2024 Program:
Organizing and Activism Strategies
Thursday November 21
From Atlanta to Palestine, organizers are facing unprecedented attacks on the right to protest, including repressive laws designed to silence dissent across issue areas. In this session, you’ll hear from:
- Kamau Franklin, the Founder and Executive Director of Community Movement Builders, which has been leading the fight to StopCopCity since its construction was announced.
-Julia Bacha, the director of the documentary "Boycott" and the Creative Director at Just Vision, an organization that fills s a media gap on Israel-Palestine through independent storytelling.
Presenters will share media clips and other compelling visual materials to illustrate this issue and efforts to push back. For years, lawfare tactics have been used to silence organizers for racial justice and Palestinian advocacy across the U.S. and beyond.
For Palestinian advocacy, the trend is especially sharp in local legislatures, where 36 states have laws on the books that aim to silence those boycotting Israel based on its human rights record. Similarly, StopCopCity organizers are facing legislation that penalizes essential organizing methods, criminalizing everything from the use of burner phones to charitable bail funds, impacting the ecosystem of who can protest, dissent, and organize for their communities.
With these laws spreading quickly across the US, the speakers will share about techniques used to push back and the importance of cross-movement / intersectional organizing in these efforts.
Public school systems across the country have long been a battlefield for competing visions of society. Recent attacks on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and LGBTQ+ people in schools are part of a well-funded, long-term effort to discredit, dismantle and privatize public education and with it, the very notion of public goods. Extremists and their wealthy backers want to destroy public schools because, if they are thriving and equitable, this challenges white supremacy and elite power.
Public School Strong (PSS) is a national campaign that builds power starting locally, so that every student – regardless of zip code, race, gender, or ethnicity – can have equitable access to quality, fully funded public schools. Initially developed by HEAL Together North Carolina in the spring of 2023, PSS has expanded to have participants from all 50 states and statewide organizing committees in more than a dozen states. This interactive session is designed for individuals, grassroots groups and allied organizations to explore this model and how to plug in.
This workshop will move participants through an analysis of the political moment and how we got here and then dig into how to maximize racial justice, power-building, and strategy in whatever post-election scenario we find ourselves in. Participants will think through the best cases for racial justice and power-building in the event of a Trump/Vance victory or a Harris/Walz victory, and the various permutations for Congress and states. Participants will leave this session with a list of prioritized power-building moves for their organizations. We will contrast the long-term agenda of the corporate-conservative and authoritarian movements --- including their strategic use of racism --- with our own movement long-term agenda, and then our respective mid-range plans for the next 10 years. This leads to a conversation about power-building in the post-election scenario in four areas: issue campaigns, battle of big ideas, movement politics, and power-building. We will also share links to free resources on governing power, state alignment tables, strategic campaigns, narrative strategy, building 10-year power plans, and creating/deepening state power analysis.
According to state and federal law enforcement officials, May 25th 2020 was the inception of the largest, most organized, and best funded criminal syndicate in America’s history. Tens of thousands of co-conspirators. Rampant violence across the nation. Millions of dollars stolen. Property destroyed. All over the span of four years.
According to police and prosecutors, you’re likely a part of this criminal syndicate to commit violence, racketeering, and intimidation. Court documents suggest that if you have attended a rally, concert, meeting, or protest in support of racial, gender, reproductive, migrant, or climate justice since the death of George Floyd in May 2020, you could be a co-conspirator. If you contributed your talent, your money, or even provided food in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, you could be a co-conspirator.
Law enforcement in at least 12 states, as well as the FBI, are advancing a dangerous legal framework that weaponizes the First Amendment against social movements. It asserts that dissent is the enemy of the state. Association is now conspiracy.
And the problem is getting worse. State legislatures and Congress are advancing bills that increase the use of surveillance, criminalization, and punishment built from the Global War on Terror and War on Drugs to topple decentralized movement formations. We’ll go inside the authoritarian playbook to target and destroy the engine of our democracy and explore what social movements, philanthropy, and government officials must do to stop it.
As an opening and introduction, we will begin by giving an overview of the work of our organization, New Voices for Reproductive Justice (New Voices), and how the facilitators’ roles in the organization contribute to the overall mission, particularly voter and civic engagement, and community organizing. We will gauge the work and experience of our participants, to frame the direction of the workshop, amplifying what is most needed.
We will ground in the issue we are seeing with Black people and their lack of desire to vote—highlighting suppression, access, and a growing hopelessness. We will show the tangible evidence of how voter suppression tactics have directly impacted voter apathy, then ground the group in the framework of Reproductive Justice and discuss why it matters when intersecting with civic engagement.
We’ll discuss the pillars of New Voices and particularly highlight community organizing. We’ll share why organizing from the lens of Reproductive Justice is essential when engaging Black voters and explore ways that Reproductive Justice-informed organizing can help tackle the issue of voter apathy.
New Voices is an organization that seeks to amplify the voices of the most marginalized. We understand that to be Black women and people, Queer and Trans folks, people with disabilities, and the economically disadvantaged. When working with apathetic voters, we have to be sensitive to their needs and listen to their stories.
Preemption is currently being used and abused to disrupt advances in racial justice, health equity, voting, and countless other issues that deeply impact the ability to build power for communities of color. We saw this clearly in Jackson, Mississippi, where the state legislature passed House Bill 1020, mandating the appointment of special judges and prosecutors by Mississippi state officials in majority-Black Hinds County, which includes the City of Jackson.
HB 1020 also permits Capitol Police to take effective control of policing responsibilities in an area of Jackson, increasing the police presence in Black communities. With its enactment, it shifts authority over the county’s criminal justice system away from democratically elected judges and prosecutors elected by Black voters. It also starves revenue from the city by diverting 18% of the tax revenue that should go to Jackson city but will now go to the state to fund the new judiciary arm.
The blatant power grab and preemptive attack by the majority-White legislature in a Black city like Jackson, MS, is spreading across the country. White and right-wing conservative states are attacking our voting rights, education and curriculum, efforts to advance police abolition, living wage ordinances, and the bodily autonomy and healthcare of trans and gender-expansive youth.
Our communities are feeling the brunt of these state attacks. This panel will discuss the impact of state power grabs at the local level and the strategies to combat them, from narrative shifts needed to organizing strategies to protect local victories and community self-determination.
Too often, people of color face bias and barriers when trying to access vital healthcare services. Racial disparities in the healthcare sector are deep and persistent, reflecting systemic inequities. Individuals are often blamed for their own health outcomes and burdened with navigating a complex and unjust healthcare system. How can communities most impacted by healthcare disparities (especially people of color and low-income communities) organize and advocate for the services they need and deserve? This session will provide the space to explore different community organizing approaches that: explicitly addresses racial systemic inequities people face when seeking vital quality healthcare; centers the leadership needs of directly-impacted people of color and marginalized communities, and, focuses on building grassroots collective power to challenge and transform existing health care institutions and policies in order to make them more accessible, affordable, and equitable. We'll explore grassroots organizing initiatives in the healthcare sector and invite participants to share experiences, strategies, and insights.
Narrative organizing is more than altering words; it's about shifting power dynamics and constructing systems that empower communities. This session proposes exploring DIY narrative research methods to advance racial justice through narrative organizing. We'll delve into the fundamental question: Whose narrative matters?
In this session, we’ll teach you how narrative research recognizes narrative power and generates research outcomes to build the common good. Recognizing that research is labor, we'll explore the importance of providing stipends and adopting trauma-aware approaches in both group and individual interviews.
Approaching research projects can be overwhelming, so we’ll share our tips on how to design research projects with accountability in mind, select research participants and advisory boards, conduct interviews, and identify deep narratives. To assist in the latter, we’ll also launch the Narrative Index—a reference set of helpful and harmful narratives common to narrative organizing for racial justice, like interdependence and independence.
This session will emphasize the significance of relationship-building and trust in DIY research. While practical skills like selecting advisory boards are valuable, true impact often lies in the micro-interactions that shape our landscaping and analysis work. Acknowledging this, we'll offer insights into fostering genuine connections that drive meaningful change.
Participants will leave equipped with a practical toolkit and a deeper understanding of how DIY narrative research can contribute to their power-building goals through narrative organizing. Join us for a session full of learning how to do the work of identifying narratives and reshaping the future of our communities towards justice.
We all come from people who have made a way out of no way. Let us reflect on what we have accomplished collectively in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Whether we’re Black or white, Latine or Asian, Indigenous or newcomer, we and our ancestors have faced insurmountable odds before and continue to make change so that our families and communities are vibrant and whole.
In this workshop, we will focus on two research-backed elements of effective race-forward messaging that counters the huge obstacle of cynicism and inspires people to action: “Vision” and “Victories.” We will discuss how to incorporate these into our messaging and why they strengthen the stories we tell and the campaigns we run.
Join us for an engaging workshop where we’ll introduce the "Health Equity Narrative House," a powerful narrative change tool designed to foster a healthier, fairer, and more just society. Inspired by bell hooks’ words, “Choosing love, we also choose to live in community, and that means that we do not have to change by ourselves. We can change together,” this workshop will explore how collective efforts can drive meaningful change.
In September 2023, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched the Health Equity Narrative Lab (HEN Lab) with 29 diverse participants, including practitioners, strategists, organizers, artists, and funders. Together, they identified the narrative barriers to health equity and co-created the “Health Equity Narrative House.” This framework highlights the interconnected nature of these barriers and the need for a unified strategy to overcome them.
Throughout the HEN Lab, it became clear that a strong, cohesive movement for health equity is essential. This movement must be driven by clear goals and visions from those actively involved. Transforming narratives requires a multifaceted approach: building power, using art and stories, sharing content widely, and continuously welcoming new members into the movement.
We are excited to share the Health Equity Narrative House with you. This tool will be invaluable for advocates, storytellers, and strategists, helping to unify and amplify the voices dedicated to health equity. Join us to learn how you can contribute to and benefit from this transformative narrative framework.
Step into the world of artivism with Creative Reaction Lab's youth artists as they lead an interactive workshop, sharing their passion for creative change-making. In this session, participants will engage with the artists, exploring how to visually convey content around inequity and other social issues.
The artists will guide participants through the creative process, empowering them to become decision-makers in using art as a form of activism. In addition to showcasing their work, these talented individuals will share their experiences creating art and engaging in artivism.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn from the artists, gaining insight into their creative process and the impact of their work. The workshop encourages dialogue and collaboration, fostering a deeper understanding of the role of art in addressing social issues.
Join us to witness the passion and dedication of these young artists as they use their talents to drive meaningful change. Be inspired by their stories and learn how you can use art as a tool for advocacy and empowerment. Together, we can create a more just and equitable society through art and activism.
MoJustice was founded by a formerly incarcerated person to serve as the unifying entity to do what has never been done before: building a statewide prison advocacy movement in Missouri. Our goal is to bring together stakeholders including individuals impacted by the criminal punishment system, concerned community members, litigators, and experts.
Our mission is to educate, empower, and unite these community members, transforming them into a powerful advocacy base. Through collaborative efforts, we strive to drive meaningful reforms within the Missouri prison system, addressing the systemic injustices, inhumane conditions, and absence of accountability.
I firmly believe that collective amplification and collective action are essential in building a statewide base of effective and sustained prison advocacy.
In this breakout session, we will discuss the strategy, obstacles, and collaborations in building this advocacy movement and the dire conditions in Missouri prisons that necessitate such a huge undertaking.
Muslim communities have been at the forefront of many organizing conversations this year, however the progressive movement has yet to understand Islamophobia as a structural phenomenon just like other racial justice issues, that is oftentimes connected to other forms of racism and xenophobia. Recognizing that systemic and institutionalized Islamophobia impacts all marginalized communities through increased state repression, makes it even more imperative to challenge it in our collective social justice fights.
Despite the last two plus decades of the targeting of Muslims in the War on Terror, Islamophobia has often been addressed and challenged as interpersonal violence, which has served to obscure and absolve the state of the institutional violence against Muslims that it has implemented, sustained, and perpetuated. Discounting At the same time, the proliferation and exponential increase of Islamophobia across the globe by other states has largely gone uncontested. In order to expand the conversation on combating Islamophobia, this workshop will engage participants in activities including how we can collectively articulate and define of this system of oppression, discussions on how Islamophobia is impacting Muslims domestically and across the the globe, deconstructing problematic and demonizing narratives of Islam and Muslims, and how to create community accountability campaigns to confront Islamophobia beyond its most obvious iterations, including how it is weaponized against other communities. This includes activities that highlight the industries that are complicit in and that profit from Islamophobia and/or complicit in affirming violence against Muslims and how to confront these forces.
Extremist anti-public education forces that have used attacks on race and gender to erode trust in public schools over the past few years are shifting toward an even more destructive end game: universal voucher legislation that directs billions in public funds to private schools, predominantly for the benefit of affluent families.
Today, in nine states, virtually every school-aged student is eligible to receive public money to spend as they choose—whether on tuition at a private school, tutors or piano lessons, sports programs, religious instruction, or homeschooling. Many more states are in danger of adopting these policies in 2024.
This dramatic expansion of vouchers threatens to undermine state budgets, defund public schools, blur the lines between church and state, and increase segregation. The extremist forces promoting universal vouchers may have unlimited funds, but the pro-public education forces have people power and popular support. Vouchers have appeared on the ballot 15 times over the past two decades, and in each case, the public has voted against them.
In this session, hear from HEAL Together community partners in Florida, Tennessee, and other states about how voucher legislation is impacting their public schools, and the strategies and tools that diverse communities can use to organize majority public support to block, limit, and repeal these policies.
Join us for a powerful and insightful panel discussion featuring Cal and Michael Brown Sr. from Chosen for Change and activists from the 2014 Ferguson Uprising. This panel will delve into the personal journeys of these activists, exploring the pivotal moments that sparked their activism, the impact it has had on their lives, and the progress made over the past 10 years.
The panel will engage the audience through a Q&A session, encouraging discussion on the ongoing challenges in dismantling systemic racism and supporting activists seeking racial justice. Don't miss this compelling panel discussion that offers a unique opportunity to hear from key figures in the Ferguson Uprising and gain valuable insights into the personal journeys, challenges, and victories of a decade of activism. Join us as we reflect on the past and look toward the future in the ongoing fight for racial justice.
In 2001, Boeing received $60 million in tax breaks to move its headquarters to Chicago. In return, Boeing was required to create 500 jobs in downtown Chicago, a promise it failed to keep. Meanwhile, Chicagoans were struggling to access basic services.
In 2012, Chicago fired 172 librarians and shortened library hours to save $3 million. Chicago closed half of its 12 public mental health clinics to save $2.2 million. That same year, Chicago gave $1.3 million to Boeing to reimburse them for real estate taxes.
Dissenters will provide a training on how communities can replicate the success of their 2022 “Boeing Arms Genocide” campaign, which resulted in Boeing moving its headquarters out of Chicago and denied Boeing $2 million in tax subsidies.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus Center will draw practical connections between the military budget and our everyday lives. For example, under the 1033 program, the Pentagon transfers surplus weapons to police departments across the country. This exacerbates violence against Black, Brown, and marginalized communities.
Military funding siphons funds away from social programs. A $100 billion cut to military spending could provide universal childcare ($70 billion), house every unhoused person ($7.4 billion), and provide universal school meals ($5.2 billion).
Together, we'll explore how U.S. foreign policy feeds racism at home and abroad and how U.S.-based campaigns can intersect with anti-militarism work.
Together, we will expand our knowledge and accountability to the experiences of Black trans people. Between examples from our history, real-time examples and issues, engaging conversations, and self-reflection activities, we will re-establish our role(s) in movements for racial and gender justice.
This session is about the protection, support, and thriving of people who are immeasurably impacted by historic and systemic violence. "Aliveness" is the category for this space, and we will collectively re-imagine what is needed to create holistic care for Black trans people. This session is not a naïve utopian dream nor a space for hollow performativism; it is a praxis of Radical Imagination and an intentional space for us to live into a better, safer world. All participants are welcome—regardless of their identities, scope of work, or prerequisite knowledge—as long as they are invested in fostering a community where Black trans people are liberated.
Session Objectives:
-Participants will learn about eight dimensions of aliveness and relate those dimensions to Black trans communities.
-Participants will engage in activities to set one goal for Black trans aliveness.
-Participants will develop an accountability system to sustain their role(s) in Black trans aliveness.
This interactive workshop is designed to equip you with the tools and knowledge to effectively advocate for change through meme-making and digital organizing. Here's what you can expect:
🔍 Narrative Shift Case Studies: Explore real-world examples of narrative shifts that have sparked change and learn how to apply these strategies to your own advocacy efforts.
🎯 Creating SMART Goals: Develop clear, actionable goals for your digital organizing campaigns using the SMART goal framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
🎨 Hands-On Graphic Design Tutorial: Master the art of meme-making with a step-by-step tutorial using Canva, a user-friendly graphic design platform. From selecting powerful imagery to crafting compelling messages, you'll learn how to create memes that resonate and inspire action.
💡 Prepare to Share New Content: Leave the workshop with fresh, impactful content ready to be shared across your social media platforms. Whether you're raising awareness about social issues or mobilizing your community for change, you'll have the tools to amplify your message effectively.
The norm of the Western Canon privileges the white, cis-gendered male experience while it marginalizes and dehumanizes everyone else. Through storytelling and examples of professional productions on stage, podcast, and screen, we will interrogate and explore how we can deconstruct these biases and find opportunities to re-center multi-identity artists in new cultural models.
In this session, we will unpack our history’s inequitable practices in cultural arts and present ideas that challenge socialized assumptions. We will lift up real-life examples and what we learned from pushing back and taking ownership of art in the image of our diverse world. We will leave the session having stretched our radical imagination and created visionary fiction that inspires our work forward.
The Race and Democracy work at the Horizons Project seeks to employ futures thinking frameworks to advance racial justice. Futures thinking frameworks and analytical tools have proven valuable in helping leaders, organizations, policymakers, and activists make more strategic decisions about policies, priorities, strategic plans, outcomes, and goals. However, we have not seen these tools equally applied to the challenge of organizing to build collective power for advancing racial justice.
The Horizons Project applies futures thinkings frameworks and analytical tools for the specific purpose of advancing racial justice. In addition, our futures thinking frameworks specifically engage the narrative competencies required to advance racial justice. For example, how should leaders engage in conversations that have deep resonances in demonstrative realities of racial injustice? Conversely, how should organizers and activists push against racial stereotypes embedded within organizational decision-making? What skills are needed to re-shape racial narratives?
What practices should leaders adopt to transform their institutional culture and prioritize racial justice within their organizations? How might these leaders imagine racial justice within their organizations and spheres of influence? How might organizers and activists advance institution’s capacity to reshape public services for better racial equity outcomes?
Whether it is expressing solidarity with human rights in Palestine, amplifying the demands of queer and trans community members, or making connections between immigrant, climate, and racial justice movements, constructing narratives is a challenging process generally, but even more so during times of crisis and conflict.
How do organizations move through internal disagreements around values and political analysis? What happens when groups don't have solid partnerships with communities that they wish to be in solidarity with?
Solidarity Is at Building Movement Project and Transgender Law Center have supported many groups that have struggled to uplift solidarity narratives due to a misalignment of values, political differences, or community criticism.
During this session, we will bring our expertise, lessons learned, and resources to participants. The session will use an interactive approach that includes brief presentations, scenario workshopping, reflection questions, and peer exchange. Additionally, participants will receive tools, guides, and resources to strengthen their capacity to develop strategic solidarity narratives and practices within their organizations.
A powerful strategic communication tool is the opinion editorial. Opinion editorials run opposite the editorial page in printed publications, and in the opinion section on online platforms. These pieces inform local, state, and federal officials on a host of topics and can influence how policymakers and the public view a given issue.
Opinion pieces are also a phenomenal way to advance one's message and change the narrative on a host of topics. To build capacity, organizers and advocates should know how to write and publish their thought leadership, and this workshop will show you how.
Learn from experts who write, edit, and pitch opinion essays regularly. In 2023, Spotlight PR LLC edited, wrote, and pitched for publication more than 55 opinion essays. We know what works and can show you how to write in your own voice and share that voice with the world.
Friday November 22
Neighborhood Leadership Fellows (NLF) is an advanced 9-month fellowship aimed at increasing and amplifying the voices of residents from the St. Louis Promise Zone (North St. Louis City and parts of North County) in civic decision-making spaces in order to produce more equitable regional policies for strong neighborhoods.
Developed by the University of Missouri—St. Louis, University of Missouri Extension, and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership in collaboration with community leaders, NLF supports current and future leadership in the STL Promise Zone region—an area that is 88.8% Black according to the 2020 census—for those who want to make change at the systems level.
By equipping individuals to access the halls of power via seats on boards, commissions, and elected office, NLF addresses policy inequities and pushes towards systemic change, ultimately building a more racially just future. Fellows work together during and after the program to create policy opportunities and planning documents that address regional inequities.
Panelists will be NLF Alumni and will speak to measurable outcomes achieved locally and statewide as a result of their collaboration with other alumni and the role of lived experiences in leadership and community voice that led to their individual and collective success.
For the interactive portion of the session, presenters will lead small group dialogues on increasing resident leadership in audience communities to achieve a more equitable and racially just future. Groups will have the opportunity to share key takeaways.
In this moment, the rise of authoritarianism and increased attacks on democracy call for Black-led movements to have sustainable long-term strategies that include defensive tactics that protect Black communities, and offensive strategies that address the root causes of economic disparities. The urgency in confronting criminalization, gentrification and exploitation of Black communities often leads funders to focus on supporting short-term, “winnable” reformist campaigns, which limits grassroots organizing and community power building.
This session will offer a deep dive into the power of investing in transformative community-led organizations working at the intersection of racial and economic justice in Detroit, Michigan. In this session, you will hear from Black community organizers and their philanthropic partner on effective ways to fund community organizations to win, and how to prioritize the needs of Black movements while centering impacted voices in strategy and solutions.
Housing, employment, criminalization, land rights, and racial justice are just a few areas that make up this crucial intersectional work. This session will highlight recent successes in Detroit, home to the nation’s largest Black-majority city, as a case study for this discussion.
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Detroit Justice Center and Detroit Peoples Platform will discuss with attendees innovative ways to support and implement successful campaigns for economic security and stability in Black communities. This session is open to funders and organizations who support or want to engage in organizing, power building, and supporting strategic campaigns in Black communities.
Isolation is an unseen and under-discussed tool of control used to perpetuate mass incarceration. For the 1 in 2 Black women with an incarcerated loved one, that isolation has widespread political impact.
Learn how Essie Justice Group is using the power of isolation-breaking as part of a Black Feminist organizing model to drive social change. This workshop will bring attendees in on the disproportionate harms of incarceration to Black women, uncover the radical power of connection, and uplift key insights, tactics, and strategies attendees can leverage in movement-building work.
You will hear from Essie Justice Group organizers about how women with incarcerated loved ones are caregivers and the strategic backbones of their families, rooted in lived experience, ancestral strategies, and the leadership development that results from graduating from Essie Justice Group’s Healing to Advocacy Program: advocating for self, advocating for family, and advocating for community.
This conversation is meant to be an aspirational moment grounded in forecasting, to discuss the nexus of climate migration, and what we will see in cities, towns and legislation unless we begin to thoughtfully think about the future from a climate migration perspective. It is meant to be equal parts visioning and connection to concrete reality through the specific experiences and insights of audience members and the panelist.
Climate migration is often framed in terms that are fear-based, but there is an opportunity to think about the central value of culture—both those we identify with, and that which we want to create—in how we confront the reality of climate migration and its relationship with race and politics at all levels.
Through the panelists sharing a framework for dreaming forward, and audience member participation in small group work, this breakout session is meant to be a time of generative discussion, planning and visioning.
We see this as a starting point for collaboration, networking, information sharing and collective dreaming, to seed a collective approach to climate migration that is based on dignity, not fear.
This session will invite participants to share their current definitions of and orientation to community healing and healing justice. The workshop will analyze the current climate of racial justice and de-carceral movement work and explore the various cultural nuances of healing to explore how healing justice practice can be leveraged across cultures and communities. Using the St. Louis-based InPower Institute’s Black Healers Collective as a case study, we will invite participants to share how healing justice frameworks can be effectively applied.
Participants will be invited to identify the ways in which they already practice healing work, and dream up strategies to build and sustain community-led approaches to care and crisis intervention in the midst of co-optation by state and corporate entities, relationship ruptures, and deep burnout. Leveraging somatic models and practices such as sites of shaping, we will identify the deep needs and strengths that must be highlighted at individual, interpersonal, local, and organizational levels to recover and move forward in our local work toward racial justice and non-carceral approaches toward safety and accountability. The workshop will end with experiential healing and embodiment practices that participants can bring back to their communities and teams.
We will be sharing two stories of coalitions working alongside agency staff to achieve significant wins for communities facing the brunt of the housing and displacement crises. We will devote a substantial portion of the breakout to questions and an active conversation about the lessons learned in both cities. In Seattle, organizers were able to leverage the update to the City’s Comprehensive plan in 2015 to win $16 million in funding for community-led anti-displacement projects.
Speakers will share stories from the initial formation of the Equitable Development Initiative, how a few rogue planners shifted the conversation, and how a one-time allocation grew to $25 million in annual funding from progressive revenue. In NYC, organizers built power by raising awareness about racialized displacement and inequality in land use decision-making. This led to passing new land use reporting requirements and creating a comprehensive data tool. The tool analyzes changes in lived environments and demographics across time, geography, and race.
Speakers will share stories about the organizing strategy that led to the passage of Local Law 78. They will also discuss how collaboration with key members of the Departments of City Planning and Housing and Preservation resulted in a robust new data tool for building community power.
In this impactful breakout session, we will delve into the complex issue of systemic racism within the context of homelessness, with a focus on centering the voices and experiences of those with lived experience.
Through interactive discussions, and personal reflections, participants will explore the root causes of racial inequities in homelessness and the importance of centering lived experience in creating effective solutions. We will examine the intersectionality of race, homelessness, and systemic oppression, recognizing that individuals experiencing homelessness often face multiple forms of discrimination.
By centering the voices of those with lived experience, we can gain valuable insights into the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities and develop more inclusive and equitable approaches to solving homelessness and creating an adaptable system.
Help shape the future of California’s new Racial Equity Commission. In this interactive session, participants will learn about this new body and share wisdom and experience to help advance racial equity in government.
Participants will learn about the multi-year advocacy efforts to establish the Commission, get an update on progress so far, and provide guidance as the Commission seeks to develop a racial equity framework for the state. As this work is underway, we seek guidance from you—racial equity practitioners across the nation—so we can capture the best ideas, tools, strategies, and resources and bring them back as we move this work forward.
In 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom established the state’s first Racial Equity Commission via Executive Order N-16-22, after two years of tireless advocacy from the independent Coalition for the California Racial Equity Coalition (C-REC)—consisting of grassroots organizations, racial justice and equity-focused nonprofits, and community advocates.
The Executive Order outlines the Commission’s roles and responsibilities, which include developing a framework, best practices, technical assistance, and resources to address the legacy of institutional and systemic racism in California’s government policies and programs.
Presenters include:
1) Dr. Larissa Estes, inaugural Executive Director of the Commission
2) Julia Caplan, Executive Director of State of Equity, which has provided racial equity capacity building to over 50 California state government entities through the Capitol Collaborative on Race and Equity
3) Maria Barakat of the Greenlining Institute, who co-leads the grassroots coalition C-REC
An effective, long-standing tradition of midwifery steeply declined after 1910, when the Flexner Report recommended that women deliver their babies in hospitals and midwifery be abolished, making the case that all medical practitioners should have standardized training. But because medical education was rife with racial inequities, this transition away from midwifery had a particular adverse effect on Black mothers and babies. Join Jamaa Birth Village founder Okunsola M. Amadou as she presents a historical overview, shares the organization’s work of training people to serve as midwives and doulas, transforming Black Maternal Health in St. Louis and Missouri over the course of 10 years.
Anti-Palestinian racism is at an all time high but many can not recognize it when they see it. Learn the ways that Anti-Palestinian Racism manifests in our institutions and is normalized structurally between institutions impacting not only Palestinians, but also Arabs, Muslims, and others. In order to effectively dismantle racism, it’s important to recognize it, but then work towards intentionally dismantling it. This breakout session will go over roots in Islamophobia and the unique ways anti-Palestinian racism manifests and what people in Government (including all institutions) and in the public can work together to dismantle it. Learn lessons from local organizers in NJ who are organizing to build power for inclusive communities for everyone.
In 2022, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (AACRE) launched a major strategic effort to build narrative power that reinforces shared progressive values across Asian American communities and empowers action toward an inclusive vision of healing and justice.
AACRE launched a narrative strategy lab in partnership with the Butterfly Lab for Immigrant Narrative Strategy and Asian American Futures to define a set of guiding aspirational narratives for AACRE’s work. Then, they engaged over 40 artist-activists (“artivists”) to launch a multi-sensory, immersive installation in San Francisco Chinatown in partnership with Edge on the Square. They hope to engage older teens and young adults across the AA diaspora to embrace values of activism, justice, and racial solidarity as they come to understand how these values are embedded in AA cultures and have informed AA history.
This understanding can counter negative stereotypes (i.e., that AA people are passive in the face of injustice, that AA communities are isolated and insular) and prompt young people toward new depths of reflection, collaboration, and civic action. This session will offer an introduction to arts-based narrative strategy. Then, we will share how others can advance a culture-based narrative strategy across a broad network, with interactive arts activities exploring the strategies AACRE has developed.
This breakout session, titled “Energizing Justice,” proposes an innovative approach to dismantling systemic racism by integrating the concept of energy justice into racial equity efforts. Set against the backdrop of New York City's vibrant history of activism and the transformative power of people in Black, Latinx, and People of Color communities, our session will explore how clean energy initiatives can catalyze community empowerment and systemic change.
“Energizing Justice” is a 90-minute interactive workshop designed to help attendees understand how the transition to renewable energy—a powerful tool—can advance racial justice. The session will combine a panel discussion featuring activists and experts in renewable energy and racial equity, hands-on art projects, and group activities to foster a participatory and solutions-oriented environment.
Antisemitism has become an increasingly prevalent force in American society, where it is regularly weaponized to further social division, isolation, intolerance, and hatred and frequently succeeds at undermining progressive movements for equality. Generally perceived as a "Jewish problem," many Americans fail to take antisemitism seriously as a threat to both American democracy and racial justice efforts.
This hands-on, interactive workshop—facilitated by two veteran racial justice organizers—will guide participants through an exploration of what’s missing from our public discourse on antisemitism, anti-racism, and inclusive democracy, what’s changed in the organizing landscape since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, and what the moment now requires of us.
Participants will be given tools to help identify when antisemitism is being weaponized against progressive movements. We will also workshop strategies for sustaining multiracial, multifaith coalitions and for more effective justice-oriented advocacy and organizing in the face of targeted attacks. This session is intentionally designed to help participants—both Jewish and non-Jewish—thoughtfully navigate these very challenging waters.