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OSI Forum: Organizing in the Obama Era

The Perils and Promise of Civic Mobilization

Location: OSI-New York
Event Date(s): May 7, 2009
Speakers: Zephyr Teachout, Ai-Jen Poo, Zack Exley, Bill Vandenberg
Multimedia:   AUDIO

The Obama campaign vividly demonstrated the power of mass civic participation. But many organizers still struggle with questions of efficacy and legitimacy. Panelists addressed the following questions:

• Can we mobilize large groups of people while also fostering a sense of engagement by individual participants?
• How can an organization's members hold their leaders accountable?
• What distinct challenges arise when working with communities that face social, economic, or political marginalization?
• How can we apply lessons from electoral campaigns, which are date-specific and focused on candidates, to community- and issue-based organizing? 

Veteran organizers Zack Exley, Ai-jen Poo and Zephyr Teachout discussed these and other questions as they drew lessons from past mobilizations—including the Dean and Kerry campaigns, Domestic Workers United, MoveOn.org and others—and offered ideas for building grassroots power today.

Bill Vandenberg, director of the Open Society Institute Democracy and Power Fund, introduced the panel.