Change Corps Academy

Learn more about the program

Change Corps Academy recruits, trains and places young organizers in key locations to work on issues from gun violence to women’s health. Our training consists of classroom briefings, discussions and role-plays complemented by guided work in the field — all led either by our staff or by other talented and experienced organizers leading the social change movement. When their training is complete, our organizers will have an opportunity to become part of a wave of new organizers who will keep pushing and prodding our country forward for years to come, as we will also help place Change Corps Academy graduates into leading organizations and campaigns.

Our trainers

Our guest trainers have included:

Ashley Pinedo

Ashley is the national training director at Organizing for Action, a grassroots organization dedicated to training a generation of community organizers ready to civically engage and fight for change at the grassroots level. At OFA, Ashley oversees a training program that equips volunteers across the country with the skills they need to win issue campaigns (including advanced strategic planning, press outreach and digital organizing), brings talented new organizers into the progressive movement, and nurtures the skills of leaders already working in the progressive world. She also teaches a course on Issue Advocacy and Community Organizing at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford is the director of online programs for Freedom to Marry, where he manages the organization’s websites, email program, online fundraising and social media presence. He has a wide range of experience in political advocacy, new media and grassroots organizing. He was a leading strategist for the successful campaign to win freedom to marry in Washington, D.C., and co-founded D.C. for Marriage.

Cecile Richards

Cecile Richards is the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She is a nationally-respected leader in the field of women’s health and reproductive rights, and, as president of Planned Parenthood, leads a movement that has worked for nearly 100 years to build a safer and healthier world for women and teens.