Peoples Action Institute

THE MISSION OF PEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE IS TO ADVANCE A LONG-TERM AGENDA FOR RACIAL, ECONOMIC AND GENDER JUSTICE BY INVESTING IN POWERFUL STATE AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND CAMPAIGNS THAT WIN REAL CHANGE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES.

SEE SCHEDULE OPROGRAMSRESEARCH AND POLICY SUPPORTS THE ORGANIZATION'S ANALYSES OF VARIOUS PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES FOR THE ORGANIZATION'S CAMPAIGNS AND PROGRAMS. WE PROVIDE TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO ADVANCE OUR CAPACITY TO CUT ISSUES WITH A RACE ANALYSIS, BUILD MULTIRACIAL ORGANIZATIONS, DEVELOP THE LEADERSHIP OF STAFF OF COLOR, AND ORGANIZE EXTERNAL CAMPAIGNS THAT ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE. POWERBUILDING, BASE BUILDING AND THE ORGANIZING REVIVAL:IN 2021, PAI'S BASE BUILDING AND POWERBUILDING WORK CENTERED ON THINKING THROUGH AND BUILDING THE RIGHT INFRASTRUCTURE, IN TERMS OF STAFF SUPPORT, TRAININGS, AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION, TO BEST SUPPORT OUR MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS AS THEY WORK TO BUILD POWER IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. PART OF THIS BASE-LEVEL REORIENTATION WAS UNDERSTANDING HOW PAI CAN EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE PREVIOUSLY UNREACHED POPULATIONS, SUCH AS PEOPLE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES AND ALSO HAVE CONVERSATIONS AROUND ISSUES THAT ARE OFTEN USED TO DRIVE WEDGES BETWEEN US LIKE IMMIGRATION, CLEAN ENERGY, HEALTHCARE FOR ALL, AND REIMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY.DEEP CANVASS INSTITUTE:IN 2021 PAI LAUNCHED THE DEEP CANVASS INSTITUTE (DCI) TO SCALE TRAINING AND ACCESS TO THE TOOLS OF DEEP CANVASSING TO VOLUNTEERS, MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS, AND MOVEMENT ALLIES. PAI AND THE NEW CONVERSATION INITIATIVE (NCI) PARTNERED TO LAUNCH THE DCI, FEATURING A ROBUST TRAINING PROGRAM THAT TEACHES THE PRACTICE OF DEEP CANVASSING TO AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS, MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS, AND MOVEMENT ALLIES. (NCI IS THE PREMIERE HUB FOR TRAINING AND EXPERTISE IN DEEP CANVASSING AND ROUTINELY HELPS ORGANIZATIONS BUILD IMPACTFUL DEEP CANVASS PROGRAMS THROUGH IN-DEPTH, HANDS-ON SUPPORT.)

SEE SCHEDULE OCAMPAIGNSSUPPORTS THE ORGANIZATION'S NATIONAL CAMPAIGN WORK WHICH FOCUSES ON SUPPORTING THE ECONOMIC SECURITY OF LOW AND MODERATE-INCOME FAMILIES INCLUDING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE; FOOD SECURITY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES; WOMEN'S ECONOMIC AGENDA; CLIMATE JUSTICE, WITH A FOCUS ON CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS THAT BENEFIT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR; REVERSING THE TRENDS OF MASS INCARCERATION AND BRINGING A RACIAL AND GENDER JUSTICE ANALYSIS TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM WORK; AND HOUSING JUSTICE, WHICH FOCUSES ON ENSURING ACCESS TO QUALITY, SAFE AND TRULY AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR ALL.HEALTHCARE: HEALTHCARE FOR ALL:DURING 2021, THE ORGANIZATION ORGANIZED AROUND HEALTHCARE CAMPAIGNS TO: SHIFT TO A MORE GRANULAR AND POLICY-FOCUSED EFFORT TOWARDS COVID- 19 RELIEF; PROVIDE PAID SICK LEAVE AND FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE FOR ALL WORKERS; EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE; AND MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. COLLECTIVELY WITH OUR ALLIES, WE INCREASED OUR BASE AND MEMBERSHIP AND DEVELOPED MEMBER LEADERSHIP THROUGH CAMPAIGN ORGANIZING AROUND HEALTHCARE. AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL, WE ALIGNED AROUND GOALS TO EXPAND HEALTHCARE ACCESS AND ORGANIZED TOWARDS SIGNIFICANT RELIEF FOR THE NATION'S FAMILIES AND SENIORS BY LOWERING DRUG PRICES AND EXPANDING MEDICARE. HOUSING JUSTICE/ HOMES GUARANTEE:DURING 2021, THE ORGANIZATION WORKED TO UNITE FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL EFFORTS TO PROVIDE MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND CALLS FOR EVICTION MORATORIUMS AND RENT AND MORTGAGE PAYMENT CANCELLATIONS AMID THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. WE HELD REGULAR CALLS FOR HOUSING ORGANIZING AND COVID-19 RESPONSE, WHICH SERVED AS THE MEANS FOR TENANTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO PLUG INTO OUR ORGANIZING AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND LEARN THE SKILLS FOR TENANT ORGANIZING IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. THESE CALLS WERE A CRITICAL TOOL IN GROWING OUR COALITION OF GROUPS WHO ARE WORKING TO PUSH FOR RENTAL AND MORTGAGE RELIEF TO OVER 120 ORGANIZATIONS. WE ALSO REGRANTED FUNDS TO MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS IN ILLINOIS, PENNSYLVANIA, KANSAS CITY, MAINE, AND NEW YORK TO SUPPORT THEIR ORGANIZING AND TENANT BASEBUILDING.RURAL ORGANIZING AND BASE BUILDING:A MAJOR FOCUS OF OUR RURAL BASEBUILDING EFFORTS IN 2021 WAS ON ASSESSING AND SUPPORTING OUR MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS' NEEDS TO BRING IN AND SUPPORT NEW LEADERS TO ADVANCE THEIR OWN RURAL BASEBUILDING. WE ALSO BUILT ON THE COMPREHENSIVE RURAL FEDERAL POLICY AGENDA, "RELIEF, RECOVERY AND REIMAGINATION," RELEASED IN 2020. PAI AND OUR PARTNERS HELD CONVENINGS TO FOSTER ALIGNMENT AND STARTED ORGANIZING TO ADVANCE OUR UNIFIED POLICY AGENDA, WHICH PROVIDES A ROADMAP FOR RURAL POLICY WE HOPE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS WILL PRIORITIZE (LEVERAGING FEDERAL FUNDS FOR THE BENEFIT OF RURAL COMMUNITIES, EXPANDING HEALTH CARE COVERAGE, AND ADVANCING RX REFORM, AND ADDRESSING THE OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC). DISINFORMATION:IN 2021, WE WORKED TO ADDRESS DISINFORMATION THAT IS CHANGING WHAT "COMMON SENSE" IS FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AT AN ALARMING PACE THROUGH DIGITAL OUTREACH, ASSISTING OUR MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE ORGANIZING HAS BEEN HINDERED BY WHITE NATIONALIST AND RIGHT-WING EXTREMIST DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND IN OTHER OUTLETS. THROUGH OUR NEW DIGITAL ORGANIZING ACADEMY, PAI MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN HELPING OUR RURAL MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS BUILD CAPACITY TO USE DIGITAL TOOLS FOR BASE BUILDING IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, TO COMBAT THE RISE OF DISINFORMATION AND RACIAL INJUSTICE AND BUILD SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM. WE LEVERAGED OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ALLIES LIKE RURAL ORGANIZING.ORG, RE:POWER, KAIROS DISINFORMATION COHORT, AND THE HARVARD SHORENSTEIN CENTER ON MEDIA POLITICS AND PUBLIC POLICY TO PROVIDE TRAINING THROUGH THE DIGITAL ORGANIZING ACADEMY. IN ADDITION TO TRAINING, PAI ALSO SEEDED, TESTED, EXPANDED, AND EVALUATED DIGITAL EXPERIMENTS. WE CONVENED AND COORDINATED THE EFFORTS OF MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS IN THE RURAL COHORT, AND SHARED LESSONS LEARNED FROM THESE EXPERIMENTS WITH THE BROADER FIELD.

SEE SCHEDULE OCENTER FOR HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT & JUSTICETHIS PROJECT SUPPORTS A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF MORE THAN 300 LOCAL COMMUNITY GROUPS TO ACHIEVE CRITICAL IMPACTS AT THE LOCAL, REGIONAL, STATEWIDE AND NATIONAL LEVELS ON ISSUES RELATING TO TOXIC CHEMICALS, POLLUTING FACILITIES, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL DANGERS. CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: PEOPLE AND PLANET FIRST: IN 2021, PEOPLE'S ACTION INSTITUTE AND OUR CLIMATE JUSTICE COHORT BUILT ON OUR GRASSROOTS POWER TO DRIVE NATIONAL AND LOCAL CAMPAIGNS THAT CENTERED DIRECTLY ON THE PEOPLE IMPACTED BY CLIMATE-RELATED ISSUES AND WIN THE TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE OUR COMMUNITIES NEED. COLLECTIVELY, WE WON MAJOR STATE AND LOCAL VICTORIES INCLUDING THE PASSAGE OF THE CLEAN ENERGY JOBS ACT (CEJA) IN ILLINOIS; WROTE AND INTRODUCED POWERFUL FEDERAL BILLS WITH CONGRESSIONAL ALLIES INCLUDING THE GREEN NEW DEAL FOR CITIES AND THE THRIVE ACT AND RESOLUTION; AND CO-LED EFFORTS TO SHAPE AND PASS HISTORIC FEDERAL LEGISLATION INCLUDING THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN AND THE BUILD BACK BETTER AGENDA. WE USED THE MOVEMENT'S BEST PRACTICES TO BUILD THE BASES OF MEMBER GROUPS AND LAUNCHED A REVOLUTIONARY NEW CLIMATE DEEP CANVASSING PROGRAM.

LOBBYING - A SUPPORTIVE PROGRAM THAT FOCUSES ON THE ORGANIZATION'S LOBBYING EFFORTS TO ENGAGE LEGISLATORS INVOLVED IN AREAS OF INTEREST TO THE ORGANIZATION'S OTHER PROGRAMS. THIS INCLUDES THE ORGANIZATION'S GRASSROOTS LOBBYING EFFORTS.