December 18, 2025
DPI Convening
Building Civic Power: What Works
Description
A discussion of groundbreaking research that demonstrates how organizing connects to civic engagement and drives impact at the 2025 DPI Convening.
Authors
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Harvard Kennedy School
Democracy & Power Innovation Fund
Siembra in North Carolina
source

Elections are where we contest for who we are and what we want as a country. While the political industry is built to chase a few more efficient votes at the margins, organizing focuses on building constituencies to achieve material change in their own lives through democracy. In 2024, the DPI Action Fund, Pro-Democracy Center, and the Organizing Lab at the State Power Fund undertook an unprecedented study of 26 independent power organizations (IPOs) across 10 states, representing the largest dataset ever collected on organizing and mobilization. We will share key findings and hear from state leaders on how organizing is converting election-year participation into civic power.

Related Research

PDF
October 22, 2025
Civic Power: The Role and Impact of Independent Political Organizations
This memo summarizes the toplines from several quantitative and qualitative research projects undertaken in 2025 to evaluate the political and power implications of base-building organizing.