Building the power we need for the future we deserve.
For our community members to have good jobs, affordable homes, and feel a sense of belonging, they must have the power to set, win, and protect an agenda centered on a vision of an equitable Bay Area.
SFF’s power-building strategies advance authentic democracy, redistribution, and reparation. We make grants, advocate for policies, provide leadership training, and bring people together to make community-driven change a reality.
Developing a Transformational Leadership Movement
To move a shared agenda toward collective power, we need strong leaders inside and outside of local government. We support organizations building the transformational leadership bench needed to win governing power:
- Leadership Pipelines: Programming that produces consistent flow of leaders and organizers amplifying power-building efforts.
- Sustainability: Staff development and wellness services that sustain power-building beyond individual leadership and organizations.
- Public-facing Representation: Leadership development that builds the power of leaders on the pathway to positions in the public service sector
Promoting a Multiracial Democracy
A vibrant, multiracial democracy centers our communities’ hopes and dreams. We support community organizations building a multiracial, working-class base to win democratic structural reform:
- Integrated Civic Engagement: Year-round civic engagement (e.g. door knocking and voter education) to help sustain an intergenerational base of community support and to build deep community trust.
- Narrative Change: Communication strategies based on shared values that change narrative by connecting specific issues to a larger vision.
- Democratic Structural Reform: Passing and implementing policies that increase opportunities for authentic participation in democratic systems.
Advancing a Power-building Infrastructure
A well-sustained power-building infrastructure uplifts the capacity and influence of our movement. We support partnership and collaboration to advance a comprehensive change agenda:
- Leading-edge Alliances and Strategic Coalitions: Effective alliances and coalitions that align the ecosystem toward governing power with shared long-term vision and strategies.
- Diverse Ecosystem: Efforts to ensure the ecosystem includes organizations diverse in constituents, geography, and size to provide the scale and breadth needed to build power across our region.
- Shared Strategy: Capacity-building spaces centered on a long-term vision and provide opportunity for shared analysis, division of labor, and political education.
Our View on Building Power
We see power-building as key to the essential formula that moves us away from piecemeal advocacy towards wielding governing power that is rooted in racial equity and economic justice. We define power-building as the strategic act of shifting power away from historically oppressive systems and towards a new center of gravity that advances authentic democracy, redistribution, and reparation. A power-building framework includes five key elements:
- Organizing within the context of a long-term agenda and strategy
- Diverse ecosystem of organizations supporting and advancing community goals
- It’s about more than the wins
- Building power to leverage toward the next goal
- Expand capacity and influence
Barsoum, G. (2023). A New Framework for Understanding Power Building. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Grantmaking from the Power focus area is by invitation only. We will share information about open funding cycles as it is available.