The Right Built a Leadership Infrastructure. We Keep Rebuilding Ours.
A Call to Honor and Invest in Our Organizers
This week says everything about the state of our democracy — who we value, what we invest in, and how we show up for the people who hold the line.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump awarded the late Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him “a fearless warrior for liberty.” The White House proclaimed October 14th a national day of remembrance for him. A few weeks ago, they filled a stadium for his memorial — tens of thousands of people honoring a 32-year-old political organizer who built a movement from scratch.
I disagree with nearly everything he stood for. His politics were racist, sexist, homophobic, and deeply harmful. But what struck me wasn’t the award — it was the recognition.
The right honors its organizers. We ignore ours.
I can’t think of an organizer that our side would celebrate in this way. It isn’t the culture of our side to recognize people in this way. Yet we certainly have many worth honoring.
This week, we hosted GAIN Power’s Virtual Career Fair for Democracy, Elections, and Advocacy — and the contrast couldn’t be clearer. We struggle to get leaders in our party and movement space to care about those who want to be part of it. It is like pulling teeth to get our leaders in organizations to care about the talent who wish to dedicate their lives to this work.
183 people joined live, and another 102 signed up to make sure their résumés were included. Nearly 300 democracy professionals — organizers, strategists, communicators, fundraisers, policy minds — all ready to work, to serve, to help build a freer and fairer future.
They showed up despite many being unemployed, underpaid, or between campaigns. They showed up because they believe in democracy, and because this is their calling.
That same day, I kept thinking: imagine what could happen if we honored our organizers with the same level of respect, investment, and national attention.
And tomorrow, as the No Kings Protests take to the streets demanding accountability, democracy, and justice — many of the same people at our Career Fair will be out there again, doing what they’ve always done: showing up for our values.
This is the heartbeat of democracy.
These are the people who keep it alive.
They don’t need medals. But they deserve stability.
They don’t need stadiums. But they deserve investment.
At GAIN Power, we’ve spent years connecting, training, and supporting the people who make this work possible. We’re now ready to scale our efforts in a big way — to build a real infrastructure for the professionals behind democracy, elections, and advocacy.
If you want to honor the people who make democracy work — the organizers, staffers, and advocates who rarely get the spotlight — help us grow this work.
🔗 Contribute to GAIN Power today
Because we can’t just fight for democracy at the ballot box.
We have to fund the people who make it possible.