Anat Shenker-Osorio
Founder and Principal of ASO Communications, Anat Shenker-Osorio examines why certain messages falter where others deliver. She's led the research on the Race-Class Narrative Project, in addition to dozens of previous studies on issues including immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, collective action and reproductive rights. Anat's original approach through priming experiments, task-based testing and online dial surveys has led to progressive electoral and policy victories across the globe.
Anat has delivered her findings at the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Centre for Australian Progress, Irish Migrant Centre, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation and LUSH International, among others.
Her writing and research is profiled in The Washington Post, Atlantic, Boston Globe, Salon, The Guardian and Grist among others.
Presentations from Facing Race 2020
Running *Towards* Race and Immigration on the Doorstep: using Deep Canvassing and Race Class Narrative to win in rural communities and red states
The conventional wisdom in political circles is that we have to run away from race when we talk with voters. This has allowed the far right to fill up all of the space and define the conversation about race and about immigration, especially in the Trump era. The results for our collective movement have been disastrous, as the narrative about communities of color has become even more toxic and treacherous. What are we to do as organizers, especially as we look beyond the 2020 elections?
The good news is that when we contest for space and meaning, our narrative will win – even in the places we think are the hardest to break through. Based on over 3,000 Deep Canvass conversations with conflicted voters in rural areas in red/purple states, grassroots organizations of People’s Action have demonstrated that we can lead with our values and stories and break through to victory.
Join this breakout and training session to learn about Deep Canvassing, using the Race Class Narrative pioneered by Anat Shenker-Osorio. Participants will learn the foundations of Deep Canvassing, hone a script, practice their own Deep Canvass skills and reflect on how they could bring these skills home. Organizers and canvassers from Pennsylvania Stands Up and Down Home North Carolina will help lead the training session.
Speakers: Mehrdad Azemun, Anat Shenker-Osorio, Mahsima Hallaji, Dominic Holmes, Steve DelinePresentations from Facing Race 2018
Is America Possible? Building a Multiracial Democracy in an Era of Division
As the U.S. approaches 2043 and a demographic tipping point, right-wing demagogues of division are advancing their vision of white minority rule. How do we think about the struggle for a democratic future? What kinds of lessons can we draw from the global crisis of neoliberalism, beset by extreme economic and social inequality coupled with the rise of religious fundamentalism, misogyny, and racial and ethnic nationalism? How do we stop the march toward authoritarianism? In this plenary, leading thinkers and organizers discuss how we can advance the promise and possibility of a true multiracial democracy.
Speakers: john powell, Tarso Luís Ramos, Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Anat Shenker-Osorio, Julie NelsonPresentations from Facing Race 2014
Equity is the Cure for Austerity: Framing the Case for an Equitable Economy
Austerity – the policy of reduced government spending – is a philosophy of public disinvestment that harms communities of color and has been thoroughly debunked by economic experts. Although the current budget agreement may have temporarily quieted the austerity buzz, it is bound to rear its head again during the next contentious negotiation: now is the time to strategize how to counteract this toxic narrative. This session will train participants to employ the framework of equity – just and fair inclusion – as the cure for austerity and the key to America’s economic prosperity.
Speakers: Anand Subramanian, Anat Shenker-Osorio, Sarah Treuhaft, Valerie Rawlston Wilson