People Powered is a member-driven, democratically governed organization. Members decide organizational plans and priorities, and staff then implement those priorities.

Our governance structure has four main pillars: strategic planning, our annual decision-making process People Powered Decides, regional hubs, and thematic committees.

Strategic Planning

Every three years, our members reflect on our work and develop a new strategic plan. Our current 2024-2026 Strategic Plan was developed through surveys of our members, 10 online workshops, and two days of in-person sessions with more than 80 members present.

People Powered Decides

Every year, our members prioritize activities, projects, and organizational policies, and select new members of the board of directors. Through this annual decision-making process, which we call People Powered Decides, members have allocated over $530,000, decided dozens of priority activities and policies, and elected new cohorts of board members. 

We invite members to engage, deliberate, and vote using an online platform and through dozens of calls and meetings. For more information on People Powered Decides, see the article How to Make Good Decisions Online and the list of funded projects. 

Regional Hubs

Members in key geographical regions collaborate through regional hubs. There is a coordinating member organization for each hub, working closely with People Powered staff to set the hub’s activities into action. The mandate of the regional hubs is to:

  • Organize meetings and workshops to address region-specific challenges and opportunities

  • Create and move forward the resulting collective visions, action plans, and proposals for deepening participatory democracy in the regions

  • Strengthen regional networks and integrate more organizations into People Powered

  • Share People Powered communications regionally, ensuring message and tone are communicated in the local languages, in ways that are sensitive to local contexts

Current regional hubs, and their coordinating organizations, include:

Thematic Committees

People Powered coordinates member committees to support major long-term areas of work. They address key issues, develop and review plans, and prepare proposals for the organization. Committees include:

  • Communications

  • Finance & Operations 

  • Fundraising

  • Governance

  • Partnerships

  • Participation Playbook

  • Digital Participation

  • Research

  • Capacity-Building

For more information on our governance contact info@peoplepowered.org