How to Advance Change

There are many ways to protect democracy. Use these suggestions and build upon them during your gatherings.

Action Hub Resources

Your Local Issues

• Community-specific issues. What are the issues your community is facing? How can you affect change on those issues? See below for suggestions on how to take action.

Engage local government officials

• Attend public meetings and community forums. Stay informed and show policymakers that people in the community are paying attention.
• Meet with your city council and local school board members. Discuss local issues that matter to you and learn more about their current priorities.
• Apply to serve on a local commission. Local governing bodies often rely on commissions and committees to study issues and make policy recommendations. These positions are typically appointed by the city council or mayor.
• Thank your local elected officials. Reach out to your city council and school board members to thank them for their efforts. Navigating the current political climate as a local elected official can be tough.

Participate in local elections

• Volunteer on a local campaign. Local campaigns typically have small budgets, so volunteers are essential. Offer to block walk, distribute yard signs, or even host a small fundraising event. Everything helps.
• Become a poll worker. Poll workers are paid to staff polling places during early voting and on Election Day. They are essential to our democracy, and local jurisdictions are always in need of more.

Support Hub Resources

Support community resources and encourage friends to do the same

• Use your local library. Supporting libraries is essential to fighting censorship. Check out books that have been challenged, use library resources, or even join your local library board. Check out our Democracy Reading List!
• Become a member of your local public radio station. Public radio stations air national NPR programs but are first and foremost local entities that support communities through journalism. In fact, in many areas, public radio stations are the only truly local news source.
• Support local nonprofit organizations. Organizations in communities across the country are facing an uncertain future. Make a financial contribution, volunteer your time, or even get a group of friends to buy lunch for an organization’s staff one day.
• Join your neighborhood association. Work with fellow residents to address specific neighborhood issues, host events, and advocate for policies that improve the quality of life for everyone.
• Remember to practice self-care and encourage others to do the same.

Connection Hub Resources

Connect with diverse people, learn something new, and broaden your perspective.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the news of the day, that’s because this chaos and confusion is the point, and follows a well-known authoritarian playbook that is aimed at making people feel alone, isolated, and defeated. This moment requires all of us to engage – democracy is not a spectator sport. That includes creating community with people who have different experiences from you.

• Learn something new from organizations like Resetting the Table or Braver Angels who provide practical tips and training opportunities on trust building and connecting with people from different perspectives.
• Engage with faith communities via regular worship or by supporting organizations affiliated with specific faith traditions. One Table, for example, uses Shabbat dinners and other Jewish rituals to build community. Catholics for Choice connects Catholic people who support reproductive freedom through advocacy and storytelling, and Interfaith Alliance, as the name suggests, welcomes people from all faith traditions to come together to counter religious extremism.
• Find a common ground with people who don’t share all of your political beliefs, but who agree with you on certain things. For example, organizations like Together Women Rise, the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and Moms Rising center issues that help women and families thrive.
• Research the connection between democracy and art. Investigate artists, watch Ted Talks, or visit museums that underscore the importance of freedom and democracy.

Are you an attorney? Join the Rise Up Federal Worker Legal Defense Network.

• Join the network of attorneys volunteering their time to help non-partisan federal workers who have been illegally fired. You’ll receive training and have access to a library of resources to help workers understand their rights and legal options. Learn more at www.workerslegaldefense.org.

Stay engaged and informed.

• Engage and build community with other hosts by following us on Bluesky,  Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok.
• Sign up for our newsletter for more action opportunities.

Never underestimate the power we all have—We, the People.

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