5 Years of GAIN Power: Transforming Democracy Through Community, Connection & Celebration
April 15th marked five years since GAINPower.org went live.
Originally posted on our website
GAIN Power: The platform for the professionals powering progressive politics and impacting democracy, elections, and advocacy.
This milestone isn’t just about a website anniversary—it’s about the ecosystem we’ve built together: connecting talent with opportunity, elevating innovative work, strengthening institutions, celebrating excellence, and building a more resilient democracy movement.
We’re spending time looking backwards at our impact and forwards to our vision for a better American Democracy and country for our people.
📘 Our Journey: From Democratic GAIN to GAIN Power
Some still call us Democratic GAIN, which served the progressive space for over 16 years. But GAIN Power was not just a rebrand and new website—it was a strategic decision to reincorporate to be more innovative, flexible, and impactful.
In a moment when democracy was under siege, we broadened our vision to serve the entire progressive ecosystem—not just campaign talent but those working across advocacy, policy, media, and governance. Today, GAIN Power is a home for everyone advancing democratic values.
What sets us apart is our unique ability to convene and collaborate with stakeholders across traditional silos—connecting professionals and organizations often separated by legal structures or cultural divides. This cross-sector coalition now includes:
🗺️ Representation in all 50 states
🏢 5,000+ employers: from campaigns and unions to firms, nonprofits, and public offices
👥 Over 100,000 connected progressive professionals
Five years later, while we’ve had a tremendous impact on our community, we find ourselves and our country at an even more perilous crossroads. Our country is led again by Trump, who is more dangerous than ever. In under 100 days, we’ve seen Trump flip this country upside down, and we’ve moved from a democracy to authoritarian rule. Our work at GAIN Power is more important than ever.
💬 Your Stories: Why This Work Matters
Last week at the America Votes Conference, Manny, Regional Director of Run for Something, said something that made me laugh (while secretly touching my heart): “The whole progressive Movement would be F’d if GAIN Power didn’t exist.”
Your testimonials tell the real story of our impact:
“GAIN Power helped me find my first job to kick-start my political career when I found no resource at all.”
— Minh“I found my most recent role, attended webinars, and made great connections all through Gain Power.”
— Amy“Four of my campaigns began with an online application courtesy of GAINpower.”
— Alex“GAIN and JTAL helped me land two jobs, meet countless connections, and find valuable training between jobs.”
— Chris“Having this repository of progressive employers meant I was confident that I’d ultimately land somewhere. And I did!”
— Amin“Every progressive and Democratic group that hires uses it to find new staff.”
— Julielyn“GAIN Power has played an instrumental role in helping me find every job I have had in politics.”
— Emiliano
Each story represents a career advanced, a campaign staffed, an organization strengthened—and ultimately, progress for our democracy.
📊 Our Impact Beyond Jobs
While career connections remain a vital part of our work, GAIN Power’s impact extends far beyond job placement:
Cross-Silo Coordination – Facilitating collaboration across organizations typically separated by legal and operational boundaries.
Convening Diverse Stakeholders – Creating spaces where different parts of the ecosystem can align strategies and share learning
Building Community – Fostering relationships where progressive professionals connect, learn, and grow together
Elevating Best Practices – Highlighting innovative approaches and successful strategies across the movement
Strengthening Institutions – Supporting the organizational infrastructure that powers progressive change
Celebrating Excellence – Recognizing outstanding contributions through our Powerful IDEA Awards
Sharing Knowledge – Enabling cross-sector learning that prevents the same mistakes from being repeated
Increasing Diversity – Intentionally creating pathways for underrepresented professionals
Through our core programs—from the Career Center and RootsCamp to our Democracy Directories and Community Stories—we’re building a more connected, effective, and resilient progressive movement. We’ve done this with a small but mighty team, including Stephanie Noguera, our Executive Director, who just celebrated her one-year anniversary as our first full-time staff director.
Community is more important than ever – we’re the ones leading the resistance, and we need to support our leaders and lift the organizations doing the work. This is a big part of why GAIN Power exists.
📈 Our Reach by the Numbers
20,700+ job seekers and 5,800+ employers engaged through our Career Center
40,000+ subscribers receiving opportunities through Jobs That Are Left
33,000+ newsletter subscribers accessing resources and community insights
325+ attendees at RootsCamp from 43 states and 161 organizations. 600+ more online.
160 champions celebrated through our Powerful IDEA Awards
🚀 What’s Next: Building a Stronger Ecosystem
As threats to our democracy continue, our work is more crucial than ever. To meet the moment and the demands of our community, we need to scale to increase our impact. Our 2025 expansion plans will:
Transform our Career Center into a comprehensive advancement ecosystem
Scale RootsCamp to become a cornerstone convening for knowledge sharing and innovation
Create the Talent Table to address critical recruitment, retention and leadership development challenges
Enhance our Democracy Directories to strengthen connections between organizations and trusted partners
Develop professional resources that elevate best practices and build collective capacity
Spotlight the stories and innovations driving positive change in our democracy
✨ Join Us: Imagine What We Could Do Together
As we celebrate five years, we can’t do this alone. We’re asking for your support in five crucial ways:
1. Become a Member
Join our community officially and gain access to exclusive resources, events, and opportunities that will advance your career while strengthening our collective power.
2. Donate
Your financial support allows us to keep our core services accessible to everyone while expanding our reach and impact. With more meaningful investment, imagine how much more we could accomplish together in building a stronger, more resilient democracy movement.
3. Share Your Story
Has GAIN Power impacted your career or organization? Share how you’ve GAINed Power through our testimonial page, or on social media using #GAINPower. Your story helps us demonstrate our impact and inspire others to join our community. If you want to give us private feedback, use this form.
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who inspired our name: “Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice.”
Today, we face an administration led by billionaires who use their wealth to amass power that causes harm to many and serves only self-enrichment. As corruption and the dismantling of our institutions accelerate, we no longer feel like a democracy but rather face the harsh reality of authoritarian control.
These times are tough, so we need to find space for joy and celebrations. I’m taking a few minutes today from my perpetual outrage over the Trump atrocities to be grateful for the people who make up GAIN Power and the organizations that support our work.
GAIN Power is fully dedicated to fighting this administration and supporting those committed to protecting democratic institutions and, more importantly, the working people of this country and the diverse communities that make up the new American majority.
We’ve been building power together for five years—not for its own sake, but as the strength required to bring about the changes our communities need. The next 5 years are more important than the last. We will work together, grow, and look forward to continuing to GAIN Power together. Stay tuned for our vision for the next 5 years. We’ll be sharing that soon.