Built to Last

Developing + Sustaining Organizers

A collage of three organizers, in front of the U.S. Capitol Building. From left to right, the organizers are: first, a medium skin older woman wearing a backpack, with her right fist in the air. In her left hand, she is holding a megaphone and speaking into it. Second, a dark skin young man wearing a cloth mask over his nose and mouth, holding a megaphone with both hands up to his face. Third, a medium skin young woman with a serious expression on her face and holding her left fist up in the air.

Community organizers have long been a force for change. By nurturing community leadership and collective action, organizers strengthen the civic fabric of our society to build a more just world.

But the organizing field is at a crossroads. Organizations struggle to hire, develop, and retain organizers, and many organizers lack the support they need to grow and thrive. To strengthen and sustain organizing, we must invest in the people doing the work and prioritize their growth and well-being.

Across the organizing field, there is an abundance of wisdom and experience that offers inspiration, innovations, and promising solutions to the organizer staffing crisis. Through the Organizer Learning Project and Organizer Staffing Stories of Practice Project, we bring those stories and ideas to light.

READ ABOUT THE PROJECTS

The Phases + Nutrients of

Organizer Growth

Organizers are the key to lasting power building, but too often they struggle to access the experiences and relationships that make a difference in their growth. In the Organizer Learning Project, we explore and unpack the process of organizer development. We highlight the phases and nutrients of organizer growth, pointing to opportunities for intervention, support, and action.

READ ABOUT THE PHASES + NUTRIENTS

Five graphics are depicted in a cycle. The first image depicts a medium skin hand sprinkling seeds, followed by a graphic of a small plant germinating, followed by a larger plant flowering, followed by garden sheers cutting part of the flowering plant, followed by a graphic of the plant standing with no flowers.

A black and white image of four young multi-racial adults, all standing with their arms raised. One is holding and shouting into a megaphone, while the others are holding up protest signs.

Stories of Practice:

How Three Organizations Recruit, Develop, + Retain Organizer Staff

Across the organizing field, organizations have overcome staffing challenges and invested deeply in recruiting, developing, and retaining their organizers. In the Organizer Staffing Project, we share the stories of three organizations that are innovating and doubling down on practices that have helped strengthen and sustain their staff.

READ THE STORIES

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER?

Community organizers do the day-to-day relational work of developing community leaders and engaging people with common values and interests to stand together and take collective action. Organizers cultivate leadership, analyze power, devise strategy, plan campaigns, and take action with their communities to advance material and structural change.