Tides Advocacy is holding free virtual 501(c)(4) strategy and learning sessions to reflect on the experiences and ground covered from the past few years, with a focus on sustaining political movement work led by Black people, Indigenous people and people of color.
Join us to connect on community-driven power building efforts, long-term political organizing led by BIPOC communities, and relationship building across the c4 space.
Learn more about this year’s c4 Learning Labs, Strategy Sessions, and c4 Grantmaking Practice Sessions
Stay tuned for regular updates on content, speakers, and learning opportunities!
We’re holding learning labs for Tides Advocacy fiscally-sponsored partners this summer to support exchange and collective knowledge building towards movement-aligned political practice. Join us to reflect on core strategy and operations questions connected to sustaining power building!
Please note that the Learning Labs are open only to teams from Tides Advocacy fiscally sponsored partners.
Wednesday July 20
11am - 12:15pm PST/2pm 3:15pm EST
Tides Advocacy partners are using electoral influence to transform the political system and advance their vision for liberation. This work can lead to accountability from elected officials, new co-governance models, community representation and influence in government, and meaningful policy change.
Organizations deciding whether and how to expand their organizing through electoral work weigh several factors both around strategy and operations. Reflection questions include:
- How can candidate work reinforce year-round community organizing work, rather than detract from it?
- When is it the right moment to deepen or expand an electoral influence initiative?
- How can we best manage operations across 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4) and PAC entities, while retaining flexible organizing and movement building practices?
Join us to reflect on key lessons in expanding political advocacy work to advance power building, including insights on structuring and managing separate c3, c4 and PAC programs.
Session hosts include:
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- Lenisha Gibson, Political Director, Dream Defenders
- Brahvan Ranga, Political Director & Jonathan Bix, Executive Director, For the Many
- Ben Malley, Political Director, Tides Advocacy
Wednesday, August 10
11am - 12:15pm PT / 2pm - 3:15pm ET
In 2021, Beyond Impact focused on the importance of building the bench of BIPOC community leaders to transform the political landscape. Building on this perspective, there’s also growing interest to focus internally on building power within c4 organizations and reshaping leadership practices to ensure consistency with movement values.
How might we reimagine liberatory leadership practices and systems within c4 organizations, moving away from white supremacist ideals? What lessons from community power building strategy can help shape our internal work, including how we support teams, leadership development, and decision-making?
Join us to reflect on practices and strategies for moving towards liberatory organizational leadership in c4s. Potential reflection areas include:
- Supporting team members to run for office and C4 leadership renewal
- Co-director models for power sharing and collective care
- Collectivizing power within organizations
- Radical accountability practices that decenter punishment
Session hosts include:
- Hairo Cortes, Executive Director, Chispa
- Lupe Lopez, Founder and Principal, SWAN
Join us to support strategy and learning across the 501(c)(4) ecosystem, aligning our practices, visions and resources to transform the political landscape and sustain BIPOC-led, long-term political power building
Wednesday, August 24
11am - 12:15pm PT / 2pm - 3:15pm ET
Electoral outcomes have an outsized impact on the lives of BIPOC communities, yet no one “win” on election day will deliver collective liberation. BIPOC-led movements are expanding their work to include electoral organizing, using direct political influence to achieve their long-term policy and power building goals. This means building sustained community engagement at the local level, pushing candidates towards greater alignment with movement demands, linking policy advocacy to electoral initiatives, and envisioning change during and in between election cycles.
Time and again, community members demand tangible near-term change, and a political landscape that represents their agendas. However, cycle-to-cycle funding and white voter-centered campaign strategy undermine this vision. How have organizations connected electoral organizing to long-term movement building work? What c4 ecosystem supports are needed to advance power building multi-cycle electoral initiatives, and build capacities to take advantage of success gained from these efforts?
This session will explore strategies to build independent political power across multiple cycles for sustained change, and reflect on visions for transforming the political landscape over the next 10 years consistent with BIPOC-led social movement principles.
Speakers:
- Nada Al-Hanooti, Executive Director, Emgage Michigan
- Ludovic Blain, Executive Director, California Donor Table
- Renita Francois, Chief Strategy Officer, Tides Advocacy
- Rukia Lumumba, Movement for Black Lives Action Fund
- Neil Volz, Deputy Director, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Action Fund
Wednesday September 14
11am - 12:15pm PT / 2pm - 3:15pm ET
Strong BIPOC-led c4 organizing is foundational to securing progressive wins now more than ever in a way that catalyzes transformative political change and accelerates people power. Movement groups are organizing their power by growing a progressive base of support, demanding accountability for policy change, and engaging in elections to increase the political influence of BIPOC communities.
Narrative change can be pivotal in shifting the political ecosystem by serving as an advocacy tool to support healing following decades of forced trauma in BIPOC communities, perform as a monitoring agent to ensure government accountability, and center the demands, leadership, and experiences of BIPOC people. Increasingly, power building organizations are using narrative change work to explicitly name and address the political roots of racial injustice and inequality. How have organizations used narrative change campaigns to build a broad base of support, exercise electoral influence, and translate electoral engagement into policy and cultural change?
This session will explore how narrative strategies can strengthen electoral influence and power-building work, with a focus on transforming the political landscape and public opinion towards racial justice.
We’re excited to announce our session speakers!
- Ivette Alé - Ferlito, Co-Founder, La Defensa
- Ashanti Gardner, Visual Artist/Scribe
- Jordan James Harvill, National Program Director, Advance Native Political Leadership
- Greg Jackson, Executive Director, Community Justice Action Fund
Can 501(c)(3) foundations make grants to c4 organizations? Does your 501(c)(3) have an affiliated 501(c)(4)? Are there opportunities to expand grantmaking practices to partner with groups working in the political space? A grantmaking compliance strategy is critical for these efforts.
Sign up for a free consultation with Tides Advocacy’s legal and compliance team to help strategize for the coming months.
Event planning - Girl Friday Events
Graphic design and logo - Marissa Katarina Bergmann aimari.com
Please review our Community Guidelines here.
Questions? Contact our team at [email protected]
For more information on previous sessions, check-out our 2021 series recap here.
