BOSS Organizing Summer School

Action St. Louis is committed to training new, bold leaders who will continue to build power in our communities and win campaigns that transform our lives. With this in mind, Action St. Louis created the BOSS Organizing Summer School in 2019.  

Grassroots organizations have been responsible for policy wins, including the passage of the Civilian Oversight Board in St. Louis, increasing the state’s minimum wage, and restoring access to abortion in Missouri. Organizations have also been central to the victories of progressive elected officials who are working to reform systems such as cash bail, policing in St. Louis, and reparations. As seasoned organizers move into leadership roles, there is a lack of incoming organizers to take their place.

Routinely, entry-level positions for community organizers, communications staff, data analysts, and policy experts go unfilled, leaving a clear void in the ability to build a progressive base and win campaigns successfully. To fill this void, Action St. Louis has created the BOSS Fellowship. We understand that the solution to the organizing vacuum is to lean more deeply into organizing by creating a space where new talent can be cultivated, trained, and mentored, ultimately developing increased organizing capacity to fill the vacancies in local organizations.  

We believe developing a local organizing infrastructure that encompasses organizing, strategic communications, movement building, and policy advocacy is essential to build a new class of powerful organizers.

Goals of BOSS

• Deepen participants’ knowledge of political organizing fundamentals and opportunities to apply their training to current local campaigns.

• Sharpen participants’ political analysis of race, class, and gender, grounded in local history and movement-building.

• Provide local grassroots organizations with summer staff capacity, while giving current staff opportunities to sharpen their training, facilitation, and management skills.

• Foster and deepen relationships between participants and develop opportunities for mentorship with the existing class of Black organizers in St. Louis.

Each fellow earns a stipend of $4,800 to be engaged in a full-time, 8-week program that focuses on the fundamental tenets of community organizing.

Program elements:

• Organizing Training: Fellows will spend the first two weeks of the program in training. The curriculum for organizing training is developed by Action St. Louis, in partnership with the Movement for Black Lives and Advancement Project. 

• Full Work Day: Fellows will spend the last six weeks of the program working hands-on with a partner organization, applying the organizing training to current local campaigns. Past work projects include: registering voters, collecting signatures for ballot initiatives, canvassing, having one-on-one meetings, and shadowing experienced organizers in the field. 

• Boss Up Fridays: Participants spend every Friday in deep political education with experienced community and policy leaders, take cultural trips to deepen their understanding of the local context and history, or work collaboratively on one organization’s campaign.