I am constantly looking for ways to make organizing easier on organizers and when I met the folks of Action Network and Action Builder at Netroots nation this year, I was super excited to learn more about the tools they are building. Martha Grant is the Director of Product Strategy at the nonprofit Action Network and Action Builder. She builds and designs digital tools for and with community organizers, especially in the labor movement. 

Swing Left helps folks find the most impactful ways of electing democrats in the most important elections all across the United States. Their focus for 2020 is flipping the senate, winning the white house, and tackling gerrymandering. Steve Pierce is on the show sharing with us ways we can get involved with a couple pro tips to boot.

Anat Shenker-Osario is a leading researcher in progressive messaging and communications with her research and writing being featured in a myriad of publications including The Atlantic, Boston Globe, Salon, and The Guardian, among others. She is also the host of the new podcast Brave New Words, where she takes listeners behind the scenes of different campaigns and what goes into crafting a winning message. Tune in to hear Anat's advice for progressive organizers on how to communicate your message to the masses in the most effective way.

Chris O'Connor shares with us his 5 years of experience as a development director at Equality Maine, one of the largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations in the state. Chris came to Equality Maine with a boat load of experience organizing and working with teams, but had little to no fundraising experience. He shares with us how he learned the ropes, the highs and lows and how he has centered his development work around the community and values that his organization serves.  

In this episode I share with you how this podcast came to be, goals for the future, and last but not least I share with you a little nugget of one of the biggest lessons that organizing has taught me. 

Cooper Reed got his start in political organizing as a young person (pre-teen!) volunteering on Obama’s 2008 campaign and has worked on a myriad of issue and candidate campaigns.  Currently he is the Political and Organizing Director of the Maine Democratic party. He shares with us what it was like getting started as a young person, the impact that organizing has had on his life, the ups and downs of winning and losing and how we can make organizing more accessible to younger folks.

Recording from the Netroots Nation conference in Philadelphia, this episode highlights some vendors and causes while also sharing some tips from fellow organizers. Netroots Nation is one of the largest gatherings of progressive organizers in the country.

Hi Team!! This is not a typical episode, rather an opportunity to connect, express my gratitude, and update you on the happenings here at Ocean of Organizing. To show my appreciation, the first 25 folks who head over to the oceanoforganizing.com website and share with me your thoughts and feedback, will receive a hand printed thank you card with hand written note and an Ocean of Organizing sticker. Also note there will be no episode next week as I'll be at Netroots Nation hopefully meeting some of you fine folks in person! 

Jeanie has worked on LGBTQ advocacy campaigns on both marriage and non-discrimination efforts. She shares with us some of her favorite memories and greatest challenges in the work. Currently she is off hiking the Pacific Crest Trail as part of her goal to be walking for a year, she'll be heading over to the Continental Divide Trail next.

Sass shares a powerful story of how a direct action protesting trains transporting fracked oil through their small Maine town forever changed the direction of their life. Now as an organizer for Resources for Organizing Social Change (ROSC) they share the skills they have learned over the years. I should note that this is a skype call I had with Sass last winter so when they discuss different events the timing was much earlier in the year than when this is landing in your inbox.