Learnings from the Field

In organizing, the Ladder of Engagement is a fundamental framework for base-building that outlines the steps for developing grassroots leadership. By developing and implementing an organization-specific ladder of engagement, an organization formalizes the infrastructure necessary for measuring and deepening relationships and building power from within your base. During the 2024 Spadework cohort’s mid-program sessions in San Juan Bautista, organizers from California, Pennsylvania, and New York revisited their ladders of engagement initially developed during June’s orientation sessions. Participants fine-tuned them to address key questions:

• What are the unique steps on our organization’s ladder of engagement?

• What activities and responsibilities move members up the ladder into deeper leadership roles?

• What kinds of supports do our organizers and leaders need in order to facilitate strong leadership development?

After working in collaboration with their colleagues, our cohort of organizers observed a gallery of each others’ Ladders of Engagement (pictured above), discerning the possible paths and necessary elements for building leadership, deepening commitment, and strategically aligning organizational activity with base-building goals and organizational mission.

Here’s what a couple of our organizers drew from the sessions:

“The ladder of engagement helped me create a picture and a specific structure to clarify and understand the work I have been doing. It takes things out of my head, giving me the language to be able to share a vision with colleagues and folks I supervise and plan for the future.”  

Wei, Asian Americans United (Philadelphia, PA)

“The ladder of engagement serves to remind me of all the touch points with community residents that our organization can facilitate to foster leadership.  It is also a tool to help orient existing and new staff about the process and vision.”

Genoveva, Cultiva La Salud (Fresno, CA)