Executive Director Featured in Ms. Magazine Opinion Piece

Quanita Toffie, Groundswell Action Fund’s executive director, recently penned a piece titled To Counter Anti-Democracy Efforts, It’s Time to Invest in Florida Year-Round, which was published in Ms. Magazine.

In the piece, Toffie calls for the end of boom-and-bust patterns of c4 funding and discusses how Florida retains its authoritarian stronghold in America.

An excerpt from the piece:

Florida is ground zero for what is known among organizers and philanthropists as “boom-and-bust” funding—meaning money flows in during big election cycles and dries up immediately after. Yet electoral and issue-based organizing is a 24/7 operation. In recent years, these efforts have led to restoring voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and legalizing medical marijuana. These massive wins were led by the people of Florida, even as the legislature acted against their will. 

Strong, successful campaigns take years of strategic building and grit. It’s expensive to bring communities along in a democratic process that actualizes their power and improves material conditions. The focus during a presidential election year is always at the top of the ticket, but the real gains come when investment is made at local and state levels over time.  

Boom-and-bust patterns are sure to pose a particular challenge in 2024…read the entire piece on MsMagazine.com