Ocean Of Organizing

Quinn Gormley and I discuss what its like growing a non-profit that is part organizing part direct service and all the unique struggles of serving a marginalized community. Quinn is the executive director of the Maine Transgender Network, often referred to as MaineTransNet or MTN for short. MTN is a trans led peer to peer support network dedicated to supporting and empowering transgender people to create a world where they can thrive. Their work centers around the more than 30 support groups offered throughout the state, which, primarily in rural communities, serve more than 2,500 people each year.

Professor Vassallo, a political science comparativist specializing in contentious politics and protest movements across Europe shares with us a bit about the green party's success in countries across Europe, the culture of protesting in France, social capital and how to build it, and why it is so important to show up to vote.

This episode is a solo episode where I share some frameworks and ways of thinking about volunteer recruitment that will help you in your volunteer recruitment efforts to increase your capacity through building a team. These frameworks can be applied to various different organizing efforts though they are rooted in my experience on political campaigns.

In this episode, I jumped on a skype call with Megan Brooker, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California Irvine. She specializes in social movements, political sociology, culture, and qualitative methods.

We discuss how to navigate decisions on whether or not to organize within institutionalized politics or to go outside it, coalition work, the impact of social movements on political parties and so much more.

Samaa Abdurraqib’s resume of experience in the world of organizing is long. She has been a professor, abortion rights and reproductive justice organizer, she has organized for access to healthcare and so much more. In her current job she provides training, support, and project coordination for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. What we talk the most about though is the organizing she is doing outside of her 40 hour a week job, which is doing resiliency work within communities of color. We discuss what it means to meet folks where they are at and the importance of finding work that fills your cup.

Shane Diamond, founder of Speak About it sits down with me to talk about how he started an organization that through theatrical plays, has presented to over 300,000 high school juniors, seniors, and college freshmen across the country and around the world about sexual assault prevention and consent. He shares with us wisdom from starting something new, launching an organization, the language around consent, growing in leadership, asking for help, self care, and soo much more.