We held our Annual Membership Signing Day 2024 at Juan Pablo Duarte Park in Allapattah. This ceremony was an essential marker in the membership journey this year on their way to building sustainable communities and power through social justice. At this event, parents, community supporters, and Power U Alumni came out to speak and show support for the work.

In March, our organization began preparing to build connections with the community. Our organizing team began training new and returning members on canvassing tactics, such as using a script to guide conversations, following up, and the importance of amplifying voices in the community. After weeks of training, we set out door-knocking in several neighborhoods across Miami, speaking to residents about what they saw and what changes they would welcome. We initially canvassed 200+ doors, gaining responses from over 100 residents from March to April; residents shared thoughts on housing, safety, and education. We will use the data and responses gathered from this canvas to develop our committee campaigns.

In March, Power U Members elected another layer of leadership for the organization: committee co-chairs and the documentarian. Committee co-chairs will serve as liaisons for each of our committee campaigns, helping to create agendas and frequent roles and collaborating with the organizing staff on campaign actions. The documentarian works alongside our Communications Director and the Communications Team to lead the narrative of the work members engage in over the year. This role involves conducting interviews, photo/video capture, producing content to contribute to Power U’s legacy, and more. Check out the leadership roles here.

After 5+ weeks of canvassing, we invited folks we connected with to a Community Town Hall Event. At the event, attendees could share their experiences and issues that they are facing in their neighborhoods and unpack how they relate to our current committee campaigns. We did a test to invite folks directly from the doors to a meeting in their area therefore we had two simultaneous meetings at YMCA Allapattah and Miami Central High School. During this meeting, we also shared the data we collected from surveying residents. The top concerns of community members were health and infrastructure, both of which are touchpoints of ASPP and Environmental Justice.

As we shift into summer, Power U  restructured to bring in new folks to support our campaigns. This summer, we have partnered with MDCPS to have an internship program alongside members of our organization who will be doing deep campaign work and community building through canvassing and more. Many of our members now have experience canvassing from our initial Listening Campaign. Now, we are developing their organizing and leadership by connecting community residents to our campaigns around Reproductive Justice, Environmental Justice, and Against the School-to-Prison Pipeline.

Kicking off the month, we held a small community meeting with residents whose doors we knocked on this summer. At this afternoon’s meeting tucked under trees at the home of one of our members and parent supporters, we discussed our plans for the MDCPS budget mobilization and how our campaigns are connected. Our campaigns around making schools a safer and more equitable place for students start with the help of everyday people. We have developed these campaigns to reflect that. This meeting was one of the 1st steps on our road to mobilization at MDCPS at the end of the month. 

At Miami-Dade County Public Schools  in July, we planned to address several areas with school board representatives, such as:

• Full-time Nurses & Mental Health Counselors
• Free Period Products & School Pantries
• Comprehensive Sex-Education
• Restorative Justice Practices & SROs to Store firearms in vehicles Until active threat

From August 30 to September 1, we convened for our fourth annual Membership Congress—an event that embodies the culmination of each year’s growth and transformation. Every Congress is a dynamic convergence where members, staff, and key stakeholders gather to reflect on our work over the past year, and chart strategic intentions for the year ahead.

Over the course of two days, we engaged in shared-vision building and strategic decision-making, setting the course for the journey ahead. Revisiting our Committee campaigns and culture-shifting Team workshops (We also introduced our newest campaign committee, Universal Child Care!), our community came together to honor the achievements of the past year while continuing to sow the seeds of possibility for the future we want to build.

Participants had the opportunity to connect and build relationships through engaging ice breakers, energizers, breakout sessions, and a shared collective altar. They also deepened their understanding of our somatic centering practice, which supports and enriches the important work we do together.

We concluded Congress with our Constellation activity, a heartfelt experience that illuminated how deeply interconnected we are, even amidst our differences. Somatic practices like these empower us to shape our narrative and support the growth of an intergenerational membership.