Giving Compass' Take:

• This article highlights civic and grassroots engagement in California and how a network of these organizations play a critical role in the power building ecosystem. 

• Which of these approaches best aligns with your goals and resources? Which partnerships can help to advance your goals? 

• Here's an article on investing in grassroots organizations. 

Today’s problems call for co-creating power for transformative change. In this moment, as we all turn towards the 2020 elections, it is important to keep in mind that advancing enduring, equitable change will take more than strong voter turnout and good candidates—it will take building power towards transformative change. In this collection of Bright Spots, we highlight the collaborative and transformative approaches necessary for building power—approaches such as building networks rooted in authentic relationships, centering equity, and holding the complexity and intersectionality of issues impacting communities—and the impact of this work in California.

These three Bright Spots—alongside the broader story of civic engagement work in California as told in the report Vote, Organize, Transform, Engage (VOTE): New Frontiers in Integrated Voter Engagement by USC PERE—help us to envision the pathways towards stronger, more democratic, and equitable communities and states, and demonstrate the need for philanthropic support to sustain these urgent efforts in 2020 and beyond.

Read the full article about grassroots efforts in California by Aja Couchois, Natasha Winegar and Susan Misra at Change Elemental.