DNC Launches New Program: Organizing Corps 2020
With a focus on mentoring students from communities of color, the newly launched Organizing Corps 2020 program will ensure the eventual Democratic nominee has the support of 1,000 homegrown field organizers in 7 key states.
The basics…
- The DNC and state Democratic parties in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, in partnership with 270 Strategies and Collective PAC, are launching 'Organizing Corps 2020' - with the goal to recruit, pay, and train young people, focused on young people of color, to work on the 2020 presidential cycle, starting this year!
- This program is an unprecedented multi-million dollar investment by the Democratic Party and its partners that will recruit, pay, and train young people, focused on young people of color, to work on the 2020 presidential cycle, starting this year.
- Organizing Corps 2020 is a program to recruit and train students expecting to graduate by June 2020 and place them as field organizers in key states.
- With a structured school-to-career pipeline for organizing, Organizing Corps 2020 will recruit juniors in the spring of 2019 from local colleges, including HBCUs, and non traditional schools, in some states where Democrats fell short in 2016, and need to be competitive in the general election.
Why it’s important…
Organizing Corps 2020 will help build the campaign organizing infrastructure needed to defeat Donald Trump, while investing in the next generation of Democratic leaders — focusing on students from communities of color who have been traditionally underrepresented among political campaign staff. Organizing Corps 2020 will build a powerful pipeline of young talent.
“The pace of the primaries typically leaves no time for training or skill building in preparation for the general election campaign,” said Meg Ansara, CEO of 270 Strategies and a veteran of the presidential campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. “The Organizing Corps 2020 program will give us a skill advantage in online and on-the-ground organizing, data and voter engagement by training homegrown field organizers well ahead of the general election in must-win states.”
"It's critical that young people of color are engaged as not only a core Democratic voting bloc but as pivotal organizers needed to mobilize their communities to the polls in 2020," said Stefanie Brown James, Co-Founder of The Collective and former National African American Vote Director for Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. "Through a culturally rich curriculum and relevant training from respected community leaders, Organizing Corps 2020 will help propel the young people in the program to make a significant contribution to the Democrats' success in 2020 while preparing them to hold increasing positions of influence as campaign staffers and within the Democratic Party structure."
The Organizing Corps 2020 program is only one piece of DNC’s battleground plan, but a key part of the infrastructure the DNC and state parties have been developing to support the presidential nominee and Democratic campaigns all across the country. The program builds on state party organizing and DNC investments in all 50 states that led to historic Democratic victories in the midterm elections. Just last week, the DNC announced a data and tech overhaul that will help Democrats reach and communicate better with voters all across this country.
The finer details…
- ‘Organizing Corps 2020’ will be led by campaign veterans: Executive Director Rachel Haltom-Irwin, Chief Program Officer Jonae Wartel, Chief Operating Officer Naoko Kudo, and Senior Development Advisor Yolanda Magallanes.
- Corps members can earn $4,000 gaining valuable career skills in leadership, project management and communication while experiencing the exciting and rewarding field of campaign work.
- The program kicks off with a five-day national training led by campaign veterans, where corps members will learn key skills in field and digital organizing, and data analytics.
- For the remaining 7 weeks, corps members will, with the help of a coach, return to their home communities and work with their local Democratic Party to turn their training into on-the-ground learning through action – organizing neighborhoods and registering voters. In the process, corps members will build a powerful network of like-minded peers and mentors from across the country that will last beyond 2020.
- The summer 2019 corps experience will give young people the skills and tools to organize their community and – importantly – get a great first job fighting to win across the country in 2020.
- Organizing Corps 2020 will recruit students from seven states that are crucial in providing a pathway to 270 with four key characteristics -- these are states that are not a focus in the primary season; have had close margins in the past; will benefit from skilled field staffing; and have an expanding electorate.
Learn more…
at the Organizing Corps 2020 website
Donate and spread the word to anyone who might be eligible to join the Corps! #corpsvalues, #oc2020