SVA’s first-ever Power-Building Cohort kicked off in September 2024 and closed out in February of 2025. Through the cohort we brought together 12 leaders from six of SVA’s sponsored projects. From racial justice and disaster recovery to migrant justice and social emotional learning – each group was unique but all shared one goal: building power in their communities.
At our September kick off, we dug into what power building means. Power building is about collective people power—the ability to come together and make real changes that improve conditions in our communities.
Institutions and corporations have power because they control resources and wealth, but the organizations in this cohort are working to shift that balance. These power-building organizations are doing incredible work to mobilize their communities, expand their bases, and create change. The goal of the cohort was to provide resources, trainings, and support to strengthen and amplify the fantastic efforts they are leading.
Our cohort included Durham Beyond Policing, Refund Raleigh, Muslim Women For, Dangers of the Mind, the Disaster Recovery and Resilience Network, and Comite de Accion Popular.
During the cohort we held monthly trainings, covering topics from base building and database management to building strong teams and fundraising. We also helped each group with a tailored organizational assessment, where they set SMART goals and mapped out areas they want to improve.
At SVA, we believe in building a movement where many people can and will step into leadership. We believe that we need strong leaderful movements to build strong organizations that can enrich a strong interconnected movement ecosystem that can work for meaningful resilient change.
