ABOUT COMMON POWER
Root Action in Education
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Building Lasting Community
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Promote New Leadership
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Root Action in Education • Building Lasting Community • Promote New Leadership •
Common Power (CP) works to foster, support, and amplify a democracy that is just and inclusive. We provide creative on-ramps to civic fieldwork, expand the people engaging in and benefiting from it, and sustain this effort by investing in the next generation of leaders.
We catalyze our work through education and bolster a public that takes action in support of a just and inclusive democracy. By fostering a community in which people learn from, support, and grow with one another; We identify and invest in young, diverse leaders and promote them into leadership positions within CP and beyond.
THE CP WAY
MINDSET
We believe democracy should be just and inclusive. We have a responsibility to make it so, by action.
MOJO
We do this work together, in community and in teams. We prioritize and amplify next-generation leaders.
MOBILIZE
We register and catalyze voters in key states and follow the lead of partner orgs.
THE DETAILS
Common Power is a family of organizations: a Political Action Committee (Common Power PAC), a 501c3 (Common Power Future), and a 501c4 (Common Power). Financial integrity and transparency are core values for us. We file public monthly FEC reports for every dollar raised and spent in our PAC and SPAC, and every report since we began in July 2018 can be found here! Our 501c3's annual 990 reports can be found here for 2021 fiscal year and here for 2022 fiscal year. We created a 501c4 in 2023, and our first 990 form was filed with the IRS in May 2024.
Here is our 2023 annual report for the full family of Common Power organizations. In creating these aligned yet distinct organizations, we are able to be strategically flexible and maximize the impact with the financial support we receive. It also makes it easy for supporters to direct funds to specific initiatives within CP. Donation details using either option are outlined on our donation page.
Common Power partners with trusted legal, regulatory, and HR services that provide a foundation of support as we innovate in education, political, and leadership development spaces. Elias Law Group provides legal counsel on regulatory, employment, and campaign/political finance, Premier Political Compliance guides us through our FEC filing and general state and federal political compliance, and Reverb advises internal staff HR needs.
Charles
Larcy
Executive Director of Common Power
Director, CP Future and Operations
Terry
David
Director, The Institute for Common Power
Assoc. Director, Development and Education
Binh
Sr. Program Manager, Operations and Finance
General Manager, Marketing and Communications
Maria
Sr. Program Manager, Fieldwork
Sr. Fieldwork Program Manager
Sr. Institute Program Manager
Sr. Institute Associate
Kylie
Victoria
Sr. Institute Associate
Blossom
Willow
Marketing Associate
Jessica
Fieldwork Associate
CP Future Associate
Wole
Vanna
Devon
Celestria
Sr. Community Communications Associate
Asha
Sr. Institute Associate
Jordyn
Operations and Finance Associate
Fieldwork Associate
Pouya
PART-TIME STAFF
Jenni
Matthew
Eli
Marketing and Fieldwork
Fieldwork
Cyrrah
CP Future
Leslie
CP Future
Jessica
Operations and Finance
The Institute for Common Power
OUR CHAMPIONS
Our Common Power “Champions” bring a lifetime of experience as civil rights leaders and footsoldiers, and believe that Common Power is a key part of the continuation of their work in the movement for voting rights. They frequent our learning tours to the south, and participate in our virtual events from time to time. We consider them valued elders who inspire our community, and we love and support them however we can.
JoAnne Bland
“During my lifetime, I have been both a witness and a participant in some of our nation's most consequential civil rights battles. In the early 60's, I began my activism, with the SNCC (The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) organized for myself along with other children and teens in my neighborhood and area to participate in the Civil Rights Movement."
Born and raised in Selma, Alabama, I have seen first hand how racism and segregation created a deadly divide between two races and decided that it was my duty to ensure that my voice was one of the many that was heard to create equality and voting rights for African Americans.
Currently, I am the owner and operator of Journeys for the Soul, a touring agency that specializes in Civil Rights tours with a major focus on Selma, Alabama.”
Ms. JoAnne is also a key stakeholder and board member of Foot Soldiers Park in Selma.
Charles Mauldin
Charles Mauldin was 17 years old and a student leader in Selma AL during the voting rights campaign of the 1960s. He learned from Dr. Bernard Lafayette and other civil rights movement leaders. He was inspired by the Teachers March on January 22, 1965, which is a moment in which educators took action for voting rights.
On Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, Mr. Mauldin was in the third row of American heroes who marched from AME Brown Chapel toward Montgomery. On the far side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the marchers were beaten by Alabama police and sheriffs, and forced back to Selma. But Mr. Mauldin and the others returned two days later, and then on March 21-25 he was one of a little more than 300 marchers who walked the full 54 miles to Montgomery. A New Yorker article about the march includes insights and experiences of Mr. Mauldin.
CP COMMUNITIES
At Common Power our commitment to building a lasting effort to strengthen our democracy is manifested in CP Communities. These Communities create unique spaces for people at different life stages to on-ramp them into civic action through community, education, and investment in next-generation leadership. All of these elements in concert allow us to sustain and grow this effort for political engagement every year, at home, and around the country.
Purpose: The community that started it all in 2018, the core Common Power group was formed by volunteers of retirement life-stage that bring decades of experience, often with leadership backgrounds, to their work with CP. Today, this community has become a multigenerational and diverse group that aims to work across difference to be an effective volunteer base for CP’s Fieldwork program.
Programs: Fieldwork, Volunteer Training, and Voter Registration.
Purpose: The broad education community at Common Power has launched on its own as The Institute for Common Power, a place for transformational and experiential learning. The educational offerings are mostly virtual and year-round with an international audience. The Institute also has specific programming for educators to learn the objective truths of US history and Voting rights in the US.
Through its extensive year-round programming, The Institute is the primary catalyst for activating and re-engaging our volunteers across Common Power.
Programs: Educator Learning Tours, Virtual Courses, Lectures, etc.
Purpose: In the summer of 2020 we launched Action Academy: a 10-week program that teaches civic engagement. Hundreds of college-age students each year have participated in this program. Through their friend groups, they’ve grown the overall Common Power Future Community to encompass volunteer Action Days, community-building social events, and the creation of CP Squads that support national CP Team efforts. CP Future folx seed the future of fieldwork and leadership positions within Common Power.
Programs: Action Academy, Crew Leads, Campus Leads
WE’RE FIELD MULTIPLIERS.
After choosing our states, we select local partners who know the political landscape, can support our volunteer volume and are connected to the progressive causes and candidates we want to support. These partnerships ensure our teams are effective while in-state, and help us keep our out-of-state perspectives to ourselves
When we choose to work with a local partner organization we’re following their lead. We carefully partner with local orgs that share our values, and while working with them we fully adopt their plans, priorities, and tactics. We know that the most lasting change is driven by local citizens.
