"As I travel throughout the country, I see that young people today are hungry to fight for social change. However, there are few avenues where they can get the concrete skills they need to be successful organizers. As an Advisor since this program's inception, I have participated in trainings and have seen this program successfully use a mix of online and in-person tools to teach the fundamentals of organizing including volunteer recruitment, agitation, and follow-up. This training empowers leaders, strengthening our movements for justice, particularly in the places in the country where it's needed the most."

-Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers

“Many of our unionized workplaces were not engaged, and members were feeling disconnected from their union. We knew that we needed to build lasting worker power, and equip our union representatives with new tools. Over the past year, the Base Building for Power team provided the valuable hands-on coaching, workplace mentoring, and in-the-field training we needed to shift our union workplace culture from one of “do it for me” expectations to one where members are engaged, informed, and empowered to lead. By developing organizing skills and fostering member leadership, we are building stronger, more resilient workplaces where workers are taking ownership of their union.”

-Richelle Stewart, Secretary Treasurer, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401

“So many movement organizations are struggling to scale up a powerful base of members in the face of multiple crises. Base Building for Power has helped us shift our organizational culture to center organizing and recruiting more members to meet this moment. Their team listens closely to understand our unique organizational and regional dynamics and challenges. They have helped us improve so many critical aspects of our organization, including improving organizer training, goal setting, accountability, and our data tracking systems. Most importantly, they spend valuable time in the field with our organizers and Organizing Directors.  As an Executive Director with limited time I've most appreciated how accessible and easy it has been to work with their team, who utilizes a flexible set of tools, from quick consistent check-ins and voice memos to positive affirmations that we are on the right path. We are seeing tangible results, and now recommended them to other movement leaders looking for capacity support for their organizations.”

-Hazel Davalos, Co-Executive Director, Central Coast Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)

“At first, I was skeptical of Base Building for Power. I've seen plenty of organizations come into Northeast Pennsylvania during election season and disappear once the election is over. Base Building for Power has been different.

Over the past two years, they've invested in me and other community leaders by building our skills, connecting us with experienced organizers, and knocking doors alongside us. Their support helped me develop a strong volunteer base and run a competitive grassroots campaign for Hazleton City Council in a community with a long history of racism.

More importantly, their work didn't end on Election Day. We're continuing to grow Latino voter turnout, develop local volunteer leaders, and strengthen community organizations. We know we're backed by a network of experienced organizers who are committed to building long-term power - not just winning a single election. Base Building for Power has been a true partner, and I would recommend them to any organization looking to build lasting leadership and organizing capacity.”

-David Dominguez, Field Organizer, Paige Cognetti Campaign (PA-8)

“While leading a sensitive and high-stakes union organizing campaign across several grocery stores, I reached out to Base Building for Power for guidance. Having an experienced union organizer review our campaign helped me identify both our strengths and our blind spots, allowing us to focus on developing the right workplace leaders. I felt comfortable being honest about my own challenges, and together we built a practical action plan.

Base Building for Power also connected us with Gabriel, an experienced organizer from their network, who has become an outstanding addition to our team. He now leads organizing at one of our strongest stores and is playing a key role in a campaign that has the potential to transform our union.

Base Building for Power brings the skills, training, and real-world organizing experience that unions need to win tough campaigns. I highly recommend them to any union looking to strengthen both internal organizing and external campaigns.”

-Andrew Cohen, Lead Organizer, UFCW Local 324

“As an organization dedicated to training the next generation of leaders, we have worked closely with Base Building for Power since 2024 to bring our training and organizing to the next level. We have contracted with them to conduct several “in-the-field” trainings of up to 100 people. These hands-on intensive trainings have inspired many young leaders to run for office, start new organizations, and become organizers in key campaigns and organizations throughout the country. The training pipeline for young people to become movement leaders has been severely diminished in the last decade, and Base Building for Power has been instrumental in helping us execute our mission to rebuild it.” 

-Nick Guthman Co-Founder & Co-President, Blue Future

"Base Building for Power brings the highly skilled fundamentals of in person, on the ground organizing with house meetings, canvassing and 1 on 1 connection.  It is just what we need to build our movements and win elections.   We win when we get folks connected, engaged and mobilized.  Base Building for Power has a team of experienced trainers and volunteers to do just that."

-Heather Booth, Founder, Midwest Academy

“As a long-term community organizer and then as a leader in the world of philanthropy, I have seen the need for committed investment in rigorous training of organizers and organizations. Our work can't deliver on its promise of building powerful communities and a robust democracy if everyday people aren't trained to take risks, persevere through challenges, be creative, and weave their family, friends, and neighbors together in common purpose. Base Building for Power helps people across the country from a variety of backgrounds do just that. I'm proud to be a funder, fundraiser, and enthusiastic supporter of their work.”

-Jennifer Martinez, Vice President, Policy & Innovation, San Francisco Foundation

“I’ve received mentorship from Base Building for Power trainers for over 2 years. Their team helped me focus on how to identify and recruit the most important leaders, and how to improve my one-on-one meetings with key leaders to take action on the issues they care about. This helped enable me to successfully guide a group of health care workers on strike for their first contract. I also learned the important skill of how to pivot and be adaptable in a fast paced unpredictable campaign. Having experienced organizers support my team and I during critical moments in our campaign has been instrumental to forwarding our union's mission to build more worker power.”  

-Stephanie Fung, Campaigns Officer, Ontario Nurses Association

“Leading a team of 16 organizers and campaigns in 5 states was often overwhelming. I had difficulty finding time to train so many organizers, and I felt disconnected from what they were doing. Base Building for Power coaches helped me think outside of the box, including how to lead interactive online phone banks where I could finally see people organize all together while building a more unified team dynamic. They helped me get “in the field” and organize with my organizers, which improved my training, confidence, and their recruitment of restaurant workers. Our organization hired a lot of consultants and trainers, and Base Building for Power was by far the most helpful to my leadership.” 

-Jacqueline Littleton, former Organizing Director of One Fair Wage

“Base Building for Power was instrumental in helping us win one of the most important strike votes in our union, resulting in significant pay and workload improvements, and groundbreaking improvements for immigrant teachers for teachers in 18 schools across London. Their team really helped us learn how to get more members to step up and take responsibility for their fight, freeing me up to focus on building a winning strategy. While we received goals and status reports,  they also gave us a lot of emotional support during the challenges of a high pressure campaign, whether validating our feelings and boosting our confidence. I gained some stress management tools to take into future fights and in my training of other organizers.” 

-Madelaine Sommers, Organizer, National Education Union

"The craft of organizing is hard and it takes time and commitment. I support the work of Base Building for Power because they focus on training people to do the joyful and hard work of connecting with people, listening to their concerns, and engaging them in meaningful actions to change their lives. These efforts are more needed than ever." 

-Luis Avila, President and Founder, Iconico

"We hired many young and passionate Base Building for Power Organizers. They have come to us with a good foundation of what it takes to win a campaign, and how to get there. We have certified two new workplaces since they joined our team. They were also an important part of getting a 98% strike authorization vote against one of our largest employers, Safeway. Labor organizing takes developing good worker leaders, but also having a team of skilled staff. Organizers that know how to continue to motivate them through challenging campaign moments – and that’s exactly what they’ve done."

-Diana Perez, Managing Director, Engagement & Growth, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1518

"The organizers that come out of Base Building for Power have a keen sense of how, when, and where to approach folks and have structured organizing conversations. They know when to push forward with an ask, how to follow up, and when to redirect the conversation in a tight spot. I have found Base Building for Power organizers to be some of the best union card signers. 100% would work with these folks again and I look forward to the positive impacts they will continue to have on their peers and campaigns."

-Elizabeth Locke, National Organizing Representative, Canadian Union of Public Employees

"Base Building for Power is needed now more than ever. In Los Angeles, I saw them train a team of organizers that are now successfully working in labor and community organizations throughout LA. The team organized 800 people for housing justice in just two months, contributing to the passage of United to House LA (Nov. 2022 LA City Prop ULA). It is a "mansion tax" set to provide $700-900 million a year to fight homelessness. Just as impressive to see is the personal transformation that many graduates have gone through. I have seen the organizers' confidence increasing with their skills, giving me a lot of hope for the future."

-Larry Frank, Former Staff Director, UCLA Labor Center