Session #3:
Winning Jobs Narrative: Civic Engagement Using a Framework for Working Peoples across Race and Place

September 28, 2022

To create policies that give people the tools to improve their lives and their communities, we need to be able to unite majorities and build coalitions that share common cause. And majorities cannot be achieved without a strong working-class base.

As we approach the midterms, many candidates and groups will seek to win the attention and support of working families. Progressive groups are developing innovative and effective ways to engage and communicate with working-class rural voters around a vision for the economy that speaks to them and their needs.

The Winning Jobs Narrative Project focuses on strengthening our connection to working people across race and place around issues central to their economic lives. After over a year of conversations with voters and collaboration with progressive leaders across the country, the project team is sharing a powerful narrative architecture that progressives can use widely in messaging about jobs and the economy.

Now, they’ve assembled an implementation team that is actively sharing the Winning Jobs Narrative architecture with allies across the country to support this important work. Winning Jobs Narrative Project Lead, Bobby Clark, and Melissa Morales, Founder and President of Somos Votantes, will provide a powerful overview of the project’s findings and shared how groups are utilizing this information in practice to change the hearts and minds of rural voters leading into and out of the midterm elections and beyond.

Learning objectives for this program include:

  • Learning about the Winning Jobs Narrative Project’s findings and narrative framework, including what messaging about the economy resonates with working class voters, including rural and BIPOC voters;
  • How groups are utilizing the narrative architecture in their voter engagement work; and
  • Opportunities for funders to invest in community-based civic engagement work that reaches and mobilizes rural and BIPOC working voters to support progressive solutions.

This session is hosted by RDI’s Heartland Fund and Neighborhood Funders Group’s Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders, Integrated Rural Strategies Group, and Funders for a Just Economy.

Session #2:
The Fight for Our Democracy:
Innovations in Rural Civic Engagement

February 23, 2022

Our Democracy is under attack. After attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, anti-democratic forces are now placing deliberate barriers to voting, drawing election districts to prevent competitive elections, and stacking how elections are regulated and certified. These barriers disproportionately impact the civic engagement of certain communities, including rural, tribal, and people of color. In the face of these urgent challenges, groups are developing innovative and effective ways to engage voters, shape policy, and save our Democracy.

Join us for “The Fight for Our Democracy: Innovations in Civic Engagement.” In the second session of our 2021-2022 Midterm Election Series, you’ll hear from exciting, creative, and inspiring leaders. Learn about the key policy changes threatening our Democracy and the grassroots campaigns to support voter registration and access that ensure voters will decide the 2022 elections.

Learning objectives for this program include:

  • What opportunities and challenges are there in moving people toward civic engagement?
  • What is the impact of digital organizing strategies at the grassroots level in both mobilizing voters and building longer-term engagement?
  • What are the opportunities and challenges of building an engaged multiracial governing majority?
  • How can funders support innovative voting registration strategies that meet today's challenges?

This event will feature the following speakers:

This session is hosted by Heartland Fund and NFG's Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders and Integrated Rural Strategies Group,  and co-sponsored by Funders' Committee for Civic Participation.

Session #1:
Shifts and Myths:
Looking at 2022 Through a Midwest BIPOC Lens 

November 4, 2021

With 2020 Census analysis providing new insights into how rural, Black, Indigenous, and POC communities in the Midwest are changing, funders are invited to understand the implications for how these communities are building power and mobilizing voters around issues of importance.

Join us to learn about how shifting demographics in the Midwest impact civic engagement across the region. This event will aim to educate funders as they explore their civic engagement investment strategy going into the 2022 midterm elections through highlighting the importance of civic engagement in rural immigrant communities, small city/town Black communities, and Native communities across the Midwest.

Learning objectives for this program include:

  • What opportunities and challenges for building power and deepening civic engagement are presented by demographic shifts in the Midwest?
  • How are communities within the rising majority building power within constrained political contexts?
  • How can funders best understand the organizational impacts of cyclical funding on the civic terrain of the Midwest?
  • How can funders innovate new models that are better equipped to meet today's challenges and opportunities?

This event will feature the following speakers:

This session is hosted by Heartland Fund and NFG's Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders and Integrated Rural Strategies Group, and co-sponsored by Native Americans in Philanthropy. This is the first session of the 2021-2022 Midterm Election Series.

Event Details

When

Nov 30, 2022

10:00 am - 11:00 am PT

Where

Virtual

If you would like to take part in this event, please complete the Event Registration Form below.
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