In July, Hustle attended the event to explore and build community organizing strategies.
The end of July marked the 114th annual NAACP Convention, and Hustle was excited to be in the mix with one of our core partners. The NAACP is a civil rights advocacy organization working in support of Black Americans. Their work is rooted in civic engagement, policy, and racial equity for marginalized people and spans from government to classrooms to grassroots organizing.
The NAACP National Convention takes place each year to foster community and empower NAACP members to lead, network, and exchange ideas. The theme, thriving together, brought together over 8,000 scholars, entertainers, thought-leaders, and change agents from around the country to discuss community organizing, building, and impact through the historic organization.
Community organizing is a central focus for the NAACP, and this year’s National Convention was no exception, including the opportunity to get to know local organizations in the Boston area, advancing work in civil rights. Whether you work in labor, education, corporate America, or as a vendor, the NAACP emphasizes the need to work collaboratively to make an impact.
This was Hustle’s 6th year attending the National Convention, but the first time we were able to join as both a partner and a vendor. As a core Hustle partner, the NAACP has collaborated with our team to advance their efforts on civic engagement, especially to drive voter registration and turnout, and we continued this work together at the convention.
Hustle was honored to be part of the conversation on how to build and activate a holistic organizing strategy. We were even able to host an organizing boot camp where we unpacked how person-to-person texting can act as a tool to drive member engagement, awareness, and access to resources. Texting is no silver bullet for community organizing, but it can take this work to the next level by reaching across generations, socioeconomic statuses, geography, and other factors to share information and resources with relevant audiences.
To harness the power of the many activists and community members present at the NAACP National Convention, Hustle hosted a happy hour to both celebrate the legacy of this important organization and text up a storm. Over the course of the event, attendees sent a collective 60,000 text messages on behalf of the NAACP regarding a proposed constitutional change in Ohio. With everyone from teens to retirees in their membership, the NAACP community is a great example of how easy to learn the Hustle platform can be, with texts being sent after just five minutes of learning.
Hustle is proud to partner with the NAACP to drive action at the local and national levels, and it was amazing to see the engagement of their community at the National Convention this year. This event showcased the power of partnerships done right by building a relationship over a transaction, and the impact that’s possible when we work together. While the NAACP headquarters office has been the primary user of Hustle thus far, we’re excited to see the platform roll out to regional offices in the coming year, expanding the reach and impact of this historic organization.
Thank you to the NAACP and the city of Boston for hosting us. Until next time!
