No Silver Bullet: It Takes Political Will to Build Real Power
The progressive infrastructure is too fragmented to succeed. Building real power requires collaboration, clarity, and the political will to align.
First, a plug & ask:
I’m in event prep mode, preparing for the GAIN Power Powerful IDEA Awards on June 24 and 25th. We’re organizing a democracy expo, a session on the future of our party, a career fair, and an awards ceremony that will recognize. Please join us if you can.
At
, we are in a rare position. Nearly 6,000 employers have used our platform across all 50 states to find talent, and more than 100,000 individuals have used it to find work. We have a front-row seat to how people move through this work—and how often they are pushed out of it.Last week, I shared some hard truths about progressive infrastructure. The response was overwhelming. People thanked me and said, "I've lived this." "I feel seen." "I've been carrying this for years." My friend Rachel wrote:
It confirmed what I've seen inside the system for decades: We are not just experiencing individual burnout. We are facing a systemic failure to support the people who power democracy. And we are throwing away the very thing we need most: each other.
The Problem: A System That Treats People as Disposable
We see talented people dropped the moment an election ends, mid-career professionals ghosted, underutilized, or sidelined, a consultant class with outsized influence—and no real accountability—and communities built during campaigns torn apart when the budget runs out.
It's not just painful; it's unsustainable. And if we're honest, it's also a choice.
I've Benefited From This Flawed System—And I'm Working to Change It
Let me be clear: I'm not writing this from the sidelines. I've been part of the problem.
I've been a consultant, and I've gotten contracts through relationships. I've worked inside the revolving door of progressive politics and benefited from it. I've seen ideas get recycled, power hoarded, and people burned out in the name of "strategy."
But I've also reinvested those profits into something that builds our community. I started GAIN Power to create the infrastructure we've never had—and desperately need, because we cannot keep asking people to sacrifice everything for a movement that treats them as disposable.
The Consultant Class Must Be Held Accountable
Let's talk about the elephant in the war room: consultants.
They drive the big decisions—budgets, hiring, messaging, vendors—yet face almost no scrutiny when things go wrong. Too often, we see consultants rewarded for failure. Contracts are renewed based on access, not outcomes. Innovation is treated as risky—but recycled advice is considered "safe." Power is centralized in the hands of a few.
As
wrote in "Progressives, We're Sabotaging Ourselves," we "reward those who package existing ideas palatably rather than those who generated them originally." We've created systems that "celebrate the concept of innovation while completely failing both the problem-solving and the innovators themselves."This isn't just inefficient. It's corrosive.
And I say this not as an armchair critic but as someone inside this world. I want to help rebuild our party and our progressive consultant culture. We need standards, transparency, and evaluation, not to punish individuals but to shift the system.
But here's the reality: it will never happen if donors don't demand accountability. The money drives the decisions. When funders continue writing checks based on relationships rather than results, they enable the dysfunction they claim to want to fix. Without accountability, we will keep repeating the same mistakes with the same people in charge.
The Cost: We're Not Just Losing Talent. We're Losing Community.
said it best in her powerful piece "The Revolution Will Be LIVE: 10 Reasons to Organize In the Real World": "Throwing that magic in the trash every two years is a crime against humanity."
We create incredible communities every cycle—people bonded by shared values, purpose, and rituals. And then we disband them. We shut down the office. We cut off communication. We act like the campaign was the only point. It wasn't.
That community is the movement. It's the heart of any sustainable democracy.
When we fail to invest in permanent physical or virtual spaces for people to gather, connect, and organize, we lose more than volunteers. We also lose momentum, knowledge, and trust.
The Solution: Community Is Infrastructure
That's why GAIN Power is focused on building systems that last beyond Election Day.
These ideas are already in development; they require significant funding, collaboration, and political will to reach their full potential. Since publishing my earlier pieces, many others have reached out with aligned ideas. Let's build together.
1) Talent Table
A centralized, transparent hub for tracking, hiring, and supporting progressive professionals. Built to break silos, open doors, and elevate equity, I imagine this structure would be similar to DDX but with a different mission.
Given the transient nature of our work, we need benefits that carry across jobs and cycles. Our workers need health care. 401Ks.
We need bridge funding for transitions, fellowships, mentorships, and more professional development. Democracy work shouldn't require martyrdom.
2) Collaborative Infrastructure Mapping
The answer isn't one organization — there is no magic bullet. We have ideas, but we can’t do it alone. There is an insane amount of redundant work happening, while many critical gaps remain. We see this across candidate campaigns, party committees, c3 democracy organizations, c4 advocacy organizations, unions, SuperPACs, community groups, and more.
Everyone thinks their idea needs a group. And we need new ideas and innovation —but some legacy groups should go away or merge with others - and other groups should never start. Still, this requires being able to see what is happening.
3) Democracy Hubs
We need community spaces. Physical and digital spaces where people can learn, strategize, heal, and organize together. Think co-working meets campaign HQ meets community center, VFW Hall, or Rotary Club. These can be new coordinated campaign models for our party and allied groups. We envision a values-based democracy space for events and gatherings.
4) Political TRUST Initiative
A new accountability program and model for consultants and strategists, centered on results, equity, and integrity. It's not about punishment but professionalization, built to improve outcomes and culture.
We have more ideas, but these are a lot, and others are tackling much more.
The Ask Is Bigger Than Us
This isn't a branding exercise. It's a survival plan.
To do this right, we need:
Funders ready to invest in infrastructure, not just wins
Practitioners willing to build different models
Movement leaders who see collaboration as a strategy
Volunteers and organizers who want the magic to last
This Moment Is a Test
Our government is under siege. Our people are under attack. Our communities are hurting. And how we respond will define the future of our democracy.
If we keep operating like we have, we'll burn out another generation, repeat our losses, and lose people we cannot afford to lose. But we don't have to.
We have the vision, experience, and even tools. What we need now is courage and commitment.
Let's stop treating this like a gig economy. Let's start building the professional, values-aligned infrastructure our democracy deserves.
Contact me directly at amy@gainpower.com if you want to collaborate, fund, or co-build. The campaign doesn't end on Election Day—but the real work is just beginning.
And if you missed it at the top, the GAIN Power Powerful IDEA Awards are on June 24 and 25th. We’re organizing a democracy expo, a session on the future of our party, a career fair, and an awards ceremony that will recognize. Please join us if you can.
This is a continuation of a series I started last week. Please read and share the others and let me know what you think.
