Learn key skills to win NYC elections in 2021.
Share and build with the best progressive organizers in the city.
Movement School's virtual NYC Campus will provide intensive practical courses, professional development, and a communal space for progressive electoral organizers on and around 2021 campaigns.
This space will be fertile ground for new movement work that bridges electoral organizing with issue- and community-based organizing.
Registration for 2021 courses is now open! Classes start the week of January 25th.
Certificate
Courses
6 week deep dives into key organizing skills, taught by the best.
Community
Practice
Share and build with other progressive organizers across the city.
Certificate
Courses
6 week deep dives into key organizing skills, taught by the best.
Certificate Courses, 2021
Movement School’s certificate courses are designed for progressive electoral organizers, on or near 2021 NYC campaigns.
Each course will be 6 weeks long, with one 2-hour interactive session each week and one integrated assignment to complete by the end of the course. This round of courses will begin the week of January 25th.
What the F*eld?! How to Run Field During a Pandemic
New York City was one of the most impacted cities in all of America at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. As cases begin to increase again and the threat of a second wave is becoming more evident, our campaigns will again be sharply limited to non-traditional voter contact methods. What the F*eld?! Right?! But we got you covered! This course combines the best digital and field tactics to create a field plan that will keep your team safe and strengthen your path to victory. In this course you will learn tactics for successful voter contact, volunteer engagement, navigating the changing vote by mail rules and ranked choice voting, and how to design a field plan from start to Get out the Vote during a pandemic.
Level 201: This course is open to all team leads and lead organizers looking to learn the skills and the tools to become a field director.
Tuesdays, 7-9pm
Level 301: This course is open to all deputy directors, regional field directors, and field directors looking to sharpen their skills on running a field program during a pandemic and learning new best practices, strategies, and tactics.
Mondays, 6-8pm
$hmoney Moves
What happens when your candidate does not have a rolodex of millionaire friends? This course will illustrate the core pieces of a finance program, and how to keep your candidate and team disciplined to meet fundraising goals. Learn how to raise money even when you can’t hold in-person events. Completing this course, you will be able to run a successful crisis-resilient finance program for your downballot grassroots campaign.
Level 201: This course is open to organizers looking to learn the skills and the tools to become a finance director.
Mondays, 8-10pm
Level 301: This course is open to deputy directors and finance directors looking to sharpen their skills on running a successful fundraising program during a pandemic and navigating the NYC Campaign Finance Board.
Sundays, 6-8pm
Winning a Green New Deal for NYCHA
Are you a NYCHA tenant or tenant organizer who is fed up with the terrible conditions forced on you and your neighbors? Are you frustrated with politicians who expect your votes but refuse to deal with the twin threats to our communities of gentrification & climate change? Through a series of encounters with legislation and organizing practices, this course will look at the political, economic, and social conditions that led to the current conditions in NYCHA, equip you with critical skills that sharpen your ability to communicate on a wide range of issues that impact NYCHA residents today, and empower you to organize in your community to win a Green New Deal for NYCHA.
Thursdays, 7-9pm
Building a Livable Future: How to Win the Youth Vote
The 2020 cycle has made it clear: candidates can win youth support by fighting for the policies we care about, like climate action and student debt cancellation. But supporting the right policies isn’t enough; campaigns also need to invest in the youth vote. From crafting an effective relational organizing program to mastering TikTok, this course will help you learn the best practices for reaching out to and engaging young people — taught by young people! Illustrating the beauty of intergenerational campaigning, classes will cover field strategy, campus organizing, social media tactics, digital organizing, and running internship/fellowship programs. Taught by Daniela Finlay and Calla Walsh, student organizers for Ed Markey’s campaign.
Wednesdays, 7-9pm
Whoop Whoop: Defunding the NYPD
The murders of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, and countless other Black and Brown people at the hands of police are not anomalies. They are evidence of a racist system. New York City, for instance, spends more on policing than it does on the Department of Health, Homeless Services, Housing Preservation and Development, and Youth and Community Development combined. Our tax dollars must be reallocated from this system that regularly murders Black people with impunity—and instead invest in programs that strengthen our communities. In this course you will learn how to organize your community and build political power to hold elected officials accountable to finally invest in people, not corporations.
TIME TBD