In partnership with RYSE and East Bay Community Foundation, All Due Respect is leading a research-to-action project to explore current labor conditions for youth organizers ages 16-26 in the Bay Area and implications for the local powerbuilding ecosystem. Since beginning this project, All Due Respect has been engaging organizers, directors, and funders in the Bay Area powerbuilding landscape to identify specific challenges and barriers faced by youth organizers with a goal to identify and test potential interventions in response. 

The initial research phase of this project involved youth organizers and organizing directors and took place from April to September 2023 with the goal of gaining insight to multiple perspectives within this field. Through 24 interviews, 4 focus groups, and 45 surveys, we sought to understand how working conditions for organizers in the Bay Area affect both organizations and movements in the region, while thinking critically about actionable solutions aimed at creating a more sustainable work environment. This research covered topics related to recruitment and retention of young organizers, advantages and challenges of organizing in the Bay Area and job satisfaction within the youth organizing sector.

The findings of this research yielded the following three recurring themes:

• Compensation and financial stability;

• Training and movement building; 

• Sustaining organizations in the Bay Area organizing ecosystem. 

These conversations showed that compensation–as it relates to the rising cost of living in the Bay Area–stood out as the foremost concern. The median income for surveyed organizers is $60,270, below what is needed for organizers to live comfortably in the regions where they are organizing. We also found that education, training, and support for organizers was one of the most desired resources that would contribute to overall job satisfaction. Both organizers and directors recognized the importance of political education and foundational skill-building as a core tool for impactful organizing work. Additionally, directors and organizers noted systemic funding challenges in the nonprofit landscape such as competition for resources, laborious grant reporting, and aligning with funders’ shifting interests. Conversations with these groups emphasized the importance of long-term sustainability from a funding perspective through authentic partnerships between funders and organizations, as well as multi-year funding commitments.

In October 2023, over 75 Bay Area directors, funders, and organizers gathered in the RYSE space to discuss research findings, as well as provide collaborative feedback on which possible interventions would have the greatest impact on their particular sector. Looking ahead, the next phase of this project will be moving from conversations into action. All Due Respect will spend the next 12-18 months partnering with local leadership within the youth organizing ecosystem to co-design and test interventions with the aim of having a significant impression on organizations and working conditions for youth organizers.

Our Steering Committee of powerful Bay Area leaders are currently working to create an updated set of labor standards, focused on improving compensation, recruitment, and retention of community organizers. Stay turned for more updates on their crucial work!

Members include:

Alex Lalama, San Francisco Rising

Geraldine Alcid, Filipino Advocates for Justice

Julia Arroyo, Young Women's Freedom Center

Kimberly Aceves-Iñiguez, RYSE Center

Lukas Brekke-Miesner, Oakland Kids First

Malaika Parker, Black Organizing Project

Naindeep Singh, Jakara Movement

Shaketa Redden, Causa Justa:Just Cause

This ongoing project is rooted in deep partnership with–and appreciation for–the RYSE Center, East Bay Community Foundation, and the Bay Area Power Building Funders Table.

To learn more, please reach out to Rebecca Gorena at rebecca@allduerespectproject.org.