Thursday, April 3rd Rise for Freedom Training: How did we get here? Intro to organizing under creeping autocracy
Speakers & Trainers for include:
Will Adler, Digital Hygiene Mini-training
Luana Chaires from the League of Women Voters, Outreach mini-training ahead of April 5th actions
Maria Stephan, Co-Lead and Chief Organizer, Horizons Project
Tarso Ramos
We don’t have kings in America, and we won’t let a handful of billionaires run our country into the ground.
This is a call for everyone interested in learning how to organize under advancing autocracy and mobilizing in this moment. We'll be talking about two exciting ways to take action and build pro-democracy power in this moment of crisis:
The Rise for Democracy Training Series and the HandsOff! Sat. April 5th Nationwide Mobilization.
Learn more about the HandsOff! Nationwide Mobilization on 4/5 at: https://handsoff2025.com/
Join Rise for Democracy Training for a series of live online trainings intended for in-person groups nationwide on Thursday evenings over 7 weeks. The goal of the training series is to bring people together, grow & strengthen their local networks, and get ready to mobilize to demand democracy in this new challenging environment.
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Training content will be presented live and breakouts will take place in-person in people’s living rooms and other activist organized spaces.
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Follow up asks deemed the most important to the moment will be shared at the end of trainings as appropriate.
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Training is a flexible tool that can help build for specific events as well as build existing and new local groups of people who can take action together.
Why Trainings?
Trainings are critical for our movement because they:
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Engage and recruit more people into the freedom and democracy movement
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Educate and onboard new activists
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Energize large numbers of people for mobilizing and create space for local organizing and planning
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Elevate: train higher skill activists and new and younger movement leadership
The Rise for Democracy training is for people who love our country and understand the threat of autocracy before us, and want to do something about it. If you're moderate politically, a pro-democracy conservative, or progressive - this is your place! You are welcome and important here. This training is for you.
All Trainings Will Include:
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Music
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An icebreaker
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Asks for local leaders to help you prepare for action - in the next few weeks focused on the Hands Off Mobilization on Sat. April 5th as well as other events.
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Outreach mini training and goal setting (e.g. text 5 ppl and get 1 commit to come to your next meeting, recruit one neighbor to attend etc)
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One digital hygiene tip - simply weekly steps to protect your data privacy
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One core 1.5- 2 hour training module (see topics below)
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Breakouts for in-person and online for folks who are alone, to plan and participate in activities
Training calls will not include lengthy one way communications about the ongoing attacks on democracy and communities.
Rise for Freedom Training Timeline - Thursdays, 8-10pm ET/7-9CT/ 6-8pm MT/5-7pm PT:
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Thurs. March 27- First In-Person Meetings & Onboarding for New Folks: Program Orientation & Context Setting, Outreach & Digital Hygiene
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Thurs. April 3 - 1st Full Length Training: How did we get here? Intro to organizing under creeping autocracy
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Thurs. April 10 - 2nd Training: Building to a critical mass locally (outreach)
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Thurs. April 17 - 3rd Training: How to talk to people you might disagree with
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Thurs. April 24 - 4th Training: Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence and Repression
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Thurs. May 1 - 5th Training: Mutual Aid & Structures for Stronger Local Organizing
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Thurs. May 8 - 6th Training: De-escalation & Advanced Strategic organizing skills
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Thurs. May 15 - 7th Training: Advanced Organizing Skills
*May wish to do trainings en masse in-person, repeat training series and/or move focus more to mobilizing.
Partners include:
Public Citizen, Women’s March, League of Women Voters US, Declaration for American Democracy Coalition, Center for Common Ground, Clean Elections Minnesota, Corporate Accountability, Generation Common Good, Lift Our Vote, No Voice Unheard, Peace Action, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, AFGE Local 704, DC Peace Team, Fourth Branch Action, Indivisible Hill Country, Indivisible Portola Valley, Media and Democracy Project, Citizen Action/Illinois, Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!, People For the American Way, Speaking the Key of WE/Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice, Task Force for Democracy, Texans Against Gerrymandering, This Land, The Workers Circle, #ResistTrump Campaign