Defending Our Democracy in 2024

Democracy is on the ballot in 2024. With primaries in full swing, the election news cycle – and public discourse around what so many are calling the most significant elections of our lifetime – has already accelerated. This week, Change Consulting gathered for the first of a series of internal conversations about how we can prepare for the elections: what races and conversations are we tracking? What tools and resources will our clients need to prepare for election results that have life-altering implications for the communities we serve? We will be asking ourselves these questions throughout the year, and sharing resources and learnings with each other, our clients, and our communities to contribute to the success of the movement for racial justice and Black liberation in the 2024 elections.

Here are a few resources that we find valuable. We’ll share more throughout the year and we would love to hear from you: tag us on social media @ChangeCo_ with the tools you are using in this moment:

 

Client News

Essential to these efforts is preparing for the inevitable onslaught of malicious or simply misguided untruths, false claims, and runaway theories. This week, Kay Cuajunco, Change Consulting Director of Communications, designed and co-hosted along with our CEO Bilen Mesfin Packwood the first in a series of workshops for Heising-Simons’ Human Rights Program grantee partners on mis- and disinformation. Part I focused on building a shared understanding of mis- and disinformation as well as narrative power and learning best practices for monitoring the media and digital landscape for trends that impact key audiences. We look forward to Part II where we will discuss best practices for rapid response crisis communications as well as how to use new tracking and media relations to combat mis- and disinformation.

“The deep, slow work of base building—that which centers healing, leadership development, and expertise of those most impacted—offers a replicable, scalable model to build power and meet the multifaceted challenges facing our people.” Founded in 2017, Essie Justice Group organizes women with incarcerated loved ones into social justice movement work through a strategic process that centers base building in order to break devastating isolation experienced by these women and fuel powerful campaigns for systemic change. Founder Gina Clayton-Johson writes about why Essie Justice Group focuses on base-building versus community organizing and movement building and the impact that the organization has and will have in a new piece for Convergence.

The East Bay Community Foundation, Akonadi Foundation, and City of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Division announced its third round of awards for Belonging In Oakland: A Just City Cultural Fund. Belonging in Oakland is resourcing and bringing to life radical ideas that reimagine how we operate and move as a society, ideas that will be developed, tested, and documented by and with the three projects – collaborations across Oakland-based cultural and social change organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color – awarded of $100,000 per year over a three-year period. Learn more at ebcf.org or on social media.