Search Sessions

“The Truth Has Changed” is a solo monologue that traces the arc of American political life from 9/11 to Trump from a frontline perspective. From his experience as a first responder during 9/11, to his groundbreaking reporting on fracking, to his eye opening eco-flights over the Gulf of Mexico during the BP oil spill, to Hurricane Sandy, to the massive rallies for Bernie Sanders during the 2016 election and the Democratic Convention to Standing Rock and beyond, Josh Fox has been an active eyewitness to history. In “The Truth Has Changed,” Fox tells the story of this terrifying progression of American history from a front row seat.

The project was commissioned by legendary documentary producer Sheila Nevins for HBO as a solo performance to inspire action on climate change, fracking and democracy. And in the face of the advance of fracking and fracked gas power plants across the USA, the work has become more relevant day by day. “The Truth Has Changed” offers both a warning and a way forward for our besieged democracy.

You know how to boost a Facebook post, but do you really know the many ways that digital ads can support your advocacy or political campaign? This training will cover topics they don’t talk about in Social Media 101: innovative targeting, testing and promotion strategies designed to reach the right people with the right messages at the right time. Need to connect with grasstops influencers? Convince decision makers that EVERYONE’s talking about your issue? Use social media to boost the effectiveness of your fundraising emails? Barrage reporters with your messaging? Reach the voters most important for your campaign? This training will show how advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and other channels can help you win in 2018.

Trainers: Colin Delany, Emily Gittleman

More and more organizations are adopting the fundamentals of analytics into their digital programs: tracking key metrics, A/B testing, and making data-informed decisions. But is there more you could be doing? This training will cover advanced digital analytics practices: best practice testing, multi-stage testing, multivariate testing, challenges with ad testing and effective test tracking.

Trainers: Sandhya Anantharaman, Jim Pugh

When it began, Tom Steyer’s Need to Impeach campaign started with exactly zero names. Join the team that built the Need to Impeach community into a 5 million person strong movement for an interactive training on paid strategies to grow your email list. Efficiently adding new names to your list takes smart advertising strategies, thumb-stopping creative, smart targeting and a thoughtful approach to utilizing different acquisition platforms. But the result of a well-executed acquisition plan isn’t just a big list, it is a community ready to take action for your cause. With plenty of real-life examples, this training will show you how to grow your list in 80 days.

Trainers: Zuha Khan, Ross Nelson

Join us for a primer on digital organizing. We’ll focus on social media and cover what it means to conceptualize your own digital strategy, why social media fuels activism and how to find your digital voice. We’ll share tried and true best practices that are practical to the everyday comms worker—helping you juggle that press release and demanding social schedule and whatever else that might be on your plate.

Trainers: Jamila Brown, Meena Hussain

Hyper-local issue organizing creates new activist entry points that can lead to traditional civic engagement. This training will examine how the Planned Parenthood Generation Action program leverages hyper-local campus campaigns to build youth momentum in electoral cycles. The training will look deeply at program best practices including: leadership development, data accountability, and local to electoral pivoting.

Trainers: Kate Cartagena

Searing images of people in wheelchairs fighting for healthcare was an important force in the battle to protect the Affordable Care Act. Yet people with disabilities remain a mostly untapped population within the larger progressive movement, despite being the largest minority population. Too often progressive diversity outreach programs fail to sufficiently include strategies to reach those with disabilities and their families or caregivers. This training will provide strategies on how to build coalitions with people with disabilities and their caregivers, provide ideas on designing diversity outreach programs to include those with disabilities, and give tips on how to empower people with disabilities to fight for their rights.

Trainers: Rachna Heizer

Sustaining a life in the movement is hard. Whether it’s finding a job in the first place, fighting the perils of impostor syndrome, staving off burnout or figuring out how to stay involved while paying off loans and bills, we’re faced with challenges at every turn. Veteran strategists and trainers Jay Carmona and John Brougher have worked in the movement for years now, through a variety of campaign, nonprofit and organizational positions. Jay and John will walk through techniques on how to be an effective political operative while also navigating a long-term professional and personal life in the movement.

Trainers: John Brougher, Jay Carmona

The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice has built an Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) model to support community-driven activism and grassroots leadership development that empowers citizens to address classism, racism, and other marginalization in their own lives and communities instead of having their voices ignored in the traditional, top-down structures of power. Join us for a discussion on how to bridge and connect community organizing and advocacy that is people centered. We’ll also discuss how we have mobilized infrequent voters of color to chose elected leaders that understand their issues.

Led by: Ashley Shelton

Panelists: Norris Henderson, Andrenecia Morris, Minh Nguyen

The panel will consist of developers and organizers involved in open source progressive tech projects. We’ll focus on the decision to use open source tech, how it’s developed and why it’s important. This panel will also give space to attendees to ask questions about open source in general, about specific open source projects, and how open source tech helps the political tech ecosystem.

Led by: Shaka Lee

Panelists: Schuyler Duveen, Pamela John

On our panel today, we have Jelani Drew Kairos Fellow and campaigner from Fight For the Future, Steven Renderos from Center for Media Justice, Jess Morales from National Domestic Workers Alliance, Bex Hong Hurwitz from Tiny Gigantic, and Cayden Mak Executive Director of 18MillionRising to talk about the techno-optimism origins of the internet, what we can learn from Cambridge Analytica about influencing elections; efforts by other governments to stop Facebook’s algorithms; and how organizers are using the internet to pressure companies like Microsoft and Salesforce to end their corporate collusion with government programs like ICE.

Led by: Elisa Batista

Panelists: Alexis Bassett, Melissa Buchholz, Sheila Maddali, Matt Nelson

The days of politicians attacking and demonizing the LGBTQ community to win elections are over. Increasing support for LGBTQ equality across demographic groups has led us to a tipping point evidenced by polling and recent election results in states like North Carolina, Alabama and Virginia. The panel will discuss how a new rising Equality Vote of 52 million Americans—self-identified LGBTQ individuals and their friends, family, and allies—is a voting bloc to be respected, sought-after, and feared by candidates on both sides of the aisle.

Led by: Emmy Ruiz

Panelists: Anna Greenberg, Justin Unga, Geoff Wetrosky, JoDee Winterhof

For too long the Democratic Party has been compromising on reproductive freedom. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair said in 2017: “There will be no litmus test [on abortion] for Democratic candidates”. However, pro-choice candidates have been winning in purple and even red areas like Virginia, Alabama and Pennsylvania. How can we as a progressive community ensure that reproductive rights and justice are political victories in the progressive movement? Electing candidates with a reproductive justice lens ensures a more intersectional vision for America. Come discover how candidates and organizations are working together in new historic ways to get sh*t done.

Led by: Heidi Sieck

Panelists: Alison Dreith, Hayden J. Mora, Atima Omara, Nikema Williams

Progressive while parenting. Parenting while progressive. Raising kids and doing progressive political work isn’t always easy, but it is critical to the success of our movement. In this panel, we’ll discuss a range of topics, including making activist spaces and progressive workspaces accessible to parents, and raising children with progressive values. If you’ve ever lugged a breast pump to a conference, received feedback that your 5 p.m. meeting times are a struggle for people you work with, or just want to talk about parenting in the progressive movement and meet other likeminded-people, this panel is for you.

Led by: Erin Matson

Panelists: Mary Alice Carter, Greg Greene, Rachel Perrone, Sabrina Joy Stevens

Everyone agrees that we must come together to form powerful coalitions and deep partnerships in order to win in 2018 and 2020 and build long-term power. This session goes beyond the tired tug-of-war arguments about the direction of the party, or whether the new grassroots is effective. Instead, this panel brings the party establishment together with the new grassroots for a frank conversation about navigating partnerships in the current political landscape. With an eye toward developing meaningful strategic alliances, we’ll discuss a range of topics, including how to navigate still-raw ideological rifts, practical concerns about new activist capacity and strategy, and nitty gritty compliance and legal considerations.

Led by: Irene Shin

Panelists: Rep. Graig Meyer, Jamie Perrapato, Lala Wu, Allison Zelman

Volunteer. Donate. Volunteer. Donate… Do you keep asking your supporters to do the same things over and over again? Chances are, they’re tired of it and you’re burning them out. So the question becomes, how else can you creatively engage your supporters? Petitions to the rescue! Bring your creative thinking caps and join Care2 for an interactive writing workshop, where you’ll put pen to paper and learn how to create a compelling petition campaign and tap into the power of your supporters.

Please bring your laptops!

This demo is offered by Care2.

Far too often, progressives in power only shows up in Black churches and community centers during election season. Virginia and Alabama proved once again that Black women are the most powerful political force in the progressive movement both in terms of grassroots organizing and voter turnout. It is well past the time for progressives to listen to and fight for the specific needs of Black communities. Bottom line: progressives need to be at the forefront of the fight against voter suppression. They need to run on anti-racist policies. And they need to drive resources not just towards turning out Black voters, but in supporting Black candidates running for office.

Led by: Beth Lynk

Panelists: Waikinya Clanton, Kiara Pesante Haughton, Kiara Pesante Haughton, DeJuana Thompson

As we all know, at the foundation of organizing is relationship building. But, with an overwhelming amount of channels used to communicate with folks, how can we actually cut through the noise and meaningfully engage our communities? Peer-to-peer texting has surfaced as an effective way to do just that.

At Hustle we’ve seen unions, advocacy organizations, and campaigns use peer-to-peer texting to engage members, supporters, and the broader community to take action on progressive issues.

During this panel, we’ll explore the ways in which organizations are prioritizing relationship building with peer-to-peer texting in key moments at scale. Learn from a few peer-to-peer texting pros about how we can build relationships that last and leverage p2p technology with other organizing tools to win on our issues.

This panel is sponsored by Hustle.

Panelists: LaToia Jones, Jocelyn Strauss, Cliff Walker, Chrystian Woods, Sissi Yado

Join us to learn how to use Facebook Live to reach hundreds of thousands of people with your action or protest and recruit them to join in your efforts. In this interactive workshop, we’ll break down the components to a successful Facebook Live broadcast: how to script your broadcast, how to build an audience, how to interact with viewers and how to move people from Facebook spectators to movement participants. You’ll also leave with a list of inexpensive gear to improve the quality of your broadcast.

Trainers: Nicole Carty, Thais Marques

Visual designers make decisions that affect your decisions every day. Why do you stop and look at some billboards, but not others? How can 2D lines make us feel layered emotion? Why did you decide to not recycle one of those political mailers you got? We’ll cover how humans process visual information and what movitates them to act. This training will cover the basics of photo-based design and help you improve your understanding of the many visual communications that surround you. We’ll end the session designing something together, live! This training is for both beginners/non-designers as well as intermediate designers/communication professionals who want to improve their design and communication skills.

Trainers: Candice Dayoan

Back by popular demand! Earned media can be one of the most important (free) resources on your campaign, especially when you are strapped for cash. Our exercise-based curriculum will help you learn hands-on how to plan and execute a great press event—and generate thousands of dollars in media for your campaign.

Trainers: Jasmine Carter-Gales, Lucy Olena

The Birddog Nation is a national network of people tracking candidate events, attending candidate events and asking pointed questions to candidates in one of the most important election years in the past few decades. This training will teach the skill of birddogging—how to seek out candidates, pin them down with specific questions or information, and track their views and responses. You’ll learn how to engage with decision makers and track the positions of candidates and electeds.

Trainers: Tracey Corder, Darius Gordon

Election day will be here before you know it! Get a refresher on what a 501(c)(3) organization may do and say during an election season to avoid intervening in a campaign for or against a candidate. During this session, you’ll learn how to safely talk about your issues and elected officials during election season; how to conduct nonpartisan voter outreach efforts; how to educate voters about the candidates through debates, forums and questionnaires; and how to ensure that staff and volunteers’ election activities are not attributed to the organization.

Trainers: Ronnie Pawelko

None of us should ever have to say #MeToo about our experiences at work—especially if we work for progressive organizations—but too many of us have stories about sexual harassment, assault and other inappropriate behaviors from our time in progressive organizations, companies and campaigns. In this training, learn how to speak up in the moment if you experience harassment. We’ll also talk about bystander intervention techniques and how to get your workplace to take this issue seriously.

Trainers: Robyn Swirling

Many are still grappling the revelations stemming from Cambridge Analytica and the Internet Research Group’s nefarious activities online. Yet that’s now yesterday’s news—what fresh nightmares await us that are already emerging from the dark web? This training session will educate you beyond Black Mirror to understand the latest in research and trends so that you can begin to prepare for new manipulative techniques that use cutting edge artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to erode our shared concept of news and reality. We’ll cover topics like DeepFake, political botnets, automated laser phishing and more. You’ll leave this session armed with suggestions on how we can begin to fight back.

Trainers: Cheryl Contee

In 2017, under court order, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI turned over hundreds of pages of emails, reports, policies and other documents to the Center for Constitutional Rights and Color Of Change. These documents reveal government surveillance of the Movement for Black Lives, and Black activists and organizers. They show how federal agencies characterized protesters as “Black Supremacist Extremists” and portrayed protected First Amendment protest activity as inciting violence to justify surveillance. These documents also reveal for the first time the existence of a report produced by the DHS Intelligence and Analysis office called the “Race Paper” and that is entirely blacked out in reliance on the National Security Act. We must refocus attention on law enforcement’s historic and current suspicion and targeting of Constitutionally-protected political speech and call for accountability.

Led by: Marbre Stahly-Butts

Panelists: Brandi Collins-Dexter, Omar Farah, Tabitha Mustafa

Following Hurricane Katrina, the state of Louisiana took more than 120 public schools in New Orleans in the name of “recovery.” A state-appointed board fired 7,500 unionized school employees (many of them black), and handed over most schools to charter school management companies. Under privately-operated rule, schools open and close frequently, routinely weed out more “difficult” students, and push kids out by inflicting harsh discipline—a pattern that’s being replicated across the country as school reform efforts take hold. Locals have little to no say in school governance and practices. Some are optimistic that the local school board will regain control of 52 state-run charter schools by summer 2018—but accountability and transparency are far from guaranteed. Our panel will discuss the evolving tactics of disaster capitalists and how communities can navigate these issues to push for progressive change.

Led by: Jeff Bryant

Panelists: Ashana Bigard, Karran Harper Royal, Andre Perry, Julian Vasquez Heilig

After the 2014 elections, the US Congress was noted as the most diverse in American history. It was comprised of nearly 20 percent women and just over 17 percent of members of Congress were non-white. As of January 2017 with the latest Congress, those numbers barely moved. The New American Majority makes up communities of color, young people and women and they are marginally represented especially at the federal and state level in elected office, as campaign and elected official staff; and in leadership of progressive organizations that set movement agendas. Come learn about some of the work being done to ensure race and gender equity not only in elected office, but in politics and movement organization work.

Led by: Atima Omara

Panelists: A'shanti Gholar, Carol McDonald, Madalene Mielke, Carlos Mark Vera

Trump’s national security and foreign policies are extensions of his racist and authoritarian domestic agenda. He is making us less safe. This panel will discuss how his warmongering and bigotry have isolated the United States in the international community, perpetuated the worst of Trumpism at home and abroad, and hurt our chances for peace and real security.

Led by: Elizabeth Beavers

Panelists: Bonnie Jenkins, Wardah Khalid, Stephen Miles, Manar Waheed

The proposed border wall has many negative impacts. There are already miles and miles of “fence” along New Mexico’s southern border that have impacted both human life and wildlife along this corridor and increased building will only create more harm. In Doña Ana County, activists working with conservation groups like the Southwest Environmental Center and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation have teamed up with faith-based organizers working on immigration issues through NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fé (CAFé) and built a truly diverse partnership to fight the wall from multiple angles. ProgressNow New Mexico has worked to help amplify the work on the ground to statewide and national audiences. Hear from these organizers on how they’re coming together to stop the wall.

Led by: Lucas Herndon

Panelists: Johana Bencomo, Kevin Bixby, Angelica Rubio, Gabe Vasquez

For over 30 years, our political climate has been steadily shifting towards an anti-union, anti-worker environment. From politicians placing privatization over public interest to a conservative Supreme Court allowing unlimited corporate money into elections and stripping away union rights, we have created the ideal foundation for an economy that benefits the top 1% while pitting new workers against their older colleagues. Join us as we offer strategies and tips on bridging the gap between young and more experienced workers in diverse fields to build long-term solidarity and win economic justice for all workers.

Led by: Christian Castro

Panelists: Emmelle Israel, Gabriella Landeros, Jocelyn Sherman

We’re well over a year into a massive wave of energetic grassroots organizing. From marching to #MeToo, from local townhalls to massive online mobilizations, communities are recognizing and using their own power. Midterm elections are almost here; special elections are getting unprecedented media and organizer attention. How do we sustain this momentum to connect and lift voices locally? What wins can we celebrate at every level, from local to national? What’s the current climate for our local and national priorities like racial justice, health care, paid leave, mass incarceration and more? Join us for an energetic panel with practical steps you can use right now to organize in your community sustainably, intersectionally and effectively.

Led by: Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Panelists: Monifa Bandele, Monica Roberts, Almas Sayeed

The rise of effective online collaboration tools like Slack, peer-to-peer texting platforms, and an energized cadre of activists means that mass deployment of voter outreach operations can be organized and executed with lightning speed while “flattening” the information hierarchy of traditional campaigns. The effect of this is that meaningfully volunteering for an exciting election campaign, either near-to-home or far-flung, is more convenient and accessible than ever. Translating this energy into both online and offline actions can transform many races and mean the difference between win or lose. This panel will offer some ways to make meaningful impact in the electoral setting and offer some new experiments into the ways we can organize with volunteers leading the way toward engaging, large-scale, and creative ways to win.

Led by: Dylan Easterday

Panelists: Gabby Andrade, Allie Carter, Elizabeth Haynes

The legalization of marijuana for recreational use in nine states and Washington, D.C. has legitimized the sale of a much-desired product for millions of Americans. But it has also created an opportunity for workers. At a time when wages for most remain stagnate, unions are getting active and organizing to turn the fledgling cannabis industry into an economic powerhouse that can benefit hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers. This Teamsters-sponsored panel will discuss how we can create good-paying jobs that won’t harsh your buzz.

Led by: Kristin Heidelbach-Teramoto

Panelists: Ricardo Baca, Barry Broad, OPHELIA CHONG, Richard Rodriguez

Combining the mass scale of email and the intimacy of one-to-one conversations, P2P texting is changing the face of organizing. Come learn how P2P texting works and see what sets Relay apart from other texting tools. This demo is offered by Relay.

Introduce yourself to fellow filmmakers, producers, presenters, activists and movie-lovers at our annual Filmmaker Caucus. All are welcome, whether you’re participating in the Screening Series or just interested in hearing about a range of projects and meeting other people creating progressive change through film.

First-time Netroots attendee? Want to find your crew of people to conquer the conference with? This session’s for you. Meet other first-timers and hear from long-time attendee Shayera Tangri as she gives tips for having a great convention and getting the most out of your time in NOLA.

The Culture Nerd Caucus is open space for all self-identified nerds and pop culture enthusiasts (gamers, cosplayers, fanfic writers and readers, comic book fans, etc) to gather, network and discuss potential ways to utilize high profile moments in arts and culture to organize on progressive issues.

Led by: Reuben "Tihi" Hayslett, Elana Levin

Progressive people of faith are on the frontlines of the progressive movement. Immigration, reproductive, LGBTQ, racial, environmental, and economic justice campaigns benefit from rooting advocacy efforts in deep moral and religioustraditions. Netroots attendees who work for both faith-based and secular organizations are invited to share your ideas about how to best build power on the Religious Left within the broader progressive movement and our own religious communities.

Led by: Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons

There’s no Lizz Winstead this year, but there’s still mornings and news! Join Chris Savage of Eclectablog, Vicki Roush, and some surprise guests for some bleary-eyed newsy-ness each day.

North and South Carolina progressives have much to learn from each other. Join us as we discuss how we can organize across the state line, and how we can respond to the 2020 RNC in Charlotte.

Led by: Michael Morrill

Join us to discuss how the Left Coast is resisting Trump and working for progressive change at the state and local level. We’ll talk about last year’s special election victory that flipped the Washington State Senate and preview the most important contests in the upcoming 2018 midterms, including the Oregon and Idaho gubernatorial races, Idaho Medicaid expansion, plus the WA-05, WA-03, WA-08, and OR-05 U.S. House races.

Led by: Robert Cruickshank, Theresa Curry Almuti, Andrew Villeneuve

Gavin Newsom will be the next Governor of California (whether you like it or not). How do we make sure he makes California a hub of progressive transformation that sets the example for the rest of the country?

Led by: Tim Molina

Join fellow residents our of host state to discuss issues facing progressives throughout Louisiana.

Stop by for a casual conversation about Colorado politics and to meet other Coloradans at Netroots Nation. Feel free to bring your lunch.

Ever since the 2016 election, activists around the country have been calling their elected officials, marching, volunteering and donating. We’re even seeing people take the next step and ask their friends and family to contribute to the candidates and causes they care about—with huge success! We’ll show you how to create your own fundraising pages and give you tips on how to get interested friends to take out their wallet and give.

Trainers: Patrick Farace, Chelsea McDonnell

Every email list is a special unicorn. How do you know what messaging motivates your supporters? What subject lines grab their attention? Which layout will get them to click through? Are graphic emails really all that? The answers to all of those questions—and more—are a simple email test away. In this session, attendees will learn the basics of email testing, including what makes an effective test, what tools they need to start testing, testing best practices, how to analyze the results of a test and how to apply those lessons to future emails.

Trainers: Malinda Frevert, Damien Shirley

Want to step up your Congressional advocacy game (even from the comfort of your own home)? Join us for a hands-on training with interactive simulation modules. The training includes a crash course on how Congress works, walk-throughs for engaging effectively with your members of Congress, case studies for how anyone’s voice can make a difference in today’s national policy debates, and the connection between electoral politics and policy advocacy. While the focus is on Congressional advocacy, the lessons and tactics shared are applicable to engagement at multiple levels of government.

Trainers: Wardah Khalid, Afif Rahman

Without effective intervention, 40 million people who voted in the 2016 election will won’t cast ballots in 2018. These 40 million voters are overwhelmingly progressive: they’re young, they’re people of color, they’re unmarried women, and they are the New American Majority. This situation is tragic, but it’s also preventable, as long as you’re willing to ignore conventional wisdom about increasing voter turnout. In this session you’ll unlearn some fundamental “truths” about voter turnout and hear about the latest research in what actually does increase voter turnout. You’ll leave ready to run hyper-effective GOTV campaigns in 2018 by targeting the 65% of Americans who are considered “low propensity” voters this year.

Trainers: Debra Cleaver, Daniel Gonzales

In this training you will learn how to protect yourself from getting ratf**ked by rightwing political operatives like James O’Keefe and Project Veritas. We will cover their operations and methodology, as well as suggested vetting protocols, tools and steps to take if infiltrated.

Trainers: Lauren Windsor

Whether you’ve had a #MeToo moment, find yourself suddenly unemployed or just dread going to work every day, you know the toll that being in a toxic workplace can have on your career, your self-esteem and your life. It can feel even more intense when you have to give up what you thought was your dream job in the movement and stop working on the cause or with the candidate you love. While it may feel like you’ll never escape, there are key strategies you can use to pivot and move forward in a positive way without torpedoing your career, selling out to the man or ruining your life. Let’s talk about what to do when the unthinkable happens at work.

Trainers: Paula Brantner

In this hands-on training, we’ll show you how to build personalized, high engagement advocacy tools with the Twilio communications platform (the same platform powering communications for Hustle, Relay, Phone2Action, MoveOn.org, the DNC, and many more).

You will embark on a TwilioQuest mission to build an advocacy campaign in real time. Using Twilio Studio visual editor and Airtable, developers and nondevelopers alike will level up their organizing skills and leave prepared to rally people at scale. During your quest, you’ll earn experience points and loot for your accomplishments. Are you ready to embark on your mission?

Trainers: Charlie Weems

Political polling is changing rapidly in response to shifting patterns of communication and new technological opportunities. Meanwhile, public opinion itself is in flux heading into the midterm elections. This panel brings together leading political pollsters and polling innovators to talk about where the public stands on the issues in 2018, what issues matter—and which don’t!—and how pollsters are going about measuring and projecting attitudes in the current political environment.

Led by: Drew Linzer

Panelists: Masa Aida, Albert Morales, Emily Norman, Alan Rosenblatt, Alissa Stollwerk

Anti-Muslim political campaigns have been on the rise in the 2018 and 2017 elections, but they have been losing. These campaigns are inflaming bigotry and hate violence nationwide, but the unpopularity of this hateful rhetoric, the extreme nature of these candidates and the unified rejection from communities of all types has led to many more losses than wins. This panel brings together American Muslim candidates and activists who have faced threats and bigotry head on in rural, suburban and urban communities, a Republican pollster who has conducted an analysis of anti-Muslim messages and a national civil rights group to discuss how to blunt the impact of this rhetoric in communities and make it a loser at the ballot box.

Led by: Scott Simpson

Panelists: Jamiah Adams, Taneeza Islam, Adam Probolsky

Progressive opposition researchers make sure that our organizations are armed with the knowledge and messages they need to fight back on the ground and online, but 2018 is a complicated year for research. At a time when scandals play out in the public eye, bots leverage fake news to sway elections, and personal data is increasingly less secure—what is the role of opposition research in digital campaigning and how can we break through?

Led by: Patrick McHugh

Panelists: Jenna Kruse, Ellie Langford, Dorothy Scheeline, Shripal Shah

The FCC chairman and the Republican majority have been axing our communications rights for the past year. And those who will suffer the most from their policies are people living below the poverty line and people of color. It’s our job to intervene and make sure that—instead of being thrown to the wolves—vulnerable communities are centered in the policies that dictate how we communicate with one another. This panel is designed to sound the alarm about the FCC’s disastrous policies and provide useful guidance for progressive organizers and communities seeking to resist. The session will include a conversation between activists and advocates integral to the fight for #DigitalCivilRights.

Led by: Carmen Scurato

Panelists: Brandi Collins-Dexter, Laura Li, Erin Shields, Joseph Torres

As digital organizers, we hear time and again that building a sense of community and a relationship with our supporters online is critical to transitioning our online community to offline organizers. And we know that Facebook is one of the best tools we have to foster meaningful online communities that advance our progressive goals. But how do you actually go about building a community on Facebook? And how do you ensure that you are having meaningful interactions with your supporters—and that your supporters are connecting with each other in genuine ways? In this panel, we’ll explore the use of tools like Facebook Groups, Events, and—you heard us right—comment threads.

Led by: Olivia Noble

Panelists: Grace Caldara, Christine Hanna

Over the past year, Trump blowback has hit every city, town and community with a force. Marchers who never marched and protesters who have never protested are using their first amendment rights to speak out. People are speaking out, using their voice and most importantly their vote to send a message that what is happening to our country is not OK. The biggest wave of wins is bigger than just its blueness, it’s also fueled by people of color and candidates of color who are deciding not just to vote, but to run so they can take control of the fates of their cities and communities. This panel will focus on what has been working and how these candidates are getting back to basics and not shying from controversial issues.

Led by: Camille Rivera

Panelists: Cristobal Alex, Carol McDonald, Colin Rogero

Over the last few years there’s been renewed interest in striking. With inequality on the rise and the Supreme Court poised to strike a blow to public sector labor unions, workplace actions are becoming more common. But why strike? And when? What are the upsides and downsides? Could it do more harm than good? Will it get me everything I want? When there’s a strike near me, how can I help?From the 2012 Chicago teachers strike to the 2016 Verizon strike to the 2017 West Virginia teacher’s strike, public interest and support in workplace actions has been growing.

Led by: Mary Cathryn Ricker

Panelists: Rebecca Diamond, Sarah Jaffe, Jonathan Westin

A blue wave may come, but don’t take it for granted. Real change demands we find an electoral expression of our movements, not just vote blindly for the “not Trump” candidate. This interactive “strategy lab” focuses movement energy on supporting bold ideas centered in racial and economic justice rather than a return to status quo liberalism. Participants will collaborate with panelists to build an open-source digital toolkit for electoralizing our resistance and winning progressive change. Panelists will facilitate four “Strategy Deep Dives,” and a team of scribes will assist in capturing notes and developing a toolkit in real time on an accessible platform.

Led by: Jennifer Epps

Panelists: Grecia Lima, Nelini Stamp, DeJuana Thompson

With the Koch brothers set to spend millions in elections and advocacy campaigns across the country, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to match their spending power. The good news is that we have grassroots momentum on our side. The even better news? By getting creative, you can match the power of big spending. This panel will explore what makes grassroots tactics successful versus why they can fall flat, how to use news coverage to compete with paid advertising, and how to make sure that you’re channelling your energy into actions that will stick.

Led by: Erica Sackin

Panelists: Amber Goodwin, Keauna Gregory, Ianthe Metzger, Eddie Vale

Come hear about the brand new CatalistEmpower.com! It allows you to look at snapshots of districts and to pull up maps of useful Catalist data in seconds. You can also click and color to make maps of anything you want to track. Learn how every field organizer can see maps of their own progress to goal, and hear how your campaign management team can save days of time on defining organizer turf. Everyone from the candidate to the volunteer loves to see maps of 1s and 2s that update every night. We will also demonstrate the core Empower Engine platform. Empower tools let you make and use awesome maps even if you have no tech or data background. This demo is offered by Empower Engine.

Student loan borrowers are at risk of losing vital repayment programs. Trump, DeVos and Congress are rolling back reforms and putting student loan companies over borrowers and students. Attendees may be unaware of free repayment options that could save them from financial distress. It doesn’t have to be this way. Join us to learn more about student loan repayment options, public service loan forgiveness and tips for getting out loan default. This session includes a 30-minute Q&A segment. We will be introducing a new online tool from our partners at Savi to assist borrowers in understanding and enrolling in federal student loan repayment programs, free of charge.

Led by: Melissa Byrne

This is a New Orleans bat signal for New York Netroots. Let’s converge to build with, learn from and to celebrate one another. You, the proud slayers of pipelines, defenders of teachers. You who make fists for $15 and take airports for immigrants. You who tear down with the force of Niagara, rudely unseat smokey room electeds, and make with your hands the grip of a farmer tearing grapes from vines and a writer typing with snark as she unionizes by night! You who rise up to the heights of The New Colossus, our sister, once bronze now green with monied influence waiting to march with us as a state called Empire is pushed into the hands of the people.

Led by: Rafael Shimunov

Join the Climate Caucus to deepen our commitment to climate justice as an integral part of progressive politics and explore strategies and solutions to bring back to our communities. While the seas are rising, let’s come together to enable our spirits to rise higher.

Led by: Ben Beachy, Tish Tablan, Anthony Torres

Basic income – often called UBI, guaranteed income, or Citizen Dividends – will ensure that everyone has money for food, clothes, and shelter, at least. With the income, we’ll also have monthly reminders that we are equal citizens, with a direct stake in creating a more just, peaceful, sustainable, and democratic America.

Led by: Sandhya Anantharaman, Jim Pugh, Steven Shafarman

In this caucus we will discuss new ideas, lessons learned, and challenges groups have faced in their work to educate people about economic, racial and gender justice. How do we equip and empower citizens, community organizers, local leaders, and activists to identify, talk about, and take on the hidden structures behind the challenges faced by working people across the country, especially the role of the financial industry in harming communities? How do we talk about the central role of race and gender in the creation and perpetuation of economic inequality? And why is popular education on these issues important?

Led by: Luisa Galvao

Come by the lounge in the Town Square for a refreshing beverage and some local favorite snacks. Sponsored by Raw Story & Alternet.

SEO is straight-up magical. It’s free, easy and can drive millions of visitors to your website. We’ll show you how we used SEO to secure top Google placement for almost any voting-related search, allowing us to run the largest—and cheapest—voter engagement program in America. During the training, you’ll learn five things you can immediately do to your website to improve your search engine ranking and reach more visitors without spending money. This is an intermediate to advanced level training for people who love the internet, love user-generated content, know HTML and have administrative access to at least one website. Bring your laptop so you can get under the hood of your website and start making changes.

Trainers: Debra Cleaver, Jim Pugh

#BlackLivesMatter. #NeverAgain. #55Strong. What do these all have in common? An expert use of social media. Movements throughout history have always mastered new technology to advance their cause. In the civil rights movement, this meant knowing how to use television to broadcast the movement; today it means using social media. Join us to learn how social media has been instrumental in movement building from Occupy Wall Street to the present; successful case studies of organizing at-scale by harnessing social media; and hard skills to help organizers start integrating social media in their work.

Trainers: Nicole Carty, Thais Marques

You don’t need a JD to understand the importance of our federal courts, and you don’t need an MBA to see how tax reform is being used to attack the middle class. Every day activists and groups across the nation face a challenging task: distill the complex ins and outs of policies into a simple, engaging public message. But simplifying your message is more than cutting words—it’s about making content that moves people to act. From Tweets to podcasts, infographics to videos, digital media makes it possible to educate and motivate people in unique ways. This session will cover identifying your audience, where they are, and how best to reach them; finding the message that speaks to their values; and translating big ideas into visual products.

Trainers: Megan Simons, Bradley Williams

Ransomware. Viruses. Data breaches. Phishing emails. Website defacement. Ad network hijacking. These are just some of the cyber threats that every progressive organizer, campaign and nonprofit needs to be aware of and on guard against. This training will cover best practices for securing websites, personal computers and mobile devices that everyone should know. Learn how to protect yourself and your organization against the hive of scum and villainy on the Internet that would do you harm. As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Trainers: Andrew Villeneuve

The Action Network is an intuitive, full-featured online mobilization toolset. In this training, we’ll walk through some of our top features to help organizers get the most from Action Network, including our new drip emailer, the distributed events campaign tool and our sophisticated email testing tool. We’ll also dissect some of the most creative campaigns run on Action Network in the last year to identify tips and best practices that can be applied to your next campaign. This training is ideal for folks who are interested in exploring new tools to run their digital programs and existing partners that want to take their campaigning to the next level. To learn more about our toolset before the session, visit www.actionnetwork.org/toolset. This training is sponsored by Action Network.

Trainers: Mari Vangen

Live tweeting protests, panels, elections days, conferences (like the one we’re at today!) and even TV shows are some of the most effective ways to grow an engaged Twitter following for yourself and/or your organization. We’ll share strategies for live tweeting that you can use right away so that your being at #NN18 will grow your Twitter account. We’ll show the value of leveraging personal and organizational Twitter accounts together. Learn how popular culture moments like award shows and TV twitter present opportunities for Twitter engagement beyond your existing base. Skill level: If you or your organization has a Twitter account and use it, even occasionally and poorly, you’ll be good to go. If you’ve never seen Twitter before, this may not be a fit.

Trainers: Elana Levin

How is progressive media amplifying the voice of the grassroots and the resistance to bring about electoral change? As we move closer to 2018, there is a question of persuasion vs. mobilization. This is a false choice: Progressives must both persuade through emotionally resonant content and mobilize the resistance to turn-out for the 2018 election. In order to win in 2018 and beyond, we need content that creates a community, draws on the work happening both to resist Trump and support progressive candidates, and also motivates people to take action.

Led by: Kaili Joy Gray

Panelists: Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, Nicole Cairns, D.J. Koessler, Gabriela Melendez Olivera, Anne Thompson

For the past decade, Democratic campaigns and progressive advocacy groups have largely kept their “digital” and “organizing” strategies separate. With the rise of new digital organizing technologies and their increasingly widespread utilization among smaller campaigns and organizations, 2018 is the year that digital can meet field organizing in a meaningful way. From automated workflows to volunteer recruitment, event follow-ups, and GOTV, this panel will discuss what they’re seeing on the ground in 2018, and what is possible heading into 2020 and beyond.

Led by: Amanda Coulombe

Panelists: Clarke Humphrey, Mallory Long, Lauren Miller, Tessa Simonds

Can you envision policies that simultaneously center racial and economic equity, tackle climate change, and create good union jobs? It’s not a utopia. It’s already happening. From New York to New Orleans, local movements across the country are leading the way in pushing for policies to support a just transition to a clean energy economy. By building on local victories, progressives have an opportunity to build cross-sector, multiracial movement power behind a federal platform for good jobs and climate equity. Come hear local leaders from across the country offer concrete ideas for this policy platform, spotlight local successes, and offer grounded lessons for the national fight that lies ahead.

Led by: Anthony Torres

Panelists: Ben Beachy, Katherine Egland, Annel Hernandez, Colette Pichon Battle, LaTanja Silvester

The United States is the incarceration capital of the world, and Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country. Louisiana’s incarceration rate is nearly five times Iran’s, 13 times China’s and 20 times Germany’s. But Louisianans are not taking this lightly. In 2017, community members—including those directly impacted by the criminal justice system—organized to advocate to reduce the number of people in prisons. People flooded the capitol and contacted their legislators demanding change. In 2018, bills passed that enfranchised a larger portion of the formerly incarcerated and sought to bring fairness to a unjust justice system. We’ll talk about how others can do the same.

Led by: Jamila Johnson

Panelists: John Burkhart, Kia Hayes, Norris Henderson

Standing in solidarity with the Parkland students and young people across the United States, the 50 Miles More, Team Enough and March for Our Lives teams are keeping the national spotlight on gun reform in hopes that no child will live in fear of gun violence. The voices and fresh ideas of our youth are building intersectional coalitions of new and experienced organizations. What can we learn from the past? How do we support our young leaders to achieve true policy reform? And how do we sustain the momentum in light of continued tragedies and diversion tactics?

Led by: Kris Brown

Panelists: Shannon Carlson, Katie Eder, Tatiana Washington

Democrats have a tremendous opportunity to win big in 2018. But they will need to abandon the myth of the “white swing-voter” and build transformative campaigns capable of expanding the electorate and tapping the New American Majority: the multiracial, multicultural, and progressive coalition of voters consisting of people of color and progressive whites. This panel will discuss strategies for 2018 and feature candidates whose campaigns have demonstrated the power of mobilizing this majority and building a truly reflective democracy.

Led by: Aimee Allison

Panelists: Paulette Jordan, Summer Lee, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, Gina Ortiz Jones

Despite accounting for nearly 10 percent of the nation’s Black population, Black immigrants and refugees have yet to coalesce as a voting bloc and exercise their electoral power in the political arena. Lower levels of civic engagement lead not only to a lack of representation of Black immigrants in elected and appointed positions but also to disparate life outcomes including lower household income, higher unemployment, and disproportionate contact with criminal justice and immigration systems. This panel will explore recent electoral and organizing successes in the emerging Black immigrant community and why their latent potential to be politically powerful must be realized for the benefit of their communities and the country.

Led by: Will Jawando

Panelists: Mustafa Jumale, Francesca Menes

Latina/x voters have the power to change the vote and are highly influential at the national level. There are about 12 million Latina/x people who are voting-age U.S. citizens. Many groups have been reaching out to these voters, but there’s still a lot of opportunity to organize in these communities. Want to know where the openings are, what works and doesn’t, and how we can move the needle on Latinx voting in the US? Join us!

Led by: Xochitl Oseguera

Panelists: Lucy Flores, Leticia Salcedo, María Urbina

Progressive grassroots advocacy and organizing requires that we promote values of inclusion, equality and justice—and that means recognizing the often overlooked role that communities of faith and conscience play in pushing for progressive change. Join us for a diverse panel of experienced advocates from the Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Sikh faith traditions. We’ll discuss the indelible impact and power of interfaith coalitions in policy advocacy, implications of religious demographic trends on the progressive advocacy space, and ways for new and experienced activists to engage with and establish multifaith coalitions to achieve inclusive, intersectional progress and strengthen our social fabric.

Led by: Afif Rahman

Panelists: Bilal Askaryar, Rev. Jennifer Jones, Josh Protas, Sim Singh

Over the past few cycles, progressives have fallen behind on digital advertising—even as voters are increasingly spending their time online. In previous election cycles, Republican campaigns have outspent Democrats online, allowing the right to seize the online conversation and define progressive candidates on their own terms. At the same time, many progressive campaigners have kept their distance from online advertising, relying on consultants and outside advisers instead of building in-house teams of digital staffers and building a larger digital infrastructure. To start reclaiming the internet, join Priorities USA for this introductory look at digital advertising and learn how to apply these best practices to your work. This training is sponsored by Priorities USA.

Trainers: Elyssa Feder, Madeline V. Twomey

“Healing Justice” explores the causes and consequences of the current North American justice system and its effect on marginalized communities. The film walks back through the history of violence that has led to our current system, bringing into focus the histories of trauma—on a personal, interpersonal, community, and generational level. This powerful documentary addresses the school-to-prison pipeline, the need for comprehensive criminal justice reform, and the importance of healing and restorative practices.

Panelists: Wendi Moore-O'Neal

BallotReady builds digital voter guides, slate cards, and make a plan to vote tools to help voters show up for candidates all the way downballot, powered by the most comprehensive database to local politics. Come learn about our tools to mobilize voters for every race and every election, nationwide. This demo is presented by BallotReady.

Led by: Alex Niemczewski, Ben Quam

This open caucus is intended to provide space where members of Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) communities and allies can discuss how the progressive movement can support the fight against bigotry and attacks on the civil and human rights of Muslims. Come connect with like-minded and allied folks. We’ll be engaging in conversation around upcoming issues for the MASA community and how we can work together to improve our movement and our country.

Led by: Firdaus Arastu, Scott Simpson

Voters aged 65+ vote at a higher rate than any other age group, yet they get little attention from progressives. The American Elders Caucus will identify the barriers elders face in the movement and how we can better organize.

Led by: Michael Morrill

The labor movement experienced some of it’s greatest challenges, and victories in the past year. Join other trade unionists this Thursday from 2:30-4:30, as we explore what is working for us and productive solutions for the labor movement we are trying to build. ✊

This is a closed caucus.

Led by: Lee Anderson, C.M. Files

Come meet the staff of Daily Kos and ask questions about the site. We are including a special tribute to BruinKid. Organizer, Neeta Lind, Director of Community/Special Events

Daily Kos staff and members in attendance will include:

President: Will Rockafellow
Activism Team: Amanda McKay, Carissa Miller, Irna Landrum, Kimm Lett, Michael Langenmayr, Monique Teal and Rachel Colyer.
Editorial Team: Susan Gardner, Joan McCarter, Laura Clawson, Meteor Blades, Kelly Macias and Gabe Ortiz.
Elections Team: David Nir, Jeff Singer and Carolyn Fiddler.
Social Media Team: Faith Gardner, Jen Hayden, Walter Einenkel and Wagatwe Wanjuki.

Led by: Neeta Lind

Animal protection is a core value intertwined with progressive politics. Join us to discuss the hot issues on the ballots in November (Greyhound racing in FL, state and federal races) and how we can work together to support candidates who support animals.

Led by: Holly Hazard

Join us before our opening plenary for a reception to kick off Netroots 2018—complete with a second line performance! After a busy day of panels and training sessions, power up with appetizers provided by Working Families Party and connect with old and new friends before the keynote begins. Sponsored by Working Families Party.

Join us as we kick off Netroots Nation 2018 with our opening keynote! You’ll hear from progressive leaders including Sen. Cory Booker; Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba; Aimee Allison of Democracy in Color; John Fetterman, candidate for Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor; Congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, the Hip Hop Caucus’ Mustafa Santiago Ali; NOLA Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Colette Pichon Battle of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy; and NextGen America founder Tom Steyer.

Panelists: Aimee Allison, Sen. Cory Booker, LaToya Cantrell, John Fetterman, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, Gina Ortiz Jones, Colette Pichon Battle, Mustafa Santiago Ali, Tom Steyer

Join us for an evening of community, conversation—and cancelling student debt. Sponsored by Freedom to Prosper.

Join The Hub Project, Health Care Voter, Not One Penny, and Tax March at Netroots 2018 for a happy hour (read: open bar!) as we discuss what the future of progressive advocacy holds for all of us. We’ll have booze and bites a few steps away at Après Lounge from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Thursday evening.

RSVP required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/booze-and-bites-with-the-hub-project-tickets-48143418260

Let comedy cut through the chaos and may laughter trump hate. Join a performance of progressive political comedians and commentators at the annual Laughing Liberally Jam at Netroots Nation. Join us at World of Beer for some comedy, then stay for karaoke! For 15 years, Laughing Liberally has been giving comedians a stage to pursue their political passions, audiences a comedic catharsis, and progressive partners the chance to laugh to keep from crying.

Join us for what’s become an annual tradition at Netroots Nation! Whether you can’t hold a tune or have ambitions to be on The Voice, we want you on that stage. Join us at the World of Beer for a fun night to kick off the conference. Sponsored by Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

As activists we often get caught up in the perception of progress through busy-ness and neglect the necessity of focus and calm. Our morning flow will ground your day in peace and clarity before diving into the business/busy-ness of the conference. We’ll do light stretching, joint mobility enhancements, breathing and relaxation exercises.