Four years later, here’s what the C4 Power Program accomplished

The Civic Health C4 Power Program wrapped up at the end of 2024. This is the third blog in a series reflecting on and celebrating this work.

In this blog, we’re excited to share a list of accomplishments from the last four years: legislative wins, electoral victories and more. 

Highlighting the work of 10 amazing organizations across Oregon and Southwest Washington is already difficult, let alone sharing what stands out over the last four years. To ensure this blog post wasn’t the length of a novel, we had to pick and choose. No doubt we left a lot out. Think of this list as the highlights reel! 

We’re proud to have been a small part of these wins.

Legislative Wins 

• PCUN campaigned for and won farmworker overtime pay.

• APANO co-leads the Childcare for Oregon Coalition, fighting for laws that center families and childcare workers. One of their major wins was $20 million in childcare infrastructure.

• One America Votes won Senate Bill 5225, which expands Working Connections Child Care (Washington’s subsidized childcare program) eligibility for undocumented children. 

• Many grantees reported on successful lobby days that brought hundreds of their members to Salem and Olympia. Unite Oregon shared that in 2023, “our members, board and staff met with 25 legislators to advocate for our annual Action Agenda. We had buses coming from the Metro area and the Rogue Valley, and folks coming out from Coos Bay, Tillamook, Bend, Salem, Albany, Eugene and online. Many of the Unite Oregon staff attended, learning more about how to lead legislative meetings and support future community members in advocacy work.” 

Electoral Victories 

• Pacific County Voices United and One America Votes were critical leaders in flipping Washington’s congressional district 3 in 2022. 

• NAYA Action Fund showed up for candidates. Just one example: supporting first-time candidate Annessa Hartman for State Representative in Oregon. 

• Imagine Black increased their ability to reach voters by sharing videos in conversation with Portland-area candidates. 

• No race is too small. From community college boards to circuit court judges, grantees engaged in races that are often overlooked and require significant resources to educate voters. 

• Emerging organizations, including Pacific County Voices Uniting and Ebony Collective Coalition, successfully completed endorsement processes reflective of their values, and several groups shared that more established groups like APANO offered assistance as they learned how to endorse candidates for the first time.

• Most organizations within the program created voter guides, including NAYA, Wash Co Ignite, and APANO.

• THOUSANDS of doors knocked across Oregon and SW Washington:

• PCUN knocked doors in 2021 for school board candidates in the Salem-Keizer school district. This resulted in a significant change in representative leadership.  

• Unite Oregon Action’s 2022 Community Campaign rallied for 17 days straight. In that time, they hosted over 30 events, completed roughly 100 shifts and made 5,000 community contacts! 

Stronger Together 

• PCVU: “The connection with other organizations within our cohort has been successful in organizational development and field campaigns. This collaborative model, particularly building power in Congressional District 3, has facilitated a robust exchange of ideas and resources. We have utilized this network to create additional opportunities, such as cross-training, reinforcing our collective strength as we approach the 2024 elections.” 

• In 2023, OneAmerican Votes and NAYA Action co-organized a first-annual, “Decolonizing Democracy” summit in Vancouver. The purpose was to build relationships across BIPOC-led and serving organizations in SW Washington with a stake in building BIPOC governing power for the long haul.

• Over four years, grantees participated in numerous trainings, workshops, sessions with coaches, and convenings.

Movement Building 

• NAYA Action Fund distributed a community priority survey to shape Oregon and Washington legislative priorities. They’re also conducting a landscape analysis in the city of Vancouver to gain a better understanding of housing, transportation, education and socio-economic status. This will enable them to advocate for the programs and services their community needs.

• Most grantees reported an increased membership and base, whether that was by event attendance or even an app!

• APANO, Ebony Collective Coalition, Latino Network and others helped Portlanders prep for a first-of-its-kind ranked choice voting ballot for Portland City Council and Mayor in 2024. 

• Unite Oregon Action hosted their first gala, which sold out at 150 attendees.

Increased Capacity 

• C4PP grantees Increased staff, board and volunteer capacity, as well as taking advantage of learning opportunities offered by the C4PP program and beyond. This included:

• NAYA AF formalized as the first and only Native-led c4 in Oregon and expanded its work into SW Washington.

• The largest c3 organization serving Oregon’s Latinx community, Latino Network, launched a complementary c4 organization called Latino Network Action Fund. Since then, Latino Network Acton Fund ran its first field program, knocking on 18,000 doors and making 11,000 calls across Portland and East Multnomah County.

• Washington County Ignite hired an interim executive director who worked on their strategic plan and increased community communications. 

• Data, data, data. Whether it was collecting more or increasing skills to maximize it, most C4PP grantees shared that their relationship with voter data improved! 

• Imagine Black bought a building, The Center for Black Radical Imagination, which serves as their office space. They said, “The Center has become a hub for IB’s movement-building activities, providing a physical space for our community to come together, organize and participate in various initiatives aimed at fostering Black empowerment and resilience.”

• Many of the C4PP grantees worked with Progressive Multiplier to think creatively about additional revenue streams. New initiatives included membership programs, reinvigorated donor programs and exploring tuition and sponsorships. 

• Several grantees traveled across the country to learn from peers in other states. For example, Unite Oregon traveled to Chicago.

• All C4PP grantees worked with coaches through the entirety of the four-year program. Coaches supported the individual growth of leaders and helped put systems in place to ensure compliance and success. Wash Co Ignite shared that Shannon “has been one of the most crucial and necessary steps in our growth as an organization.”