Appendix: Methodology

Building out this Pathways to Power toolkit involved in-depth work with four movement organizations over seven months. Organizations were selected based on their capacity to engage with the project, data infrastructure that synced with TMC’s, and commitment to base building and leadership development work.

The project included hour-long monthly cohort meetings planned and facilitated by TMC and AI, and bi-weekly one-on-one meetings with each cohort organization. There was also a dedicated Slack channel for cohort communication and group discussion. At the end of the program, researchers conducted structured, one-on-one debrief interviews with each cohort organization.

TMC and AI researchers assumed participant-observer roles throughout the process. As observers, the researchers took notes on cohort organization’s internal discussions, successes and challenges, and experimentations. As participants, the researchers provided research guidance where helpful, collaborated on building tools and resources, and facilitated or co-presented meetings.

The data we collected included: notes from the cohort meetings, one-on-one meetings, and site visits; debrief interviews; monthly memos written by the researchers; and artifacts, such as worksheets and resources, that we developed in collaboration with the cohort members.

Interviews were transcribed using Temi. Data was coded using ATLAS.ti. Major codes included: challenges, solutions, buy-in, capacity, definitions, metrics, data infrastructure, organizational long-term goals, pathways (e.g., basebuilding or leadership development), and program type (e.g., canvassing, digital). Codes were created at the start of the program and modified or added to as the project progressed.