Accelerator Program
We partner with progressive organizations and leaders to build power to make lasting change.
NLA runs an in-depth, capacity-building Accelerator program for progressive organizations interested in building 501(c)(4) and multi-entity structures to maximize impact and power. Our programs run one cohort with 6-8 organizations every two years. Each cohort receives coaching, strategic planning, organizational development, financial, and legal compliance assistance from a diverse pool of consultants and mentors—all of whom are experienced in working with multiple legal entities.
Our Accelerator Provides:
Up to 20 months of partnership tailored to the needs of each organization
An organizational assessment tool designed specifically for hybrid organizations
$50,000-$75,000 worth of expertise, resources, and training
Dedicated leadership coach to support and advise the executive director
Access to tools, templates, training, and resources designed specifically for hybrid organizations
Co-created capacity-building plan to address key challenges and opportunities
Access to a team of vetted, diverse consultants, attorneys, and experts—all experienced in working with hybrid organizations
Curious about the types of groups our accelerator supports?
Get to know our current and past cohorts:
Accelerator Cohort 2022
In 2022, NLA launched the class of 2022 cohort for our flagship Accelerator Program! These organizations are doing vital movement building work across impacted communities in the areas of reproductive justice, immigrant justice, and movement infrastructure. By participating in our Accelerator Program, they will learn how to build multi-entity structures to unleash even more of their power to do bold, legally safe advocacy. NLA offers each organization coaching, strategic planning and organizational development assistance, and counsel on financial and legal compliance from some of the most experienced experts in the field.
Avow is a c4 non-profit that works to secure unrestricted abortion access for every Texan. Avow Foundation for Abortion Access is a c3 non-profit that works to educate Texans on the importance of abortion access. Avow PAC is a political action committee that works to elect champions for abortion access.
Deeds Not Words is an intersectional community that stands for women’s social and economic opportunity, access to reproductive health, freedom from sexual assault, and equal representation in every space and at every level. Led by YOUth, they are uniting women to push progress forward — not through talk. Through deeds.
Mothering Justice Action Fund is a Michigan-wide project dedicated to returning decision-making power to those most impacted, mothers of color. By empowering these mothers to champion policies and endorse candidates that reflect their values, Mothering Justice Action Fund hopes to shape the future of families in Michigan for the better.
Dignity and Power Now is a Los Angeles based grassroots organization founded in 2012 that fights for the dignity and power of all incarcerated people, their families, and communities. Their mission is to build a Black and Brown led abolitionist movement rooted in community power towards the goal of achieving transformative justice and healing justice for all incarcerated people, their families, and communities.
OC Action was founded in 2017 to build an AAPI-Latinx-Labor-Environmental Justice Alliance and to develop progressive political power. This has been the result of decades of community organizing and integrated voter engagement in the region. Underrepresented communities across Orange County have undergone significant shifts in local empowerment in recent years.
OC Action is committed to a long-term progressive transformation of the electorate and will continue to move towards the change that our people deserve.
The Carolina Federation is a statewide organization that brings local people together across race and the rural-urban divide to build political and electoral power in their own communities and across North Carolina.
Equality New Mexico’s mission is to be a trusted partner, and to uplift the voices and leadership of our community in creating a reality of equity, full access, and sustainable wellness for LGBTQ New Mexicans.
Young Women’s Freedom Center provides support, mentorship, training, employment, and advocacy to young women and trans youth of all genders in California who have grown up in poverty, experienced the juvenile legal and foster care systems, have had to survive living and working on the streets, and who have experienced significant violence in their lives.
The Asian American Advocacy Fund is a grassroots 501(c)4 social welfare organization dedicated to building a politically-conscious, engaged, and progressive Asian American base in Georgia.
NAKASEC was founded by local Korean community-based organizations from across the United States. These organizations felt the need for a strong, progressive voice that could impact federal policy and build a national movement.
Texas Workers Defense Fund (WDF) educates, organizes, and serves historically underrepresented communities in Texas, with a focus on people of color, youth, women, Latinx immigrants, and low-wage workers. Their work is paving a path toward a progressive majority in the rapidly changing Lone Star State. WDF has become a force to reckon with in Texas. They leveraged years of grassroots mobilization efforts and deep relationships with communities of color and working families to register and engage an unprecedented number of new voters. WDF also continued to fight for voter protections and won critical policy battles to protect low-wage and immigrant workers during the pandemic, victories that will continue to serve Texas working families for years to come.
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights Action Fund (COLOR AF): With deep roots in Colorado’s Latinx community, COLOR Action Fund is the new face of power in Colorado. As the only reproductive justice (RJ) organization in the state led by and for the Latinx community, they are building a multi-generational, intersectional movement to fight for reproductive justice, self-determination, and progressive governance statewide. They play a pivotal role in increasing Latinx voter turnout and changing the political narrative in Colorado. They flexed their (c)(4) muscles by endorsing RJ candidates and spearheading the effective “No on Proposition 115” campaign in 2020 to protect abortion rights and access. All the while, they were leading the fight to protect BIPOC voting rights, releasing a “Racial Justice Ballot Guide” in Spanish and English, and winning critical policy victories for Colorado families.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) is a statewide, membership-based coalition of immigrant, faith, labor, youth, community, business, and ally organizations founded in 2002 to improve the lives of immigrants and refugees by making Colorado who both mobilizes for policy wins and develops long-term strategies for change, building local power through a transformative model, and building relationships with diverse immigrant communities across the state. Their work has laid the groundwork for broader and deeper change over time, electing progressive candidates statewide, and passing policies that benefit Colorado’s immigrant communities and working families.
Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) works together for the fair treatment of all people, including immigrants. With staff in six counties and members throughout Florida, FLIC’s leadership builds depth in local communities, breadth for statewide reach, and national alignment.
9to5 is one of the largest, most respected national membership organizations of working women in the U.S., dedicated to putting working women’s issues on the public agenda. They are building a movement for economic justice by engaging directly affected women to get their issues on the public agenda.
One Arizona is the 501(c)(3) civic engagement table in Arizona and is made up of 30 organizations active all over Arizona. They focus on improving the lives of Arizonans, especially people of color and young people by building a culture of civic participation. They are leaders on issues ranging from immigrant rights, voting rights, education equity, racial, economic, restorative, and climate justice. They operate with a commitment to trust, accountability, constant growth, reflection, diversity in leadership, alignment, and loyalty and bring Arizona organizers and nonprofits together to fight for systems change: the transformation of people, community, and institutions. As critical infrastructure for the state, their work results in dynamic organizing and in bringing an urgency to the struggle for equity and unity.
Arizona Wins is the 501(c)(4) table in Arizona, a critical coalition of progressive advocacy organizations and labor unions, working together to improve public policy for working families in Arizona. Their mission is to change the face of the Arizona legislature and achieve progressive policies on a state level to increase political strength for the Arizona communities . They have a bold electoral strategy and build critical infrastructure to strengthen Arizona progressive organizing work and to effectively impact elections. Through close collaboration between community groups, Arizona Wins has taken charge of securing progressive goals for Arizona.
New American Majority Cohort 2020-2021
In 2020, in partnership with RoadMap, Four Freedoms Action Fund, and Groundswell Action Fund, NLA made strategically-aligned investments in leaders of color organizing their communities in the critical states of Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin.
It worked! By ensuring that organizations working with long-ignored and underrepresented communities in key states had what they needed to scale their work, our cohort members ran some of the most effective programs mobilizing women, young people, and communities of color in the nation. Learn more.
Progressive Infrastructure Cohort 2017-2018
In 2016, one of the progressive movement’s biggest challenges was building infrastructure to harness and sustain the massive, new wave of civic engagement. New Left Accelerator took direct action to address this challenge. We launched our first cohort in early 2017 to expand the capacity of leaders with innovative approaches to providing the technologicial, legal, and other resources the movement needed to grow and win. These organizations took diverse legal forms, including a PAC, an LLC, a nonprofit corporation, and a 501(c)(4). Learn more.
See what our partner organizations are saying about working with NLA: