2025 Boot-CAMPaign for Change
Oregon Futures Lab is excited to continue to offer repeating and new programs. Check back for continual updates!
Our programs work to seek out BIPOC leaders, support them in their work, and sustain their place in the movement.
Here are some program descriptions and highlights. Please click on the link to any news about current program status and opportunities!
CARE FOR DISRUPTIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (CDL)
CDL is a six month experience for BIPOC leaders to focus on leadership through a wellness lens. we meet monthly to discuss strategies for healing and retention in the movement. Additionally participants receive a stipend for health related personal goals.
Investing in wellness for BIPOC leaders disrupts the conventional skill development model by focusing on retention and wellness first.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity you’re giving to people who have probably never asked themselves some of the questions this program centers. You’re teaching future leaders to stop and think through their decision-making processes, and collectively imagine a bigger and brighter future where we’re all seen fully and authentically in our leadership. That is a gift that some people spend their wholes lives trying to find.” - 2025 CDL participant
Background: Many BIPOC leaders can often feel unsupported, overwhelmed, or unsafe in entering public office or other leadership positions. These experiences can often lead to burnout and an exodus from community advocacy. In 2022, OFL felt the need to respond to this dynamic, and launched Care for Disruptive Leadership (CDL) to look at sustaining BIPOC leaders toward a racially just Oregon. We do this by particularly focusing on wellness and shared supportive environment for development and retention in our movement.
About this program: We co-create monthly virtual spaces to discuss topics like:
Personal wellness goals,
Examining our relationship to money and power,
Unpacking the impact of compliance and governance to our state of being,
Owning our personal stories and narratives,
Working with generative conflict as a healthy path towards change, an
Examining our imposter syndrome so we can dismantle unhealthy thoughts about ourselves
Additional components of the program include one-on-one support, added meet up opportunities for affinity spaces, and access to financial resources for increasing one’s holistic wellness.
BIPOC LEGISLATIVE SCHOOL
Where there is power, there should be BIPOC.
This deep dive training includes spaces for BIPOC legislators, BIPOC legislative staff, and BIPOC-serving organizations for a chance to come together toward lasting change!
For BIPOC Legislators: Participants have a chance to speak amongst peers to discuss the challenges and opportunities of elected leadership. Topics include:
Best practices for physical and digital safety
Increasing power and influence
Sharing your vision & caucus building
Coalition, co-sponsorship & compromise
Legislative session timeline & budget
For BIPOC-serving organizations and legislative staff: Attendees have access to topline legislative strategy from locals with tested experience in the capital. Topics include:
Nuts and bolts of bills and budget
Short session timeline, and the two-year cycle
Victory stories – farmworkers overtime campaign from A–Z
Testimony and constituent lobbying
Co-sponsorship & working with legislative agencies
OUR COMPLIANCE 101 OFFERINGS
Oregon Futures Lab provides resources so you can ensure your organization is in alignment with the most up-to-date compliance rules. This includes things like best legal practices for 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), PAC, and other structures. We also can connect you to experts in our ecosystem.
We partner with Alliance for Justice and their Bolder Advocacy series and will be doing so again this year! These trainings are designed to strengthen nonprofit advocacy and policy influence. The sessions will provide essential guidance on lobbying, coalition work, navigating political challenges, and maximizing advocacy efforts for community impact.
This year we will have local Oregon legal expert Tim Mooney leading all four of our sessions. Tim Mooney, Senior Counsel at Alliance for Justice, has guided nonprofits through the complexities of political and tax-exempt law for over two decades. His connection to the Pacific Northwest took root when he co-founded Columbia Riverkeeper and served as its first counsel. Known for making legal concepts accessible and engaging, he brings genuine passion to every organization he works with. At the heart of his practice, Tim empowers nonprofits to amplify their impact, challenge the status quo, and drive meaningful change.
Sign up here!
Training Schedule & Details:
📌 Preparing for Politically Motivated Attacks
June 9th, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Understand how to identify, prepare for, and respond to politically motivated scrutiny targeting nonprofits engaged in advocacy and civic engagement.
Register for the online training here
📌 Working Together: Building Nonpartisan Partnerships with 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, Unions, and Political Organizations
July 14th, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Explore the rules and strategies for effective collaboration across different tax-exempt organizations while ensuring compliance.
Register for the online training here
📌 Maximizing Your Advocacy: The Advantages of 501(c)(4)s
August 11, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Gain insights into how 501(c)(4) organizations can effectively promote community issues and engage in advocacy efforts.
Register for the online training here
📌 Public Charities Can Lobby: How Your 501(c)(3) Can Influence Policy for the Greater Good
September 22nd, 2026 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Learn how 501(c)(3) organizations can legally advocate for policy change, engage in lobbying, and maximize non-lobbying advocacy efforts.
Other programs
Robert’s rules of order
This will be a new program offering this year for OFL! It’s a training space to get into the details of Robert’s Rules of Order. This is critical to feel like you can fully participate and drive your progressive agenda in formal government settings.
We are going to cover a couple of topics like:
Robert’s Rules basics
Robert’s Rules advanced & how to drive an agenda
Real-time practice
Q&A
Enjoy learning with your peers instead of the stressful real-time spaces that can occur in government or nonprofit settings.
Boards & Commission Training
This newer program will be a space for those serving on a board of directors, city governance committees, and/or appointed to a commission to learn about the elements of the job. There are so many opportunities for BIPOC leaders to step into a shared governance position without having to jump right into running for office. (Although we support you in that too!)
Whether it’s helping to weigh in on local parks and the economy, or more specific things like tattoo parlor regulations or parade routes, there’s a role for everyone to play. There are also so many nonprofits with incredible missions looking for new members. The training portion will be to understand more what this can look like, followed by an opportunity to connect with local governments and nonprofits looking for interested volunteers.
BIPOC Executive Director Support Cohort
This is an opportunity to build deep relationships, strengthen your leadership, and connect with peers who understand the work and the stakes.
Governing with Care
OFL offers spaces for various elected leaders to come together and discuss skills, experiences, technical aspects, and pressures of being a BIPOC leader. This year’s training will be in the winter and offer space for city councilors and county commissioners to connect, ground in technical aspects of the job, and have the time to think through strategy.
Debriefing after serving in office
Often after such an impactful chapter of being an elected official, folks are leaving office without the opportunity to be thanked and debriefed. OFL would like to offer space to unpack the experience for BIPOC leaders, and help offboard into the next role. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please reach out and we would love to create space for you!