“We have to build our own power.
We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black people… The question for black people is not when is the white man going to give us our rights, or when is he going to give us good education for our children, or when is he going to give us jobs.
If the white man gives you anything – just remember when he gets ready he will take it right back. We have to take for ourselves.”
–Fannie Lou Hamer
VCW Electoral Safety Toolkit
Click the image above or Download Here!
The 2024 November election is approaching and for many left movement groups, this means increased safety threats. Whether your group is door-knocking, protesting, or coordinating mutual aid, building safety infrastructure is critical to protect our communities. The VCW Electoral Safety Toolkit is our latest offering with best practices, templates, and questions to consider in the months leading up to a national election in the U.S.
We highly recommend groups pair the Electoral Safety Toolkit with training support. Look below for more information on our upcoming electoral safety trainings!
Building Our Own: VCW Electoral Safety Training Series
The Building Our Own training series supports progressive electoral organizers to strengthen their community safety practices to prevent and address violence or harm that may impact their organization.
Building Our Own is a two-part training series, one training offered quarterly for three hours, and a second offered as an asynchronous recorded training available to participants for up to one month.
Registration ends 24 hours prior to each training. Questions? Email: [email protected]
What is Electoral Safety & Security?
Electoral security is a set of practices that build the collective capacity of progressive electoral organizers to address violence and harm meant to disrupt progressive electoral organizing.
VCW uses a holistic approach to electoral security to build collective capacity of progressive organizers and organizations.
About Building Our Own: Electoral Safety Training Series (BOOTS)
The Building Our Own Electoral Safety Training Series is complete for 2024.
If you are seeking community safety & security support immediately, check out our VCW Electoral Safety Toolkit, or our monthly Get in Formation Training Series.
If you are experiencing an urgent threat or are anticipating a threat, we recommend you check out our rapid response system to submit a ticket for support.
This is a two-part training series of two sequential workshops. The first is a live, virtual training for three hours with opportunities for questions, followed by a recorded training to go in-depth on more topics. All participants also gain access to weekly office hours and our rapid response system.
- 101 — Introduction to Electoral Safety, De-escalation, and Safety for Canvassers (Virtual, live synchronous)
- 201 — Organizational Security Culture, Building Security Protocols, and Safety for Electoral Organizers (Recorded, asynchronous)
- Regular drop-in office hours —Offered weekly. Dedicated time to answer pressing questions and provide coaching on immediate and ongoing needs. Participants can sign up for office hours as needed following the trainings.
- Online rapid response system —Provides community safety rapid response support to organizations and leaders who are experiencing and/or anticipating community safety. Participants can submit tickets as needed.
Who is this for?
In the past two years, Vision Change Win has received increased requests for training support from electoral organizers navigating increased threats of violence leading up to the 2020 election, especially threats of right-wing violence. The need has continued to grow, and we anticipate increased demand for this work related to the 2022 midterms and 2024 elections.
The electoral safety training series is for progressive electoral organizers to strengthen their community safety practices to prevent and address violence or harm that may impact their organization. It is especially designed for people in the following roles:
- Electoral Canvasser
- Community Organizer
- Electoral Strategist
- Poll Worker
- Election Safety Team Member
- Election Defense workers
- Those coordinating electoral work at the state or national level
- Funders of electoral work
- and others involved in electoral safety work
At VCW, we believe that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities have created safety outside of the police and prisons for generations. Our trainers have between 10 – 40 years of experience working directly on safety and security protocols, and all have experience coordinating community safety programs for communities that include BIPOC, LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, low-income people, people with disabilities, survivors of violence, and other marginalized communities.
Upcoming Building Our Own Training Date(s)
The Building Our Own Electoral Safety Training Series is complete for 2024.
If you are seeking community safety & security support immediately, check out VCW Electoral Safety Toolkit, or our monthly Get in Formation Training Series.
If you are experiencing an urgent threat or are anticipating a threat, we recommend you check out our rapid response system to submit a ticket for support.
2024 Building Our Own Blitz Date(s)
In preparation for the November 2024 presidential election, VCW will be ramping up BOOTS and offering additional training support around key safety issue areas. These trainings are specialized, it is recommended that organizations first attend BOOTS before attending a Blitz training.
- Tues, October 15, 2024, 6:30-8pm EST (Electoral Safety Teams ONLY)
How much does it cost?
VCW is committed to ensuring everyone can access this training. We know safety and security planning cannot be done in isolation. We encourage organizations to send up to 5 representatives to the trainings.
- BOOTS: $400 for 101 and 201 trainings (6 hours total)
- BOOTS Blitz: $200 per session (90 min total)
Prices are subject to change in the future.
Solidarity Scholarship
To make our trainings as accessible as possible, Vision Change Win is offering five scholarships each month to BIPOC, low-income folks, Immigrants, Queer or Trans folks, Disabled folks, or other marginalized communities. These slots are first come, first served. Participants only need to indicate in the registration form they are applying for a solidarity seat. We encourage participants applying for a Solidarity Scholarship to apply early, as seats go quickly.
How do I register?
First, fill out this registration form at least 48 hours before your desired training date. You’ll need the following information to register:
- Your name, organization, and role
- Brief description of your goals for attending the series
- Share your accessibility needs
Then, after your registration has been received and vetted, you will receive the training information overview. Each individual registered member of your group will receive a personalized zoom confirmation form. Each registered member should complete their Zoom confirmation form by 12pm EST on the day of your training. Each registered member will then be emailed a personalized zoom link for the training.
What happens after I complete the series and want to learn more?
Once you’ve completed the first workshop, you will get access to VCW’s weekly virtual community safety office hours where you can book a time to speak one-on-one with one of our community safety practitioners to ask questions from the trainings and/or troubleshoot issues.
The training series is meant to provide a solid introductory foundation for electoral community safety and security work. For more in-depth training and capacity-building, we recommend attending our Community Safety & Security School, which is a 9-month organizational cohort training and implementation program.