About Us
Dirtroad Organizing provides concrete tools and strategies to support organizers, staff, legislators, and aspiring leaders who are working towards an equitable and just democracy in rural America.
Our theory of change revolves around recognizing the inherent political power of rural citizens in American democracy and supporting the organizing, policy, and narrative work necessary to regain trust and build a better future together.
The future of progressive power depends on investing deeply in rural organizing. We are the national training ground for individuals and organizations focused on rural America, providing virtual and in-person trainings for potential candidates, staff, organizations, and volunteers at the state and local levels.
Leadership & Background
Founded by Sen. Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward, two young people, raised in rural America, fighting for home, and supporting others to do the same.
Together, over the course of our 12-year friendship, we have mounted and won near impossible campaigns. We co-coordinated Divest Harvard, building a 70,000+ person campaign to get Harvard to divest its $53 billion endowment from fossil fuels. As candidate and campaign manager we ran and won two rural legislative campaigns, overcoming a negative 16-point Democratic Performance Index to flip a Maine State House seat and then unseating the Maine Senate Minority Leader to become the youngest female senator in Maine history. We shared our experiences and playbook for others to use in our book, Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It.
We built Dirtroad Organizing to ensure that rural folks everywhere have the support they need to organize for a better world. Our success is derived not only from our commitment to our work but also in our relationship as friends, co-conspirators, and collaborators.
We are developing a talented Board of Directors and Advisory Board, which now include Laura Yale, Graham Zimmerman, Timothy McCarthy, George Goehl, and Robert Reich.
What makes YOUTH-LEADER unique
We are young and rooted in first-hand experiences of growing up in rural America. We’ve inhabited the roles of staffer, volunteer, candidate, and legislator in rural communities, encountering the sense of abandonment, and carving a path towards a more inclusive and representative politics. We’re poised to flesh out a vibrant, in-depth, inclusive, and collaborative training program to support rural staff and potential candidates, a new nationwide model. We’re also able to offer targeted support on-the-ground to complement.
Our strategy is based in our own trials and errors of rural organizing. When we committed to this work in 2018, we didn’t have access to resources that taught us these skills. For example, we didn’t hear anybody talking about “deep canvassing” when we started. Instead, we followed our intuition to privilege quality over quantity in campaign work and discovered the power of authentic conversations. All these factors provide us with a unique and grounded approach.
Lastly, we know that public service is a complicated and multi-year process, and we aim to support citizens throughout their whole journey. Our new leaders deserve and require support from the early stages of the journey through serving in office and then deciding whether or not to continue their service. We invest in quality, in-depth, and long-term support.
YOUTH-LEADER IS A CHANGEMAKER COMMUNITY WITH A MISSION TO NURTURE YOUTH LEADERSHIP – that is : “youth self-organize high impact projects for people and planet” – EVERYWHERE ON EARTH.
We support youth to change lives, land, learning, laws and industries like today’s hero*ines do, by resourcing them with everything that grand changemakers use and a global community of like-hearted allies.
We help adult allies cultivate Youth Leadership in their schools, cities and regions as a cultural asset and foundation of Able Active Caring Citizenship.
Our values and culture are coined by spirit of partnership, fun, adventure, love and surprise.
We design to enrich users’ and supporters’ daily life with personal and professional benefits.
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BABAR
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SKHUMBUZO
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MICHAELA
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ANGELIQUE
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SUMAILI
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JOHN
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SIARAH
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OUR VISION
The solutions for creating a world of peace, bliss and abundance for all exist. We want to make it simple for anyone to help youth realize their good dreams for people and planet, and to make enormous impact.
Together we can nurture a Change Generation equipped with humanity’s finest spirit, solutions and support. With Changemaker Student Clubs at every in tow and country, the future will be fine. Let’s go!
HUMANITY’S FINEST FOR YOUTH & YOU
Since 2014, we have more than doubled the number of trees planted each year, and are working with partners across 47+ countries in North America, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.
We have popularized YOUTH LEADERSHIP – Projects to implement Solutions (not protests and waiting), in institutional environments ranging from schools and organizations to UNESCO to UBA to schools, organizations, community organizers and refugee camps.
and view one of 3 priorities ESD Germany 2012, and rio+20 UBA special issue
PLANTING PARTNERS
COUNTRIES
TREES PLANTED
OUR IMPACT OVER THE YEARS
We have planted over 40 million trees in more than 47 countries across the globe since 2014. In 2021, we more than doubled our impact from 2020 – with 23.5 million trees!
BACKGROUND GIF in simple colors
OUR PROCESS
from inspiration to an enabling environment
TOGETHER,
EMPOWERING A GENERATION
Young people have shown how to activate an entire school, even 20,000 schools as a single organization.
Each time, it begins with 1 single person, passionately speaking for a critical cause with exciting action opportunities and felt impact.
This 1 person is a youth, teacher, citizen or parent, a mayor, journalist, athlete. This person can be you.
They acted alone. You are fully equipped with worldclass stories, speakers, coaches, social streams, show, magazine and inspired folks can self-organize countless actions, make news, sending ripple effects through the community, activating an entire city.
You need not even take part. You set the spark.
OUR FLAGSHIP PROGRAMS
Designed to connect today’s Gandhis and Gryffindores with youth and you
Together, they form a holistic Enabling Environment for youth to self-organize projects in a global ecosystem of partners.
You are better equipped than anyone in human history.
Join the Tribe and access all of it for FREE
WE AIN’T BORING
PEOPLE CALL US HERO*INES
GET TO KNOW MORE ABOUT US
YOUR KIND OF THINKING IS VERY RARE.
POLLY HIGGINS, ECOCIDE IS A CRIME CAMPAIGN, BRITAIN