Pushback Network is a national collaboration of indigenous, grassroots organizations and networks committed to building bottom-up, state-based alliances that change both the composition and levels of participation of the electorate.
We emphasize strategies to empower underrepresented constituencies: people of color, poor and working class communities, and young people.
Pushback Network envisions an authentic participatory democracy through which true social justice can be achieved. We seek a democracy that creates opportunities for ordinary people to make real contributions to the political decisions that affect their lives.
DO: Approach key local and regional groups before the strategy is set. Tailor efforts to the culture and politics of individual communities. No state is one community. Incoming organizers should seek synergies with existing work.
DON’T: Bait and switch. Be clear and honest with grassroots organizers about intentions and objectives. Read More »
“When it comes to electoral organizing, it’s not news that the surge isn’t working.”
To start off The Project, our 2008 multi-media civic engagement project, PBN is publishing a few critically important pieces that look at the importance of sound investment in effective civic organizing.
This article by PBN co-chair Robby Rodriguez is the first piece. Download the full article at the bottom, and check back every day for updates.
After the Surge: Investing in Civic Organizing Tactics that Work –By Robby Rodriguez
It’s the thick of the 2008 election cycle, and all around the country legions of “Paratroopers” – well-funded, well-trained young organizers from New York or DC-based national organizations – are dropping down in Louisville, Kansas City, Las Vegas and my own hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico to help get out the vote.
Sinking enormous resources into short-term electoral campaigns has been the accepted modus operandi for the past few election cycles. Trouble is, it overlooks the fact that Louisville, Las Vegas and the rest of us have already invested years of hard work in building organizing infrastructure that too often gets ignored and supplanted to the detriment of everyone involved.
When it comes to turning out voters and winning elections, it’s not news that the surge isn’t working. In state after state, grassroots groups are banding together to form local, regional and national partnerships, including the fast-growing Pushback Network, to focus on what works. Read More »
“We are so pleased to announce the publication of a new book on Generational Change and Leadership, co-authored by SWOP Executive Director Robby Rodriguez in conjunction with colleagues in the Building Movement project.” Working Across Generations: Defining the Future of Nonprofit Leadership, written by Building Movement Project authors Frances Kunreuther, Helen Kim and Robby Rodriguez, offers a comprehensive approach to looking at leadership and generational shifts in the nonprofit sector. The book includes:
Fresh perspectives and practical advice on how to work across generational divides;
Research findings, real-life stories, useful charts and exercises;
Stories and case examples from across the country; and
Recommendations on how individuals, organizations and the nonprofit sector can all play an important part in paving the way for more vibrant and expansive leadership in the nonprofit sector