We’re gathering just weeks after one of the most consequential elections of our lifetimes. While much of the national attention has been focused on control of the White House and Congress, some of the most important races of the year have been at the state level—from protecting abortion rights on the ballot to breaking up minority rule through state legislative and judicial races. This panel of leaders will reflect on what the election results mean for the future of governance and power-building in the states, and discuss the work that lies ahead of our movements.
Chris has been BISC’s Executive Director since June 2018, bringing two decades of experience in advocacy, creating collaborative spaces, and movement building. She has devoted her career to social justice and ensuring our democracy works for “We the People.” She is the first... Read More →
Kim Jackson serves as Senator for Georgia State Senate District 41, representing portions of DeKalb County. Kim works every day to build a safer, fairer, and more prosperous Georgia, and bring the diverse voices of her district to the Capitol: immigrants, refugees, and people living... Read More →
J.D. Scholten was born in Iowa and raised in Sioux City. He attended Morningside College, where he played baseball for his father who was the Head Coach. J.D. transferred for his Senior year to the University of Nebraska where he led the Cornhuskers in earned run average on the College... Read More →
Stephanie Stahl Hamilton is an Arizonan having spent her early childhood years on Navajo Tribal Lands. She is married to Derek Hamilton, a middle school teacher in TUSD. Twenty-three years of marriage has blessed them with three children. After completing her Masters of Divinity at... Read More →
From challenging monarchs to corporate monopolists, historically, the anti-monopoly movement began in the states. The future of the anti-monopoly movement remains in the states too, and there is incredible momentum on our side. From modernizing antitrust law, to trailblazing public options, to tackling junk fees, price fixing, right to repair, and employee non-competes—state legislators, alongside workers, local businesses, and consumers are on the frontlines of innovation, leading the way in passing new laws to rein in corporate power and empower working families. This session will first provide a foundational understanding of corporate concentration in the United States, including the historic links of corporate monopolies to white supremacy. We will then profile bold anti-monopoly efforts across the country, where across rural, urban, and suburban communities—state legislators, workers, consumers, and local businesses are united and building state economies that advance justice and work for the many, not the elite few.
The global fight for abortion access, pregnancy decriminalization and reproductive justice is gaining momentum, fueled by movements like Latin America's Green Wave. In this session, participants will have the unique opportunity to learn from the countries leading the way. Since 2019, SiX has brought lawmakers to Latin America (El Salvador, Mexico, Dominican Republic) to witness how a human rights framework is driving policy change and empowering communities. Participants will learn from legislators who are integrating these powerful strategies into state policy and learn from leaders at the forefront of the Green Wave movement to discover the power of international solidarity. Join us for an inspiring conversation and explore what's possible when we align with a global movement for change!
Increasingly, public officials at all levels of government, especially Black, Indigenous, immigrant, and other women of color, are subjected to threats and abuse, inflamed by the rise of violent white nationalism and other extremist groups. This session offers space for legislators to unpack recent findings about the threats that state and local officeholders face and exchange strategies for protection against future threats.
In this session, participants will reflect and define their greater purpose in public service and in home/life and take inventory of the relationship between their purpose and their time, learning new tools and strategies for organizing and prioritizing and finding fellowship and affirmation.
This panel sheds light on the history and current power dynamics of the food and farm system—a system with broad impacts on the climate, economy, public health, immigration, and more. Attendees will be prompted to think critically about how agriculture policy choices have fueled the consolidation of power and wealth not just in farming but in the economy and culture, and even impacted the US political landscape. Participants will recognize their own ability to engage in this space and make change through building relationships and shared power with a range of stakeholders and impacted communities.
Systemic patterns of oppression have ensured that Black people, people of color, Indigenous people, people with low incomes, young people, people in rural areas and gender-expansive people have less access to, and lower quality of, health care in the U.S. This reality is starkly illustrated by the ongoing maternal mortality and morbidity crisis, particularly for Black and Indigenous birthing people. Workforce shortages and hospital closures further limit access to maternal health care at the same time as restrictions on reproductive health increase risks to pregnant people. Birth centers, midwives, and doulas have proven solutions to respond to the needs of pregnant people in their communities—both rural and urban—to improve quality of care and outcomes, but often face barriers at the state level to implementing them. Panelists will provide key insights on the historical and current landscape of maternal health, case studies from a regionally diverse set of states, and concrete strategies for state legislators to meet this moment.
It’s been six weeks since another consequential election and in spite of a national fixation on federal races, state legislatures continue to be the most important locus of both forward progress and anti-democratic backsliding. In this session, we’ll gather in the aftermath of the election to regroup and strategize about how state leaders can build a democracy that works for all of us while blocking the rise of authoritarianism in state houses.
Whether you’re looking to establish a new progressive caucus in your state, or want to strategize about how to strengthen an existing progressive caucus, come join this informal space for cross-state learning and exchange.
It’s been six weeks since another consequential election and in spite of a national fixation on federal races, state legislatures continue to be the most important locus of both forward progress and anti-democratic backsliding. In this session, we’ll gather in the aftermath of the election to regroup and strategize about how state leaders can build a democracy that works for all of us while blocking the rise of authoritarianism in state houses.
Three state legislatures—Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—currently have Black Maternal Health caucuses. These caucuses are designed to address the glaring disparities in maternal health, morbidity, and mortality for Black pregnant and birthing people through community- and evidence-informed policymaking. State legislative leaders from the Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania Black Maternal Health caucuses will engage in a guided conversation. They will share best practices for organizing and leading a Black Maternal Health caucus. They will discuss the impact caucus organizing can have on short and long-term goals to end preventable maternal deaths. This is an opportunity for state legislators to build connections for introducing Black Maternal Health policies, forming a Black Maternal Health caucus, and continuing the work of a Black Maternal Health caucus.
This panel will focus on breaking barriers and reshaping the narrative on agriculture and broader rural issues. Legislators and advocates will share stories of unexpected coalitions and organizing wins across traditional “divides.” Through thought-provoking and inspiring real-life examples, participants will learn ways to cultivate long-term power by working with rural communities and advocating for policies that positively impact rural lives. (This content builds from “Power and Greed” in the previous session but also stands well on its own.)
Care work impacts every single person in all stages of our lives. Whether it’s child care, health care, elder care, care for persons with disabilities, or sick and paid leave, care is essential to our irresistible futures. The care economy is also rapidly growing, but it is historically gendered, racialized, and increasingly at risk of consolidated corporate control. Corporate-run care prioritizes shareholder profits over the well-being of care workers and those receiving care, and leverages corporate lobbying power to undermine our organizing and maximize profits. In fact, many of the workers providing care for our loved ones are overworked, underpaid, and unable to provide care for their own families. But state legislators and caregivers across the country are challenging corporate power and building economies that value care not as a product, but as a public good. From paid family medical leave, to public retirement and child care, to workers rights, this workshop centers the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of state leaders across the country challenging corporate power and building care economies that create good jobs, advance equity, and empower people.
How do we move past electoral cycles to ensure that real change is felt by the communities who need it most? More so than any particular civic engagement or electoral strategy, a burgeoning practice of collaborative governance holds the greatest promise of giving people the power to truly drive meaningful change. Across the country, policymakers, advocates and grassroots leaders are employing collaborative governance to build lasting power and to win justice for their communities. This is the first of a two-part, repeating series in which speakers will share inspiring stories of this new practice at work, giving the audience glimpses of a future political reality they will find irresistible—one in which intersectional problems are met with intersectional responses, and in which the people most impacted by policy have true power in shaping it.
The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy on earth—worse, every single state incarcerates more people per capita than most nations. In the global context, even “progressive” U.S. states like New York and Massachusetts appear as extreme as Louisiana and Mississippi in their use of prisons and jails. The impact and policy choices of incarceration span from broken families, housing implications, workforce, education, and more. Attendees will learn from experts about the intersections of drug policy, abortion access, LGBTQ+ justice, family separation caused by the child welfare system, immigrant rights, labor, and agriculture. This session will look at what policy solutions are available and how state lawmakers can respond to this crisis of incarceration in their communities.
While state budgets prepare for revenue shortfalls, the ultra-rich, corporations, and their lobbyists have rigged the rules to redirect resources from our communities to their country clubs, from our classrooms to their ballrooms, and from our public parks to their private jets. But state legislators, in collaboration with grassroots organizations, organized labor, and local businesses, are stepping up and organizing year-round to deliver for our families with tax systems to ensure the ultra-rich and corporations pay the taxes they owe and working families get what they’re due. From wealth taxes, corporate tax policies like worldwide combined reporting, and child tax credits, this workshop brings together lawmakers, organizers, and policy experts from states across the country working together to transform the state revenue and budget landscape to support working families rather than the wealthy.
In this session, participants will explore the different leadership styles of elected officials, including their own leadership style and how it may change depending on issue or context and how they most authentically show up to the job of being an elected official. The participants then work collaboratively to discuss the strengths of various leadership styles and tensions that can arise within group dynamics and also the importance of building teams that include different approaches to governing.
What does it mean for our democracy when nearly 90% of all state legislators are paid less than their state’s median household income and fewer than 2 percent hold working-class jobs? Or when nearly 8 in 10 of our nation’s 7,383 state lawmakers are white, though people of color represent roughly 40% of adults in the US? From our nation’s founding, state legislatures have been exclusive institutions designed to uphold the interests of the wealthy and well-connected elite. If we are to build an irresistible future, we also need to level the playing field in state legislatures, where the rules of the game are currently rigged in favor of corporate interests and far-right extremists. In this workshop, participants will reimagine state legislatures as the People’s House—democratic institutions designed to center community voices and power.
How do we not only defeat threats and move proactive policy, but also create the big tent needed for state legislators to work alongside each other for reproductive health, rights, and justice in its most expansive form while we are doing it? The SiX Reproductive Rights Team will provide a brief overview of expected challenges and opportunities in the 2025 legislative session and facilitate an engaging discussion with the state legislators and advocates in the room on 1) concrete policy, caucus, and movement building strategies, 2) current litigation efforts and how they interact with legislative strategy, and 3) tailored resource recommendations for state legislators to respond to whatever is coming their way. In our current patchwork of reproductive health policies, we know that what happens in one state impacts, informs, or inspires another and welcome all to attend, share, and build out your network of support across state lines.
Achieving transformative governance outcomes requires organizing, coalition- and ally-building, and understanding and moving powerful actors in your community. This module engages participants in the necessary steps to organize to achieve a goal and how to include communities most impacted by policy change in legislative campaigns.
From death star preemptions, to removing democratically-elected officials, state takeovers of local jurisdictions, and banning local innovations on every policy issue under the sun—guaranteed income, fair wages, education, climate and conservation, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion, community IDs, animal rights, and housing—extremists and corporations are leveraging abusive preemptions laws to centralize their control of our communities and maintain structural disparities based on race, gender, and class. These efforts are not new.They are tactics used by corporations like Big Tobacco for decades, rooted in Jim Crow era practices to undercut Black leadership. How can legislators, local electeds, and impacted communities organize collaboratively to fight back and restore local power? What solutions do we have to curtail the rampant abuse of preemption? From repealing abusive preemptions to strengthening home rule in our state constitutions, learn from national experts, legislators, and organizers on the latest efforts to restore local power to the people.
This session will convene state legislators, researchers, policy experts, and healthcare providers to discuss gender-affirming care (GAC) for transgender youth. Attendees will hear from providers and learn how their insights can support lawmakers when developing defensive and proactive policy strategies. Researchers and policy experts will update participants on the evolving national healthcare landscape for trans youth. By the end of the session, participants will have access to new communication strategies designed to depolarize the narrative around trans youth and their access to care.
Technology can be used to advance or undermine progress. Tech companies and employers that use these tools are taking advantage of the emergent nature of these technologies to dictate regulatory frameworks, including whether there is one at all. But contrary to what the tech industry might suggest, the proliferation of these abusive tools isn’t inevitable or uncontrollable. They can and should be regulated, including prohibited, to safeguard our rights. It is imperative that state legislators understand these harms, who is behind them, and to collaborate with impacted communities to fight back. This workshop focuses on a series of reports released by SiX, Kairos, and Economic Security Project—centering the work of legislators and organizers to hold Big Tech accountable and center people as well as equity in AI.
As Audre Lorde famously noted, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We cannot talk about the threats to reproductive rights, for example, without connecting to other issues like democracy, economic justice, and rural issues. Learn and actively create with community partners, state legislators, and other communications experts how to build cross-issue communications strategies that work in your community.
As two prior panels today have discussed, engaging on agriculture and broader rural issues can be a powerful way to build power but can feel challenging to progressive legislators. In this panel, participants will hear from legislator colleagues and issue experts about specific tools and tactics that have helped them advance their goals in this space, from messaging tips for rural communities to creative workarounds when powerful interests block legislation. (This content builds from “Beyond Divides” in the previous session but also stands on its own.)
Democracy is in danger—and not just here in the United States. All around the world, authoritarian regimes are seizing power even in countries once thought to be strong democracies. In state legislatures, extremists have taken pages straight from an authoritarian playbook to quash political dissent by silencing duly elected state lawmakers. From Montana to Oklahoma, to the Tennessee Three, state lawmakers have been practicing new models of resistance in legislative chambers to stand firm alongside their communities and against power grabs. As state legislators continue to be subjected to anti-democratic abuses of power by their colleagues, what can we learn from global movements in our continued struggle for democracy?
Paula Avila-Guillen is a Green Wave movement leader, international human rights lawyer, and Executive Director at the Women's Equality Center (WEC). She has helped lead the fight to decriminalize abortion in her home country of Colombia, and has supported the efforts that led to the... Read More →
Tara Houska is a mother, a land defender, a sundancer, an attorney and founder of Giniw Collective. She is committed to building a better world while protecting what remains of the sacred.
Joe is an indigenous Coloradan. He was the first in his family to go to college. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1993. In 2003, he graduated from the University of Denver College of Law.In November 2012, Joe was elected to the Colorado State House of Representatives... Read More →
Pushkar Sharma, is the founder of SACRED (the South Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy), an action research and advocacy organization focused on advancing democracy and countering supremacist movements within the South Asian American community in Illinois. Prior to founding... Read More →
