Toolkit: An Organizer’s Guide to Executive Action

This guide is designed to demystify and democratize the policy-making process, by sharing lessons learned during the Obama administration.

Toolkit distills lessons from interviews and convenings with both appointees and advocates about what worked and what we could do better. The guide is intended to aid advocates and organizers who want to use executive action to advance workers rights, or any progressive change. 

What People Are Saying About Toolkit

  • The campaign to win the historic Homecare Rule during President Obama’s administration gave us our foundational learnings, setting the stage for today’s momentum. Toolkit reminds us that when we invest in relationships and the nitty gritty work of organizing, we can change policy and build movements to change the course of history. And we’re still building!

    — Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance

  • MB Maxwell was an incredible ally in the Administration to advocates like myself, Jobs with Justice, Caring Across, and worker centers – she centered organizers and thought like an organizer in her policy work. Toolkit is full of examples of how, with strategic work on both the inside and outside, we can make real change for workers. And of how we in philanthropy can play a critical role supporting capacity for advocates to shape impactful policy solutions.

    — Sarita Gupta, Vice President of US Programs, Ford Foundation

  • Toolkit is a must-read for progressives working to make the most of opportunities for inside-outside strategies to advance justice - practical and inspiring, full of examples and insights.

    — Deepak Bhargava, Author, Practical Radicals and President-Elect, JPB Foundation

  • Government appointees typically work at a breakneck pace - always with too much on their plates. No matter how talented or well-intentioned they are, they cannot be effective without partners outside of government. The work of advocates and experts is essential to making sure policy is informed by the people most impacted. Partners outside of government can bring concrete resources of data and research, creative problem-solving, broad coalitions and the narratives that support change. Toolkit is an invaluable resource for advocates, experts, grantmakers and appointees - it contains scores of examples, insights and clear lessons that show how, working together, people inside and outside of government can leverage policy to advance justice.

    — Cecilia Munoz, Former Director, White House Domestic Policy Council

  • Workshop has been an incredible partner and ally to NELP and their new publication Toolkit is an invaluable new guide—both a lot of concrete “how-to’s” and a look into the “black box” of Executive Action for advocates and an inspiring call to center workers and racial equity in our policy work.

    — Rebecca Dixon, President and CEO, National Employment Law Project

  • For advocates who want to make change, it is essential that you understand how the Executive Branch works and what goes on in “the room where it happens.” Toolkit and Workshop are incredible new resources for gaining these insights. The Toolkit is full of concrete examples, delivered along with many fond memories of the ups and downs, twists and turns of getting #@$% done. Mary Beth Maxwell and her team at Workshop are smart, strategic and passionate guides on the path to a more just policy agenda for working people.

    — Sharon Block, Professor of Practice and Executive Director, Center for Labor & a Just Economy, Harvard Law School

  • Shortly after founding The Workers Lab, I was lucky to meet MB Maxwell, David Weil, and many others in the Obama administration, who acted as guiding lights for how to make durable policy change at the federal level. Today, more than ever, it is critical that we connect the guiding lights within government to the organizers and activists in communities to make sure we have the best information and relationships to enact lasting change for people long excluded from the benefits of government representation and action. Toolkit does just that -with a deep appreciation for how critical community organizing is to achieving social justice.

    — Carmen Rojas, PhD, President & CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation

  • Toolkit distills fundamental and highly applicable lessons from our experience serving in the Administration. Having impact during an administration is demanding and requires advocates working on the outside and currently serving appointees to understand how to make things happen. Translating broad policy directions into actionable programs or enforcement approaches requires close collaboration between appointees and the talented career staff of agencies and navigating the many complexities of the federal political environment. MB Maxwell has played key roles inside and outside of government and deeply understands those needs. Toolkit distills her experience and that of others providing indispensable insights for both advocates and current appointees.

    — Dr. David Weil, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University & former Wage and Hour Division Administrator, US Department of Labor in the Obama administration

  • I love Toolkit! Toolkit is an invaluable guide for organizers and advocates with tons of examples and compelling stories, MB Maxwell has distilled clear lessons of how things work on the “inside” so we can achieve a more just, equitable public policy. When I worked in the Obama White House I saw firsthand the critical and strategic role “outside” organizers play in winning big victories that have concrete impact on people’s lives.

    — Micaela Fernandez Allen, Head of US Advocacy Open Society Foundations

  • The lessons of Toolkit are incredibly valuable for advocates pushing for change through executive action. One of the things I learned in my White House years is that a lot people in advocacy who have never served in the federal government don’t realize that the work of turning a good idea into an executive order is complicated and daunting. Toolkit, written by an organizer for organizers, it is a reminder that the basics- power analysis, strategy, persistent and organized follow-up, framing winning issues, and investing in relationships- are the difference between a good idea and what gets done. The simple fact is that the administration and advocates need each other to get good policy done.

    — Mike Lux, President, Mike Lux Media

  • The mechanics of policy change in the executive branch can often seem daunting, with a sea of acronyms, agencies, and players and opaque processes where small details can have outsized impacts. Yet I saw firsthand working in the Biden-Harris Administration how harnessing these levers of executive action--from executive orders to grants to regulations and more--could help deliver enormous wins for working people. The good news is that Toolkit provides a highly accessible playbook to help you understand and navigate the process--and reminds you that you are often just a few degrees away from folks who can help you along the way.

    — Alex Hertel-Fernandez, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

  • One of the core lessons from Toolkit, and from my time in the Obama administration, is the importance of exploring and leveraging the full range of federal policy tools to address the challenges confronting people in our country. This means centering the experiences of those facing the steepest hurdles, such as many women of color who live at the intersection of multiple barriers and biases but whose needs often have been ignored or overlooked. It also means being intentional about reimagining and redesigning federal policy solutions – and the infrastructure needed to support them – to create policies that can truly work for everyone. Toolkit helps harness and maximize the power of government to make a real difference and achieve meaningful change in people’s lives.

    — Jocelyn Frye, President, National Partnership for Women & Families

  • Workshop provides concrete ways to better use a source of power that too often we leave on the table. We can't afford to forget what works - Toolkit connects the dots with a set of best practices that have always made a huge difference, mapping out how we apply those lessons in these new governing moments.

    — Bill Dempsey, Senior Advisor, Amalgamated Foundation Capital Markets Hub

  • Filled with concrete examples from advocates in and out of government, Toolkit offers a terrific balance between strategy and inspiration that will help demystify the executive branch and make executive action more accessible to more advocates. While in the federal government I saw how important it was to have well-organized outside advocates who knew how to present arguments and prepare resources to help push and support those of us on the inside--and I'm grateful that more advocates will have access to these tools.

    — Alex Hertel-Fernandez, Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Curriculum and Instruction, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

Misconceptions abound about what really impacts decision making and outcomes in the Executive Branch. While there is a growing consensus that more collaboration between civil society and government is necessary to rebuild a healthy democracy, it is much harder to do than to say. 

We offer workshops and presentations on the content in Toolkit, as a primer on executive action for new or experienced advocates. We are eager to be in conversation with advocates and appointees to share, explore, interrogate, and update these lessons. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more.