5 Ways New Movement Leaders Are Effecting Change - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism

It鈥檚 hard to think of anything more embarrassing than throwing up in front of millions of people waiting to hear you speak. But that鈥檚 exactly what Sam Fuentes did at the rally she helped to organize in Washington, D.C.

Here鈥檚 the kicker: The school shooting survivor didn鈥檛 act embarrassed at all. Instead of running off the stage鈥攍ike most of us would鈥攕he took it in stride and went on to give an impassioned speech.

Since 17 of their classmates were gunned down in February, Fuentes and other survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, have turned their trauma into a mass movement against gun violence. They organized a national march without any infrastructure鈥攁nd in record time. And this summer, they toured the country for a campaign to mobilize the youth vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

But perhaps most significantly, these young people have debunked the assumption that this issue could never be wrested from the hands of powerful and well-funded gun rights forces.

Among the doubtful were older activists and professional campaigners who鈥檇 been in the organizing trenches for years鈥攁nd with the scars to prove it. While thrilled about the new movement鈥檚 success, they also had a feeling that something had changed. Is this the dawn of a ?

In short, yes. And the March for Our Lives movement is only one example. From the Movement for Black Lives and 350.org to the Women鈥檚 March and the tea party, a new wave of people-powered action is flipping the script and in some ways confounding traditional organizations that have been unable to convert into nimble social movements.

What all have in common is what authors Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms are calling 鈥溾€濃€攏ew models that are organic and grow directly from the people rather than being directed or managed by formal organizations that control what gets done and by whom.

鈥淥ld power models ask of us only that we comply (pay your taxes, do your homework) or consume,鈥� they write. 鈥淣ew power models demand and allow for more: that we share ideas, create new content (as on YouTube) or assets (as on Etsy), even shape a community (think of the sprawling digital movements resisting the Trump presidency).鈥�

Today, new movements are working with more established organizations to capitalize on their wide-reaching networks. And they are learning to embrace the kinds of technologically savvy tactics used by the Parkland students. Here are five strategies that are proving valuable.

Ditch the script

Seasoned campaigners have long understood that the most effective messengers and organizers are those with the most at stake, or鈥攍ike the Parkland students鈥攍ittle to lose. Those most directly affected by an issue can speak from the heart, while many campaigners and advocates sound scripted when they cite statistics or the latest study to make their points.

Soon after taking the stage at the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., Parkland and speaking for two minutes, senior Emma Gonz谩lez went silent. After standing wordlessly at the podium , she informed the crowd that her entire six minute and 20 second speech had lasted the same amount of time as she and her classmates had endured an active shooter.

She captured attention not only by speaking from the heart, but by showing rather than telling. Gonz谩lez and her fellow student leaders are compelling to us because they have what Frank Sesno, director of George Washington University鈥檚 School of 麻豆社事件 and Public Affairs, says are the three critical elements of聽 good stories: (1) compelling characters, (2) characters who have overcome obstacles, and (3) characters who have achieved a worthy outcome.

Step back so others can step up

We all want to be recognized for the work we鈥檙e doing, especially when it comes to issues we鈥檙e passionate about. That desire to be front and center can sometimes hurt, rather than advance, a movement or mission.

At the March for Our Lives in Washington, for example, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, a nationally recognized gun violence survivor, . She had stepped back so students鈥� voices could be heard. At the same time, she stepped up in other ways such as paying for many students鈥� travel to Washington.

The bottom line: Transformative social change is going to come from organizations that see people as change agents, not just cheerleaders or foot soldiers carrying out plans designed by those 鈥渋n charge.鈥�

The power of social media

When Fox News host Laura Ingraham mocked Parkland student organizer and survivor David Hogg for not being accepted into certain colleges, Hogg didn鈥檛 spend the next few days convening staff meetings on how to respond.

Instead, he quickly posted a list of Ingraham鈥檚 advertisers on Twitter and to let those companies know how they felt. As a result, more than a dozen advertisers dropped her show.

The most effective social change organizations understand that as technology moves everything to warp speed, the ability to respond rapidly and nimbly matters more than ever before.

The key to such agility? . This provides team members with the autonomy needed to respond quickly and creatively when opportunities arise.

Dream big to go big

In one of the most viewed 聽of all time, behavioral researcher and author Simon Sinek uses Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 famous speech to explain why a big, bold idea is a key element of movement building and social change.

鈥淗e gave the 鈥業 Have a Dream鈥� speech, not the 鈥業 Have a Plan鈥� speech,鈥� Sinek says. 鈥淗e spoke for a different world, how to go from here to there. And he so beautifully described what 鈥榯here鈥� is.鈥�

King鈥檚 vision of a positive future mobilized a quarter of a million people to make the trek to Washington, D.C. (long before the internet). The Parkland students inspired over a million聽to in Washington and cities across the U.S. And March for Our Lives inspired an even bigger nationwide school walkout to keep up pressure on politicians and continue building local power.

Adopting a movement mindset

Could your organization pull off a national march in five weeks? Without any infrastructure or paid staff? With little financial support? And while leaders are still reeling from major trauma?

A lot of people told the Parkland students that what they were attempting was impossible. Luckily, they ignored the concerns because they weren鈥檛 fixating on what they didn鈥檛 have. Instead, they had a 鈥渕ovement mindset鈥� that allowed them to focus on creatively and efficiently using the resources they did have.

Organizations of all sizes are discovering that they can take a page from social movements and find ways to act before everything is in place or completely figured out. Through participatory planning, rapid audience testing, and real-time ongoing improvements, organizations are developing initiatives that can be successful in rapidly shifting and unpredictable contexts. In short, the perfect is no longer the enemy of the good.

Correction: October 19, 2018.
This version updates the full length of Emma Gonz谩lez鈥檚 March for Our Lives speech.