOTE (LA), PICO California, and Voces de la Frontera (WI) to discern key factors.
Past Speaking Events
Sep 4, 2024
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.

REsource Report
Oct 5, 2023
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.

REsource Report
Jul 21, 2022
Concurrent Sessions
Building Political Agency: The Latest from Our Narrative Research
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.

REsource Report
Oct 21, 2021
Concurrent Sessions
The Power of Political Homes
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.

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