How We Win Socialist Policy: Philadelphia Gathering
Democratic socialist elected officials from across the northeast and mid-Atlantic gathered September 21 in Philadelphia for the DSA Fund’s first ever regional gathering, envisioned after the successful national conference in 2023. Fifty-one attendees met to exchange ideas and collaborate on solutions. How can elected officials co-govern with the movement organizations like DSA? What does co-strategizing and constituent organizing look like? What are the most effective ways to build working class power and enact policy reforms for the working class?
Joining the elected officials were their staff and representatives from DSA chapter socialists in office committees from across the region. With the constantly shifting policy terrain and political environment, relationships forged at events like this are more critical than ever. The DSA Fund will continue to create spaces for the exchange of ideas, whether through virtual policy events or regional gatherings (next up, the Midwest) throughout 2025 and beyond.
International Political Education Course
The DSA Fund was instrumental facilitating this months-long exchange between leading Brazilian and US socialist activists. This international dialogue was done in conjunction with the Brazilian Perseu Abramo Foundation and the DSA International Committee. Dozens of socialists were selected from an application process for these two major American countries to share ideas and strategies to build socialism and fight rising authoritarianism in both lands.
Democratic Socialists of America: A Graphic History
We’re excited to announce the release of Democratic Socialists of America: A Graphic History. This project, which DSA Fund is proud to have supported through our grantmaking program, offers a unique and engaging look at the origins, growth, and ongoing efforts of DSA. Illustrated by Noah Van Sciver and written by Raymond Tyler, it’s more than just a history lesson—it’s a testament to the power of collective action and the ongoing relevance of socialist ideals in addressing today’s challenges.
You’re invited to join us on Wednesday, June 5 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT for How We Win: Coalitions for Just Housing Policy, a virtual event where you’ll hear directly from democratic socialist elected officials and organizers from different cities and states in the fight to advance housing rights, access, and affordability and a democratic socialist housing agenda. Our panel will discuss successes, challenges, and their reflections on the work where they live to advance and win on left solutions to the housing crisis.
Across the country, there is a proliferation of efforts advocating further deregulation as a solution to the deepening housing crisis. But local organizers and elected representatives are fighting them with strategies to win measures like rent stabilization, tenant protections, and social housing that expand housing as a right and challenge the idea that a capitalist market can provide truly affordable, secure housing for all.
At this event, our panel will share their experiences and insights on how we can engage diverse communities to join this crucial fight for housing justice and devise strategies to win.
Panelists include Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Soli Alpert, Montgomery County Councilmember Kristin Mink, New York State Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, and Chicago-based organizer Diego Morales.
Why Attend:
Get Informed: Deepen your understanding of the housing crisis around the country and innovative solutions.
Gain Actionable Strategies: Learn about effective tactics and campaigns to address the housing crisis and advance renters’ rights.
Connect with Comrades: Connect with others who are passionate about creating a fairer, more sustainable housing system.
How We Win: The Democratic Socialist Policy Agenda in Office
June 16-17, 2023, Washington, D.C.
Photo courtesy of Polina Godz/Jacobin
Convened by DSA Fund, The Nation, and Jacobin in Washington, D.C., the How We Win conference brought together democratic socialist elected officials in local and state government, along with federal representatives Congresswoman Cori Bush and Senator Bernie Sanders, to share strategies and build a vision for how socialists can work together to win democratic socialist policy in office.
One hundred years ago, Milwaukee and the Big Apple were centers of power for the Socialist Party of America. A century after socialist and labor organizers used mass politics to secure wins for working class people, both cities have sent socialist caucuses to their respective state capitols.
The stories of democratic socialist organizing in Milwaukee and New York City offer complementary perspectives of how organizers and public officials can leverage our collective power. Like other organizing campaigns the How We Win series has highlighted, these regions’ chapters and organizers are working with democratic socialist officeholders and their staff to advance policy and shift the dynamics in State Houses in favor of working people.
This webinar covers a range of topics, including how grassroots organizers navigate working with public officials in friendly and not-so-friendly environments. With political power behind push for reforms, organizers can have a stronger platform to achieve policy wins.
This event is co-sponsored by DSA National Electoral Committee, Jacobin, Dissent, and In These Times.
DSA Fund is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to political education and engagement. DSA Fund does not participate or intervene in any political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
Winning Policy Change Together: How We Win with Socialists in Office
Join us for the third event in the DSA Fund’s series on How We Win, where we’ll get an inside look at local DSA organizers and public officials working to win policy change in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Ithaca, New York. A growing number of local and state governments have socialist officials joining their ranks, so how can local organizers and DSA chapters work with them to achieve policy wins and advance socialist goals?
The How We Win series shares lessons and how-to experience from policy campaigns and organizing around the country, showing how democratic-socialist organizers and coalitions can advance and achieve tangible wins that support our economic and social goals. Join us to learn what strategies have worked as well as obstacles organizers face along the way, and the path forward to build strong governing coalitions between local organizers and public officials.
Panelists include:
Councilmember Robin Wonsley will moderate the event. She is a democratic socialist representing Minneapolis’s Ward 2 on its city council and a member of Twin Cities DSA.
Councilmember Jason Chavez is the first LGBTQ+ Latinx to serve as a Minneapolis City Council Member and a member of Twin Cities DSA. Prior to his service as a City Council Member, Chavez played a critical role in passing the 2020 Police Accountability Act in Minnesota and the 2021 Omnibus Employment and Economic Development Bill in Minnesota as a Committee Legislative Aide at the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Mike D. is the co-chair of Philly DSA and sits on the chapter’s Socialists In Office Commission and Electoral and Political Education Committees. Previously he served as Campaign Manager for DSA member and 2021 Jersey City City Council candidate Joel Brooks.
Alderperson Jorge DeFendini is a DSA member, Boricua Socialist Organizer and Alderperson serving on the Ithaca Common Council. He has organized within Ithaca DSA and the Ithaca Tenants Union for campaigns such as Good Cause Eviction and free mass transit campaign.
Genevieve Rand is a member of Ithaca DSA and a co-chair of the Tompkins County Working Families Party. Following years of volunteer work at the Ithaca Tenants Union, first organizing Cancel Rent and Good Cause campaigns, she’s recently worked on supporting the Ithaca Solidarity Slate — a collaborative project between the Ithaca DSA and Ithaca Tenants Union.
Panelists will respond to your questions and discuss more immediate practical steps and the longer view of what coalitions and governments can do locally and at the state level through building and working together.
This event is co-sponsored by DSA National Electoral Committee, Dissent, and In These Times.
“This past weekend, DSA launched its inaugural Multiracial Organizing Institute, a project of the Multiracial Organizing Committee (MROC) in Minneapolis. Attended by 29 participants, 10 facilitators, and 2 staff members, the convening included participants getting to know one another through social biographies – a popular education art activity, and trainings covering building a mass organization, strong coalitions, and recruitment – all through a lens of what it means to intentionally grow a multiracial organization and movement. We also asked big questions around how to meet people where they are to bring them to socialist politics, how to avoid burning out our leaders and organizers of color, what tactical recruitment through specific campaigns looks like, and navigating racial conflict. Coming out of the weekend, we look forward to our participants spreading word about the Institute through 1:1s in their chapters, as well as write-ups in local and national publications. We will take the next few weeks to plan a public facing event, and ultimately develop the resources to replicate these conversations and strategic ideas nationwide. Thank you so much to the DSA Fund for your support!” —Maikiko James, MROC Institute Planning Committee Chair
“40 Years of DSA: Founding & Future” at Socialism 2022
DSA was founded in 1982—a low tide in the US left. Since 2016, it’s become home to tens of thousands of new organizers. In our panel at Socialism Conference 2022, hear from DSA Fund Chair David Duhalde and other longtime members on DSA’s early days and the many changes since.
Watch the second event in the DSA Fund’s series on How We Win, where you’ll get an inside look at worker rights campaigns in Portland, Maine; New York City; and Austin, Texas. In a time of growing labor solidarity and union recognition campaigns, what else can democratic socialists do to achieve worker justice victories?
Panelists will respond to audience questions and discuss the longer view of what coalitions and governments can do—nationally and locally—to strengthen worker rights and labor justice, and to organize toward an economy that meets the needs of all, not profits for the few.
The past two years of the pandemic have revealed in stark terms how ageism affects access to services including health care. This virtual event will explore the intersection of ageism and capitalism and activists’ efforts to address discrimination based on age.
Panelists will include Margaret Morganroth Gullette, author of Ending Ageism, or How Not to Shoot Old People, Susan Chacin, long-term feminist activist, and Paul Garver, retired labor leader.
The Democratic Socialists of America Fund is a 501(c)3 fund devoted to public education and outreach about democratic socialism. The DSA Fund endeavors to demonstrate how an awareness of social democratic and democratic socialist values and policies would strengthen the quality of policy debates in the U.S. The Fund also works to introduce young activists to the history and traditions of democratic socialism.
Fund Activities
Promotes greater public understanding and appreciation of the history and traditions of democratic socialism in the United States and the world and greater public understanding of the achievements of individual democratic socialists and institutions with a democratic socialist tradition
Makes foreign democratic socialists aware of the history and traditions of democratic socialism in the United States
Provides a forum for democratic socialists to meet and exchange ideas on the nature of democratic socialism
Encourages democratic socialists to study and analyze American society and its institutions and to make the results of such studies known to the public
Makes grants to the national organization of Democratic Socialists of America for its educational work, especially among young people
Publishes educational material and develops video and audio material about democratic socialism
Solicits tax-deductible donations for the work of the Fund
Conducts training programs both to educate participants about democratic socialism and to enable participants to educate others
History
The Democratic Socialists of America Fund was originally established in 1978 as the Institute for Democratic Socialism (IDS). Michael Harrington, who became famous for his 1962 work The Other America, was a founder of IDS as well as its sister organization, the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (now merged into Democratic Socialists of America/DSA). IDS’s mission, like that of the DSA Fund today, was to help spread democratic socialist ideals through educational materials and activist training.
