2024
Annual Report
Table of
Contents
Welcome
Note
At The Action Lab, 2024 has been a year of remarkable growth, resilience, and collaboration. This year, we launched transformative programs like our Art of Purpose and Strategy School cohorts to strengthen organizers and organizational leaders, engaged field leaders about how we can improve our collective impact and efficacy through initiatives like the Power to Win report, and strengthened global solidarity and experiential learning with our Barcelona Tenant Power and our Barbados Climate and Youth Justice Learning Delegations. We also expanded our Take a Breath Residencies, hosted Practice Circles to nurture relational leadership among organizers, and expanded cultural programs like Liberation Summer and our Artists in Action Fellowships to amplify creativity as a tool for catalyzing change and sustaining community. These efforts are just a sliver of what we’ve achieved together.
The Action Lab is anchored by our commitment to building rigorous, high-impact, and sustainable movement practices. Spearheaded by our talented and passionate team, which has grown in numbers, capacity and vision, and supported by our powerful advisory board and anchor partners, we root our work in the needs of those on the frontlines of organizing and cultural change.
From crafting innovative training programs for organizers and progressive lawyers to fostering spaces for healing and reflection, we have seen the power of community, learning, and shared purpose drive progress. We are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead, but more than ever, we are committed to the work of building a vibrant, multiracial democracy grounded in racial, economic, and political justice.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support fuels our work and inspires our vision for the future. We look forward to more powerful collaboration and work in the year ahead.
Mission
& Vision
Mission
The Action Lab is a strategy center for social movements that sparks political and personal liberation. We provide rigorous and joyful spaces for organizers, leaders and artists to learn, to create, and to strengthen our capacity to win. We strive to build a powerful culture that lifts us out of the immediate and enables us to envision and realize our way to a just future.
Vision
Our current moment demands action — action driven by a vision of a radically new future, fueled by new strategies for change, and grounded in connection, reflection, learning, and a new culture of liberation.
In the U.S., the conventional ways of working for transformation have proven inadequate. While the majority of the country shares a desire for fundamental change — an economy in which we all thrive, a society in which fairness and justice prevail, a culture that is oriented toward abundance and resilience — progressive organizations and movements don’t yet have the power or momentum needed to reshape the country to reflect our vision and values.
The Action Lab is a center for strategy and a gathering force to create that future – through rejuvenation, community-building, innovation, creativity, rigor and courageous action. Our work fosters cross-discipline, cross-movement spaces in which progressives can lift out of the immediate, imagine our way decades into the future, expand our conception of what’s possible and build the connective tissue and collective muscle needed to realize our aspirations.
The year in
numbers
Impact & Innovation
Initiative
Progressive organizations face tremendous pressure to respond to the urgent, whether by marshaling resources for defense from immediate threats, seizing opportunities for incremental change, or jumping from one campaign to the next.
As a result, our movement is perpetually pivoting to the “now,” leading us to neglect the perspective, strategies, and tools we need for campaigns to transform the future in more fundamental ways.
The Action Lab works across bounds of issue and geography, with movement leaders from diverse disciplines, to develop new campaigns that aim higher and, often, bridge typical divisions and silos. We work with organizations and coalitions from the ground up to design experiments in tactics, strategy and methodology that become successful high-impact campaigns.
To imagine a radical new future and map our way there, we must revisit and refine our theories of change, lengthen the timeline for our work, and build new muscles and connective tissue for shared, strategic work across organization, role, and discipline.
Winning Social Housing
The Action Lab is working closely with a range of tenant organizations, tenant leaders, housing organizers and State and national partners to win massive investment in new, green social housing. We are drawing inspiration from global models of tenant unions and social housing.
Following years of steadfast work by The Action Lab and many of our anchor partners, such as the Housing Justice For All Coalition, Urban Democracy Lab and the Center for Popular Democracy, this September, Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced legislation that would reimagine housing in America, making a historic and long overdue investment in green and permanently affordable social housing. The bill would help build and preserve as many as 1.3 million homes in small towns, big cities, and rural communities; and help families everywhere find a quality, affordable place to call home.
We worked on this initiative from conception to introduction, and have developed a comprehensive training module and materials to support campaigns and organizers working to win social housing at both the state and federal level. These resources, designed for both in-person and virtual workshops, provide interactive public education tools and strategies to strengthen understanding and engagement among tenants powering the fight for change.
“
I’m really excited about The Homes Act because it offers a hopeful, future-focused vision for housing. It rethinks our housing paradigm, confronting the tension between housing as an asset and housing as a human right. With both state and federal versions, it opens multiple pathways for organizing and mobilizing. People want a positive vision for the future, and this bill provides exactly that—a chance to grow our housing movement.”
Nicolas Botero,
Churches United for Fair Housing
Anchoring Bold Solutions: Social Housing Report Highlights
In 2024, The Action Lab worked with partners around the United States to publish "Building Our Future: Grassroots Reflections on Social Housing," a powerful report addressing the urgent need for transformative housing solutions. The report examines how soaring housing costs, corporate control of real estate, and government inaction have deepened the housing affordability crisis, leaving millions at risk of eviction and displacement.
Highlighting grassroots campaigns from across the country, the report makes a powerful case for social housing—a model that prioritizes public, collective, or nonprofit ownership, democracy and permanent affordability. "Building Our Future" serves as both a rallying cry and a blueprint for transformational change.
The Action Lab is proud to have played a central role in bringing this vital resource to life, advancing momentum for a housing future built on equity and collective power.
Sparking Tenant Power
The Action Lab (TAL) is leading the charge to radically scale up tenant organizing through our groundbreaking work on the Tenant Power Act (TPA). This innovative legislation draws inspiration from Sweden’s collective bargaining models and builds on recent tenant union legislation in San Francisco. The TPA will establish a statewide tenant association of millions of people, providing vital support for building level organizing, mandate information disclosure and an obligation for landlords to bargain in good faith, while also generating significant funding for powerful tenant organizing.
The TPA is emblematic of the paradigm-shifting campaigns that The Action Lab works to spark and sustain, with robust training, campaign and coalition coordination, and organizing support. Together, these efforts aim to equip tenants with the tools and networks needed to drive systemic change, creating a housing landscape that prioritizes affordability and tenant empowerment.
In early 2024, TAL advanced this vision by hosting the Winning Tenant Power Convening, a gathering of advocates, organizers, and experts committed to creating a housing system rooted in equity and community leadership. This convening provided a platform to strategize and share insights. TAL is also working to support exciting, bold, new organizing initiatives to bring new tenants into the movement for housing justice, such as the National Public Housing Network (NPHN).
The Action Lab is deeply engaged in supporting the half-million residents of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing authority in North America, as they navigate challenges in upkeep, security, and climate resiliency. In October, with partners in NYC City government and Center for Justice Innovation, we co-hosted a meeting to release a tenant-envisioned policy agenda to promote community safety and to engage public housing residents in NYC in creating community guidelines, addressing concerns around safety and advocacy, and developing a shared vision for equity and empowerment. We then brought residents and stakeholders together for a community breakfast to certify and discuss the outcomes. This collaboration reflects TAL’s commitment to centering resident voices and creating holistic solutions for public housing challenges.
TAL’s leadership in building tenant organizing power exemplifies the transformative potential of collaboration, education, and campaign organizing. By advancing innovative policies and fostering tenant-led organizing, TAL is laying the foundation for sustainable, resident-centered solutions that can reshape the future of housing justice.
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Driving Change: The Worker Power Initiative in Action
Earlier this year, The Action Lab launched the Worker Power Initiative (WPI) to drive transformative change in labor organizing and workplace equity. By creating spaces for collaboration and bold strategy development, the WPI empowers workers and labor leaders to confront systemic challenges in innovative ways.
The initiative works closely with key partners, including New York Communities for Change, Make the Road New York, Garment Worker Center, Center for Innovation of Worker Organizing, ALIGN, UAW Region 9A and many more to amplify worker-led movements and foster collaboration across industries. Core activities in progress include interdisciplinary convenings that spark new ideas, action labs that incubate innovative campaigns, and opportunities that provide leaders with resources and support to recharge and refine their strategies.
In its first year, the WPI laid important groundwork, through dozens of one-on-one meetings and organizational consultations, to bring together a diverse group of labor leaders, worker committees, and advocacy organizations to build trust, share insights, and envision coordinated campaigns. By emphasizing the intersection of labor organizing with racial and climate justice, and by leveraging the expertise of its partners, the initiative is laying the groundwork for a role in the labor movement capable of achieving transformative, long-lasting change.As of right now, organizations are developing a response for both an offensive and defensive strategy to protect, politicize and strengthen the worker base in light of the threats of the Trump administration.
The Worker Power Initiative reflects The Action Lab’s commitment to fostering resilient leadership and advancing strategies that empower communities, demonstrating how collaboration and innovation can drive a more equitable and inclusive future.
Thinking Big Gatherings
At the heart of The Action Lab’s Impact and Innovation Initiative are our Thinking Big Gatherings, designed to foster shared learning, reflection, and innovative strategy development. These gatherings provide participants with a rare opportunity to step away from daily routines and entrenched habits to engage with diverse perspectives and disciplines. By connecting organizers, thinkers, and experts from beyond traditional silos, the Thinking Big Gatherings spark new insights and strategies for transformative change.
Focused on areas of practice to which The Action Lab has made long-term commitments, these gatherings expand our community of action while deepening our collective capacity for strategic thinking and decision-making. They offer a space for participants to explore ambitious change initiatives, collaborate across silos, and build more effective organizing campaigns and toolkits. Through this program, The Action Lab continues to lead the way in fostering innovative approaches and providing the support necessary to drive progressive, systemic change.
Dismantling Racial Capitalism Series: Challenging Systems of Inequality
The Action Lab’s Dismantling Racial Capitalism series aims to deepen understanding of racial capitalism—the ways racial hierarchies intersect with economic systems to perpetuate inequality—and to inspire actionable change. This series provides a platform for academics, organizers, policymakers, and change-makers to explore the systemic structures that drive inequality and to strategize bold, transformative solutions. By engaging thought leaders and fostering dialogue across disciplines, the series supports The Action Lab’s mission to catalyze learning and action for justice.
Transformative Conversations with Ruth Wilson Gilmore
In September we organized a sold-out event featuring renowned scholar and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore. In conversation with The New School Professor and TAL Board Member Laura Y. Liu and TAL’s Angeles Solis, Gilmore explored the intersections of prison abolition, racial justice, and racial capitalism. This powerful discussion energized attendees with insights into systemic inequality and the transformative potential of abolitionist movements, sparking renewed commitment to systemic change.
Race, Class, and Gender in Rio de Janeiro
In March, the series featured a compelling dialogue between Dani Balbi, the first Brazilian trans legislator in the Rio de Janeiro State Assembly, and Denise Ferreira da Silva, a leading scholar on race and gender. Together, they unpacked the intersections of race, class, and gender within the context of Brazil’s social and political landscape. The event offered profound reflections on systemic oppression and strategies for building inclusive, equitable societies, enriching the global discourse on dismantling racial capitalism.
Power To Win
Initiative
The Power to Win Initiative cultivates opportunities for change-makers to learn together, sharpen our crafts, deepen our rigor and discipline, practice through hands-on field engagement, and strategize for a new shared future.
The Power to Win Initiative provides high-quality and high-impact spaces for deep reflection, honest evaluation, and shared learning, while working to catalyze generative practices that organizers and organizations can use to build power and community at scale. Our training series, learning delegations, political education curricula, resource toolkits, and interdisciplinary workshops are valuable contributions to the work of our partners, and to a growing number of organizers across the country.
Power To Win: Moving from Insight to Strategic Action
In 2024, The Action Lab partnered with The Forge’s Power Working Group and NYU’s Initiative for Community Power to launch the Power to Win initiative, a groundbreaking effort to address critical challenges within the progressive movement. Drawing on 100 in-depth interviews and 184 comprehensive surveys with organizers nationwide, the resulting Power to Win report, released in July, highlights key areas for improvement and outlines high-impact interventions to strengthen collective action.
The report identifies innovative strategies to confront external threats like rising authoritarianism, while addressing challenges such as inadequate training and support for organizers, the lack of a unified vision for the type of transformative change we need and too little support on developing the power and strategic capacity we, the big we, need to win. Our report celebrates the resilience and creativity of movement leaders and provides timely and actionable recommendations to build a more powerful and impactful movement for change.
The Action Lab is planning a series of Power to Win convenings beginning in early 2025 to spark a collective effort to build the capacity leaders across the field identified as urgently needed. These gatherings will bring together movement leaders to align strategies, develop leadership pipelines, and more. By fostering collaboration and equipping leaders with the tools and insights needed for systemic change, the Power to Win initiative exemplifies TAL’s commitment to building a powerful, connected, and transformative progressive movement.
Building Leadership for Change: Art of Purpose and Strategy School
In 2024, The Action Lab launched its first Art of Purpose and Strategy School cohorts, two fellowship programs designed to empower organizers and movement leaders with the skills, strategies, and relationships needed to drive transformative change.
Through joint interactive workshops and discussions, participants in both groups explored the systems shaping their organizing contexts and honed their ability to develop strategies for collective liberation. The shared cohort experience highlighted the power of learning across movements, with fellows noting the value of combining insights from diverse fields.
The Art of Purpose Fellowship is a transformative year-long program designed to strengthen the leadership, political analysis, strategic capacity, and creative practices of organizers and movement practitioners. This year’s 22 fellows, representing grassroots organizations focused on racial, economic, and gender justice, engaged in over 250 hours of training, including four multi-day retreats focusing on innovative political education curricula, practice circles, study groups, and retreats. The program emphasizes the relational and emotional dimensions of organizing, helping fellows navigate contradictions within their work and fostering cultures of care and collaboration.
“
The impact Art of Purpose has made on me as an organizer has been immensely helpful. The political education has shifted not only how I view society and my place in it as an organizer, but also how to better assess long-term strategies to change the conditions of the people we're organizing. The somatic work has allowed me to reflect deeply on how healing is incorporated into our daily work and life. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be part of this fellowship and grateful for the comrades I've met along the way.”
Toni Gary,
Black Men Build
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The Art of Purpose Fellowship is already making a significant impact by equipping fellows with shared strategies, leadership skills, and creative tools. In October, Fellows attended a transformative retreat at Stony Point Center, focusing on somatic practices to deepen self-awareness and enhance leadership clarity. Highlights from 2024 also included creative workshops led by TAL’s Artists in Action, where fellows used storytelling, theater, and music to develop innovative approaches to campaigns. Fellows report strengthened relationships, sharper analysis, and enhanced capacity for conflict resolution and collaboration. As a result, they are building more cohesive and effective movements, paving the way for transformative social change.
The Strategy School focuses on building the strategic capacity of organizers in base-building organizations. Its 18 fellows engaged in rigorous political education, interactive strategy exercises, and peer-to-peer learning. Over the course of three retreats this year, participants examined the forces shaping the current political landscape and experimented with new tactics and approaches to campaign development.
In July, Strategy School participants deepened their strategic acumen by exploring contradictions within capitalism and the state. With guest speakers like Fahd Ahmed of DRUM, NYC Council Member Sandy Nurse and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, fellows analyzed the intersection of liberalism and fascism and its implications for organizing. Participants left with a sharper understanding of the craft of strategy and actionable insights for their campaigns. In October, Strategy School strengthened participants’ core power analysis and campaign planning and execution muscle. In December Strategy School participants delved deeply into a taxonomy of “strategic moves” and practiced integrating these moves, and the associated tactics, into their organizing campaigns.
Together, Art of Purpose and Strategy School embody The Action Lab’s commitment to developing resilient, visionary leaders who can navigate today’s challenges and create lasting change. By combining personal growth, strategic training, and collaborative learning, these programs are equipping a new generation of organizers to lead with clarity, creativity, and courage. As the cohorts continue their journeys, they are laying the foundation for transformative movements across New York and beyond.
Global Learning Delegations
A cornerstone of The Action Lab’s mission is giving organizers and frontline movement leaders opportunities to step back from their daily work and gain fresh perspectives. Through carefully designed learning delegations, participants engage with social justice leaders worldwide, exploring new strategies and organizing principles.
Building Solidarity for Housing Justice: Learning Delegation to Barcelona
In November 2024, The Action Lab, in partnership with Housing Justice For All, led a transformative learning delegation to Barcelona, Spain, bringing together over 60 tenants, organizers, and advocates. Participants joined international housing leaders at the 15th-anniversary conference of Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH), a pioneering tenant advocacy organization. Together, they explored strategies to decommodify housing, strengthen tenant power, and address pressing global housing challenges.
The delegation tackled critical topics, including direct action, resisting authoritarianism, and innovative legal frameworks for tenant protections. Field trips to cooperative housing projects like La Borda and meetings with Catalan tenant unions showcased successful models of tenant-led initiatives. Delegates also participated in workshops and actions that highlighted Barcelona’s history of resistance and its innovative approaches to housing justice.
“
Thank you to The Action Lab for the opportunity to take part in this trip to Barcelona. The struggle for freedom and justice is constantly renewed and strengthened by new encounters and warm embraces among human beings. I learned, shared, and recharged my batteries to keep carrying onwards - building, creating and charting the pathway.”
Angel Vera,
Make The Road New York
As part of the delegation, participants met with Ada Colau, former Mayor of Barcelona and co-founder of Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH). Colau shared insights from her journey, transforming grassroots housing activism with the PAH into systemic change through Barcelona en Comú, the citizen platform that brought her to the mayoralty in 2015. Under her leadership, Barcelona pioneered bold policies to address housing inequality. Her reflections on bridging activism and governance offered invaluable lessons on integrating community-led movements with institutional strategies, equipping delegates with inspiration and practical approaches to advance housing justice in the United States.
This experience equipped delegates with practical tools and inspiration to combat corporate landlords, advocate for affordable housing policies, and shift power to tenants. Insights from the trip will inform U.S.-based campaigns and be shared widely through public report-backs, creative projects, and ongoing collaboration with global housing movements. By connecting with Barcelona’s dynamic housing justice initiatives, The Action Lab is fostering international solidarity and driving forward solutions to the housing crisis.
Caribbean Climate Justice: Learning Delegation to Barbados
As part of La Tejedora's "Global Stitches" pillar, the Action Lab expanded our learning delegations to the Caribbean. In November, young community organizers from Puerto Rico and New York’s Caribbean diaspora participated in a delegation to Barbados during its historic constitutional reform process. The group engaged with local LGBTQIA+, decolonial, and climate justice organizations that are shaping the nation's future through a human rights-focused approach. Barbados’ leadership in climate innovation provided participants with critical insights and opportunities to foster regional alignment and solidarity, laying the groundwork for long-term, cross-border collaborations to address the climate crisis.
Law & Organizing Academy
In May 2024, The Action Lab, in partnership with the Law and Political Economy Project (LPE) and NYU Law’s Initiative for Community Power, organized the Law and Organizing Academy (LOA). This immersive 4-day retreat brought together over 40 progressive law students from diverse schools across New York to explore the critical intersection of law, organizing, and political economy. Now in its third year, LOA provides a unique space for students to reflect on the role of law in advancing social justice, build foundational organizing skills, and connect with experienced organizers and academics.
LOA 2024 offered a dynamic curriculum combining theoretical frameworks and practical tools to equip participants for impactful legal careers aligned with movement building. Workshops included sessions on power-mapping, tenant organizing, and decommodifying urban property, as well as analyses of labor organizing, mass incarceration, and abolitionist strategies. Faculty from the LPE Project, Make the Road New York, and the Center for Popular Democracy—along with organizers and leaders like Ana María Archila, Veena Dubal, and Jawanza James Williams—provided mentorship and shared insights grounded in real-world campaigns.
Beyond structured workshops, the retreat fostered critical reflection and community building. Participants engaged in informal discussions with faculty and organizers, shared meals, and formed lasting connections with peers dedicated to using law as a tool for social change. The LOA continues to expand its reach and impact, creating a network of legal professionals committed to aligning their practice with the principles of justice, equity, and collective power.
By bridging legal education and grassroots organizing, the Law and Organizing Academy exemplifies The Action Lab’s commitment to equipping leaders with the skills and frameworks necessary to advance transformative social movements.
Promoting Justice for Migrants
The bussing of hundreds of thousands of migrants to cities across the country has been accompanied by harmful rhetoric that seeks to divide migrants from other working-class communities in receiving cities. In response, The Action Lab collaborated with partners in New York to develop a community education initiative aimed at fostering understanding, solidarity, and unity among these communities.
In May, we hosted our Thriving Together Convening in collaboration with Local Progress, Make the Road NY, the Initiative for Community Power at NYU Law, and the Immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo Law. This gathering brought together 40 participants, including local elected and administrative officials, immigration attorneys, organizers, funders, and policy experts, to delve deeply into organizing approaches that can improve conditions and policies for the many recent arrivals in New York City and receiving cities around the country. Together, we explored collaborative strategies to turn the mislabeled “crisis” of migration into an opportunity to address the needs of our communities in new and transformative ways.
As part of this initiative, we created comprehensive educational materials, including a facilitator's guide and an accompanying training deck, to provide historical context on migration and challenge divisive narratives. These resources are designed to build bridges between communities, foster unity, and ensure that the voices and needs of migrants remain central to the conversation. Additionally, the materials highlight a set of asylum seeker demands, underscoring the urgency of policy changes to support these individuals.
Through convenings like Thriving Together and the development of educational tools, The Action Lab continues to advance efforts to empower communities to stand together in the face of divisive policies and rhetoric, creating pathways for justice and solidarity.
Belafonte
Initiative
Culture, not politics, is the way we make meaning of the world. We make sense of our own experiences by telling stories; we understand experiences far from our own through the empathy that art can inspire. We need an infrastructure to support this kind of bold imagining—a space and a way of being together to conceptualize, create and engage—shaped by artists and culture-creators who can help unlock our collective imagination and inspire action.
The Belafonte Initiative builds on the rich American history of artists, creatives, and culture-makers who have helped expand our capacity to imagine, and realize,a world of freedom, liberation, and justice for all. The Initiative is dedicated to fostering deep relationship and collaboration among organizers and artists, and to catalyzing and supporting cultural work, and cultural workers whose practice focuses on community engagement, civic practice, and social justice.
The Belafonte Fellowship: Advancing Social Justice Through Art
The Belafonte Fellowship celebrates artists whose work embodies the enduring commitment to social justice championed by Action Lab co-founder Harry Belafonte. Fellows partner with The Action Lab to engage communities through performances, workshops, and cultural initiatives that connect the arts with activism.
In 2023, The Action Lab proudly welcomed Ana Tijoux as our newest Belafonte Fellow. A Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Ana’s career has been defined by her advocacy for progressive values and her use of music as a powerful tool for change. During her fellowship, Ana played a pivotal role in Liberation Summer, headlining performances in New York City and leading impactful workshops and classes for youth in the Bronx and Brooklyn. She also guided emerging artists through a Freedom Writers workshop, helping to amplify their creative voices and strengthen their connection to activism. In 2024, Ana continued her impactful work as the centerpiece of our Liberation Music concert, part of our global housing justice delegation in Barcelona.
Ana continues the legacy of Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc, the inaugural Belafonte Fellow in 2022. Aloe’s contributions include founding the Freedom Writers workshop and collaborating with Hudson Link’s men’s choir at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Together, our Belafonte Fellows demonstrate how art and culture can inspire and advance movements for justice, enriching communities and fostering meaningful social change.
Artists in Action: Sparking Creativity for Social Change
The Artists in Action Fellowship, launched by The Action Lab in 2024, bridges the worlds of art and social justice by connecting artists with organizers to foster collaboration and creativity. This program provides a platform for artists to engage with The Action Lab’s anchor partners through innovative projects, performances, and workshops. Each fellow brings their unique medium and vision to amplify social movements and inspire tangible change.
2024 Artists in Action Fellows
Karina Hurtado-Ocampo
Julián Gómez Londoño
Alex Lin
Adilka Pimentel
Morgan Bassichis
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi
Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi
Jessica Bauman
Dennis Leroy Kangalee
By integrating creativity into organizing, the Artists in Action Fellowship equips both artists and organizers with innovative tools to reimagine and strengthen social movements. Through projects rooted in art, culture, and activism, these fellows embody The Action Lab’s commitment to liberation and transformative change.
Liberation Summer 2024: A Celebration of Culture and Resistance
In its second year, Liberation Summer continued to build on its mission of celebrating the intersection of hip-hop, culture, and social justice. Launched in 2023 to mark the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the series expanded significantly in 2024, drawing an estimated 5,000 attendees across a variety of performances, workshops, and community-centered events. Liberation Summer fosters a vibrant cultural movement while uplifting underrepresented artists and connecting audiences to themes of equity, activism, and resistance.
The summer kicked off with an electrifying concert at the iconic SOB’s, featuring Caribbean-inspired performances by Combo Chimbita, El Hijo de Borikén, Maraca Bruja, and DJ Bembona. Over 300 attendees came together to celebrate, setting the tone for a season of dynamic programming. Highlights included the BronxArtSpace Hip-Hop Summer Camp, where participants learned hip-hop’s core elements—MCing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti, and knowledge—through workshops with renowned artists like Grand Wizard Theodore, Styleski, and Kemba.
Other notable events included Sembrando Resistencia: Los Jardines de Loisaida, a three-day celebration of Puerto Rican community gardens featuring panel discussions, archival footage, walking tours, and live performances at the historic Plaza Cultural Garden. In Hunts Point, the 4th Annual Pull Back Basketball Tournament brought together local residents, displaced community members, and families for a day of youth basketball, live music, and cultural reconnection. Liberation Summer also collaborated with the Latin American Foto Festival, transforming BronxArtSpace into a hub for powerful photojournalism and community dialogue.
Through these events, Liberation Summer continues to amplify voices from underrepresented communities, celebrate grassroots cultural spaces, and create opportunities for collective joy and resistance. By connecting art, activism, and community, Liberation Summer strengthens the social movements that make liberation possible.
Music as Activism: Hip-Hop for Peace and Liberation Music
In 2024, The Action Lab used the power of music to amplify calls for justice and peace through two impactful Hip-Hop for Peace concerts and the Liberation Music concert. These events brought together celebrated artists, activists, and audiences to highlight critical social justice issues and build solidarity through art.
The Hip-Hop for Peace series began with a landmark concert in New York City, a rallying call for peace and an end to civilian death in Palestine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. The June event featured unforgettable performances by Talib Kweli, M1 and Umi from Dead Prez, Smif-N-Wesson, and Rahzel, with surprise appearances by freestyle legend Super Natural and moving poetry from Aja Monet, Jessica Care Moore, Suheir Hammad, and Mohammed el Kurd.
Following its success, Hip-Hop for Peace traveled to Los Angeles in October, where artists like Saul Williams, Hamzah Saadah, Immortal Technique, and Medusa headlined powerful performances, continuing to raise critical funds and awareness for global peace efforts.
As part of The Action Lab’s November learning delegation to Barcelona, the Liberation Music concert brought together global artists to spotlight the fight for housing justice. Grammy-winning Belafonte Fellow Ana Tijoux headlined alongside Yasiin Bey and M1 of Dead Prez in an electrifying evening of music and activism. The concert underscored the vital role of cultural work in advancing housing justice, with performances that inspired solidarity and action.
These concerts exemplify The Action Lab’s commitment to using cultural programming as a tool for collective resistance, bringing communities together to envision and build a more just and peaceful world.
The Border Is a Story: Reimagining the Borderlands
In September 2024, The Action Lab co-hosted The Border Is a Story Convening in Los Angeles, in collaboration with Advisory Board Members Kelly Lytle Hernandez and Alex Rivera. This immersive three-day gathering brought together 20 accomplished storytellers, including organizers, filmmakers, playwrights, journalists, and historians. The convening sought to reimagine the U.S.-Mexico borderlands as spaces of connection, resilience, and possibility.
Supported by the MacArthur and Mellon Foundations, the event provided a platform for innovative narratives and new collaborations. Participants explored the border as a dynamic site of creativity and resistance, challenging dominant discourses and reshaping public understanding of the region. Through rich discussions and shared storytelling, the convening underscored the potential of art and history to illuminate justice and foster transformative change.
This powerful gathering exemplifies The Action Lab’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and amplifying stories that inspire solidarity and action across movements.
Gathering Strength
Initiative
The Action Lab’s Gathering Strength Initiative creates vital space for healing, reflection and calm – for organizers, leaders, and social justice artists to cultivate individual and shared well being. As a part of this work, we cultivate practices of personal, institutional and communal well-being and resilience, and explore how such practices can reshape how we build our organizations and how we can envision and embody leadership. Through this work, we are developing a shared commitment to well-being, joy and health – not just as hallmarks of the world we want to create, but as features of the world we create and inhabit now.
Take a Breath Residency: Centering Rest and Resilience
Take a Breath Residency (TAB), a flagship program of The Action Lab’s Gathering Strength Initiative, provides vital space for rest, reflection, and rejuvenation for organizers, artists, and social justice and cultural workers. Rooted in healing justice traditions, the program honors the humanity at the heart of social justice work, fostering individual well-being and collective care as essential components of a resilient and thriving movement.
In 2024, TAB hosted four week-long residencies—held in May, June, July, and October—across serene retreat spaces in Westchester County, New York. Over the course of the year, 32 residents participated in these restorative gatherings. Each cohort experienced a unique blend of self-directed reflection, wellness practices, and community-building activities.
“
As a single parent and community organizer, I rarely get the chance to step back, let alone fully relax. The Take a Breath retreat was a deeply needed pause—an opportunity to recharge, reflect, and connect with inspiring peers. For those of us working at the edges of burnout, this retreat is a powerful reminder of the care we need to sustain the fight for social justice.”
Danielle Squillante,
Decarcerate Western MA Bailout Project / Prison Policy Initiative
Highlights from the year included a June residency at Borden Estate, where participants embraced hiking, yoga, and other restorative practices, and an October residency at TAL’s own Bailey Farms, which featured fall hikes, kimchi-making workshops, and meditative activities. Fellows were supported throughout their stays with nourishing meals, peaceful natural surroundings, and optional access to wellness practitioners.
Since its inception, the TAB program has served nearly 140 Fellows, helping them return to their work and communities with renewed energy, clarity, and strength. The program continues to exemplify The Action Lab’s commitment to sustaining the individuals and communities driving meaningful social change, one restorative breath at a time.
Practice Circles: Cultivating Presence and Purpose
The Action Lab’s Practice Circles provide organizers and social movement builders with vital spaces for reflection, growth, and relational work. These sessions are designed to foster the courage, purpose, and care needed to build energized and effective movements. Drawing from somatic, psychoanalytic, and faith-based traditions, Practice Circles emphasize both personal and collective transformation, helping participants center themselves, navigate pressures, and cultivate leadership for liberatory change.
In 2024, The Action Lab continued to offer monthly 30-minute online Practice Circles, creating a consistent space for participants to pause, recenter, and recommit to their work. Each session followed a simple yet powerful structure: gathering and centering, engaging with a relevant practice or reflection, and closing with a takeaway. Practices explored this year included listening, making and responding to requests, facing reactivity, and saying no—with a culminating session on saying yes.
Additionally, The Action Lab’s 2024 Art of Purpose fellows participated in an in-person, day-long Practice Circle in June at the offices of New York Communities for Change. The gathering centered on how intentional change can deepen our sense of purpose and leadership. Fellows practiced tuning into their breath, easing their nervous systems, and building awareness of habitual reactions, allowing them to respond to organizing pressures with greater clarity and focus. These practices emphasized the connection between purpose and action, helping participants align their commitments with the strategic change they aim to achieve.
Through Practice Circles, The Action Lab continues to equip organizers with the tools and relational capacities to navigate challenges, build resilience, and strengthen their leadership within social movements.
Art of Purpose x Somatics: Cultivating Leadership from the Inside Out
In October, The Action Lab’s inaugural Art of Purpose fellowship convened for a transformative three-day retreat at Stony Point Center, facilitated by our own Sumitra Rajkumar and Kaitlin Noss. This retreat offered fellows the opportunity to deepen their connections with themselves and one another, fostering an awareness of the body and self that enhances clarity and decision-making under pressure.
The Art of Purpose program reflects The Action Lab’s belief that leadership development goes beyond traditional organizing skills and political education. By centering the self and interpersonal relationships, we aim to equip fellows with the tools to navigate the complexities of organizing with greater intentionality and resilience.
As we continue this groundbreaking fellowship, we remain committed to nurturing these capacities, ensuring that fellows leave the program prepared to lead with both strategic acumen and a deep understanding of the power of relationships.
The Action Lab
Community
Anchor
Partners
The Action Lab has formed exciting anchor partnerships to help us root our work, focus our capacity, and maximize our impact. Our anchor partners represent our most closely aligned, deeply trusted, and high capacity partners, coming from community and political organizing, cultural and academic sectors.
By working together with groups of politically aligned, high impact, deeply experienced partners - with complimentary capacities and expansive networks of relationships - we are best able to spark breakthroughs, innovations and insights, and to ensure that these breakthroughs will have a broad and profound impact on our field.
Our Anchor Partners are:
Founded by Action Lab Advisory Board Member Phil Agnew, Black Men Build empowers Black men and their families as a vital political force for liberation. With eight hubs nationwide, this grassroots organization trains and mobilizes Black men to engage as leaders in the movement for justice, before, during, and after U.S. elections.
Blue Mountain Center offers a peaceful retreat environment in the Adirondacks for artists, activists, and writers. By fostering reflection, collaboration, and creative renewal, the center strengthens individuals and organizations working toward social and environmental justice.
The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research bridges the gap between academia and the community by offering rigorous, accessible education in philosophy, history, and social sciences. Their work empowers students and organizations with tools to understand and address systemic challenges.
The Brooklyn Movement Center is a Black-led community organization empowering Central Brooklyn residents to tackle racial and economic injustices. Through grassroots organizing, they amplify local voices to address housing, policing, and food sovereignty.
Central Florida Jobs with Justice builds worker and community power through grassroots campaigns, advocating for fair wages, workplace protections, and economic justice. Their coalition connects labor unions, students, and faith groups to strengthen collective action.
Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH) organizes faith-based communities in New York to fight for affordable housing and equitable urban development. They work to preserve neighborhood culture and build grassroots power to confront displacement and gentrification.
Citizen Action New York is a grassroots organization dedicated to racial, social, and economic justice. They lead campaigns for equitable education, affordable housing, and progressive policies that serve working families across the state.
Community Change builds power and leadership within low-income and immigrant communities. They focus on advancing policies that address poverty, racial inequity, and systemic injustices to create transformative social change.
Creative Time is a leading arts organization that commissions and presents socially engaged public art projects. Their work fosters dialogue on critical issues and amplifies marginalized voices through innovative collaborations between artists and communities.
Florida For All unites grassroots organizations, labor unions, and faith groups to build political and economic power in Florida. Their coalition works to advance voting rights, workers’ protections, and policies that benefit underserved communities.
For the Many is a grassroots organization fighting for economic, environmental, and social justice across New York State. They mobilize communities to advocate for bold policies, including affordable housing and climate justice.
Housing Justice for All unites over 80 organizations across New York in a robust coalition advocating for housing as a human right. Their work was instrumental in the introduction of New York State’s Social Housing Development Authority Bill, signaling a transformative vision for equitable housing policies.
The Initiative for Community Power creates opportunities for learning and collaboration at the intersection of academia and organizing. By fostering rigorous analysis and innovative partnerships, they advance racial and economic justice through power-building and social change.
La Tejedora ("the weaver") is a Puerto Rican organization that is building an infrastructure for movement leaders on the archipelago to fight alongside allies in the diaspora and globally for Puerto Rican self-determination, decolonization and climate justice. From 2023 - 2024, La Tejedora was part of The Action Lab's initiatives - in 2025 we will transition to an anchor partner relationship. More to come on this exciting new format for our work together in Puerto Rico and the Diaspora.
Local Progress is a network of progressive local elected officials working to advance equity, justice, and opportunity through policy. They provide resources and a collaborative platform for leaders to tackle critical challenges in their communities.
Make the Road CT uplifts immigrant communities through legal services, transformative education, civic engagement, and policy innovation. Their work fosters self-empowerment and amplifies immigrant voices in the fight for economic and social justice.
Make the Road Nevada builds power within immigrant and working-class communities to advocate for economic justice, immigrants' rights, and equitable housing policies. They empower Nevadans through education, organizing, and policy change.
Make the Road New Jersey amplifies the voices of immigrant and working-class families through community organizing, legal services, and policy advocacy. Their work creates pathways to justice and dignity for marginalized communities.
Make the Road New York strengthens immigrant and working-class communities through a comprehensive approach that includes organizing, education, and policy innovation. They champion issues like workers’ rights, housing justice, and immigrants' rights.
Make the Road Pennsylvania unites working families to build power and advance social justice. They address key issues such as immigrant rights, housing, and education through grassroots organizing and policy advocacy.
Media Justice advocates for digital rights, equitable access to media platforms, and representation for marginalized communities. Their campaigns connect technology with social justice to amplify underrepresented voices in public discourse.
New York Communities for Change organizes low-income and working-class New Yorkers to fight for housing, racial, and economic justice. They lead campaigns addressing gentrification, wage inequality, and environmental injustices.
The Online to Offline Strategy Group bridges digital tools and real-world organizing, helping social justice movements expand their reach and impact. They specialize in using technology to strengthen grassroots power and mobilization.
Representing the largest faith-based community organizing network in the state, PICO California connects nine local affiliates from 18 counties and 500 congregations, empowering nearly 650,000 Californians. Their work bridges faith and activism to create systemic change.
Popular Democracy strengthens grassroots organizing by providing technical support and strategic guidance to local progressive organizations. With a focus on equity and social justice, they empower communities to drive systemic change.
The Urban Democracy Lab fosters collaboration between academics, organizers, and policymakers to tackle urban challenges. Through research and advocacy, they promote participatory democracy and equitable urban development.
VOCAL-US empowers people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, homelessness, and mass incarceration to create systemic change. They advocate for policies that promote health, safety, and justice for all.
VOCAL New York is a grassroots organization building power among low-income individuals to fight for housing, health, and racial justice. Their campaigns address systemic inequities through advocacy, education, and direct action.
Vamos Puerto Rico is dedicated to building sustainable community power on the island through grassroots organizing, education, and policy advocacy. Their work centers on resilience, equity, and self-determination for Puerto Rican communities.
Since 1985, Working Theater has championed the voices of working people through accessible, off-Broadway productions. With initiatives like sliding-scale ticketing and active play commissioning, they amplify stories often excluded from mainstream narratives, fostering dialogue on social and economic justice.
Advisory
Board
The Action Lab’s Advisory Board plays a pivotal role in expanding and deepening our partnerships and collaborations across movements, disciplines, and communities. Comprising leaders, strategists, and cultural visionaries, the Advisory Board provides invaluable guidance, supports our mission to foster innovation and transformation, and helps shape events and initiatives that amplify impact. By bridging connections between grassroots efforts, organizational allies, and thought leaders, the Advisory Board ensures The Action Lab remains rooted in collective wisdom and aligned with the needs of the progressive movement.
Advisory Board
Stacy Abramson
José Acevedo
Nisha Agarwal
Phillip Agnew
Sulma Arias
Natalia Aristizábal
Sameer Ashar
Gianpaolo Baiocchi
Beatriz Beckford
Corinne Blalock
Jordan Camp
Dan Cantor
Santana Caress Benitez
Raúl Carrillo
Amy Carroll
Oona Chatterjee
John Clinton Eisner
DaMareo Cooper
Ani Cordero
JD Davids
Dasic Fernández
Brigid Flaherty
Miriam Fogelson
John Forté
Melissa Friedling
Daniel José Gaztambide
Paul Getsos
Kara Gilmour
Derek Goldman
Jesús González
Rosie Gordon-Wallace
Colin Greer
Catherine Gund
Minal Hajratwala
Richard Healey
Christina Heatherton
Hugh Michael Hogan
Kemi Ilesanmi
Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi
Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi
Matthew Kemba Jefferson
Modesto "Flako" Jimenez
Sarah Johnson
Anjali Kamat
Amy Kapczynski
James Kass
Coco Killingsworth
Rasmia Kirmani
Gara LaMarche
Cicia Lee
Kelly Lytle Hernández
José López
Betsy MacLean
Joseph Tomás McKellar
Anusha Mehar
Analilia Mejía
Maurice Mitchell
Alice Mizrachi
Rusia Mohiuddin
Arlenis Morel
Scot Nakagawa
Chris Newman
Sochie Nnaemeka
Olmeca
Theo Oshiro
Jenny Polak
Lorella Praeli
Marlène Ramírez-Cancio
David Riker
Alex Rivera
Favianna Rodriguez
Peter Salett
Linda Sarsour
Brian Satz
Dread Scott
Yosi Sergant
Nara Roberta Silva
Michael Skolnik
Rob Solano
Lester Spence
Alta Starr
Rodrigo Starz
Radhika Subramaniam
Lah Tere
Ana Tijoux
Chris Torres
Cristina Tzintzún Ramírez
Javier H. Valdés
Clyde Valentín
India Walton
Eric K. Ward
Dorian Warren
Billy Wimsatt
Staff
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New &
Upcoming
Coming Soon: Our New Home in Ridgewood, Queens
In 2024, The Action Lab made significant progress in our capital campaign for our new home at 688 Woodward, strategically located at the border of Bushwick and Ridgewood. This future headquarters will feature a 2,000-square-foot organizing training center, an arts and culture venue, community-accessible meeting and studio spaces, and a green roof, creating a multifunctional space designed to inspire collaboration and creativity.
This new home will serve as a vital hub for gathering, strategizing, organizing, and creating art that drives social change. With the continued support of our partners and community, The Action Lab is poised to deepen its impact and expand its capacity to build a more just and equitable future. We are grateful to all who have powered this vision and look forward to welcoming you to this transformative space.
Revitalizing Our Ossining, NY Retreat Center
Nestled on 16 acres of lush woodlands in Ossining, NY, The Action Lab’s retreat center—housed in a rustic 1800s farmhouse overlooking a tranquil pond—has long been a cherished space for convenings, workshops, and retreats. With abundant natural light, serene trails, and intimate courtyards, the center offers an ideal setting for reflection, connection, and strategic planning.
In 2024, we began planning essential updates to refresh this historic space and enhance its capacity to serve as a hub for transformative work. Currently accommodating up to 50 participants for day events and sleeping up to 15, these upgrades aim to expand capacity and improve our center’s capacity for our partners and programs. As we look to the future, we’re committed to ensuring the Ossining retreat center remains a vital resource for social justice leaders and movement builders.
Supporters
Support
The Action Lab
Donors are an integral part of expanding and sustaining The Action Lab’s work. Your financial contribution helps us to create inspiring, rigorous, and joyful spaces for organizers, artists, and others to advance critical work for racial and economic justice. The Action Lab is a tax-exempt organization, and your gift is tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law.
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