Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity

BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity) was created to serve as a training space and home base for a national community for Black organizers. Guided by a mission to transform the practice of Black organizers in the U.S., BOLD centers its work around three domains - transformative organizing, embodied leadership, andpolitical education - undergirded by somatic practices and held within a container of Black Love.Now, at the 10-year mark, BOLD has trained over 600 Black organizers, increased the training bench, engaged in a learning exchange in Haiti, and became land stewards of 105 acres of land. As stewards of this land, BOLD is creating a physical anchor of the space-building work it has been doing for the last 10 years. BOLD serves as a container in Black organizing; holding individuals, organizations, movements, issues, and relationships.Impact on Individuals BOLDers note the impact that BOLD has had in their lives, whether it reinforcedpractices and knowledge they had already been gathering or whether (more commonly)it introduced them to new skills and practices in a space they had yearned for. Someexamples of the individual-level impact named throughout this evaluation include:The factors that facilitated positive individual-level change include BOLDs curriculum, BOLDs trainers, ongoing access to trainers, continued practice, and engagement(through National Gathering, 30 Days of Practice, and other alumni offerings).Impact on Organizations The changes that folks experience on a personal level translate into how they show up and work with others. Additionally, the personal transformation transfers to their organizations as they lead and engage in more embodied ways. For example, manytraining participants report implementing some of the practices they learned through BOLD trainings into their home organizations. These practices include centering as well as giving and receiving feedback. Some BOLDers discussed how the unlearning of transactional methods of organizing shifted how they approach organizing in their communities.