In this article, you will find a list of more than 50 organisations around the globe that can provide IRL and online trainings, workshops and facilitation to your activist group. Also make sure to check out our resources chapter for a lists of useful websites, books and more.
On the Activist Handbook website, you can find hundreds of guides for activists. Sometimes though, it is nice to be able to get together in real life with fellow activists and get training from an experienced organiser. In this article we list training collectives that can provide various types of support to help make your campaign a success.
Available in other languages: Deutsch, Nederlands
¶ List of training organisations
¶ International 🌍
The following organisations have trainers in several countries:
- Mobilisation Lab: "We guide change-makers to design nimble, people-powered advocacy campaigns using participatory approaches that deliver bigger wins and transform organisations.
- Training for Change: “All of our workshops are rooted in our Direct Education approach. Our trainers center the group, building upon dynamics in the room and participants’ own experience to introduce new content and help the group access their own wisdom. Many of our public workshops are “training of trainers”.”
- Organising for Change (Twitter): "We offer a core three day ‘Organising for Change’ training for campaigners from grassroots groups and NGOs which focuses on: seeding the open, inclusive and liberatory culture we want to see in the world, the basics of organising, and putting organising at the heart of campaigns for change"
- Beautiful Trouble: "Our global network includes a deep bench of seasoned trainers and facilitators, primed to deliver trainings and curricula in strategic planning, core organizing principles, nonviolent discipline and creative action design, all in a highly experiential framework built on Beautiful Rising’s core values of popular education. Trainings range from a two-hour introductory webinar to a week-long intensive, and are always tailored to the needs of the participating groups."
- Social Movement Technologies: "A non-profit/NGO providing organizing strategy, training and campaign support to build people power and win in the digital age."
- The Campaign Accelerator: This organisation provides tailored consulting, a 3-day masterclass, a 3-month accelerator programme and a 3-hour workshop. They have experience with impact strategies, engagement paths, social network communication, participatory financing and volunteer communities.
- The Good Lobby: They provide free training and resources by matching your organisation by change-making experts, specifically tailored to your needs.
- School of Transnational Activism
- European Activism Incubator
- Institute for Change Leaders: Canada based organisation that “teaches the skills that organizers, activists and campaigners need to win social change. Our core curriculum comes from Marshall Ganz, a Harvard professor who codified the relationship-building organizational framework we teach after years of organizing with the Civil Rights and United Farm Workers movements.”
- The Yes Men
- Climate 2025
- Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW): They have various training programmes, such as the Activist Training Institute.
- Social Practice: “The Social Practice is an ideologically-driven consultancy based in the US and Europe. We help those working for big change tostrategize, communicate, and organize at scale.”
- Resist Renew (Twitter): We are a collective of friends; activists; artists; and radical educators developing and running participatory workshops, courses and spaces for discussion.
- CommonEcologies (Twitter): A school for lively movements in times of socio-ecological crisis, with online courses and live encounters.
- Nonprofit Professional Employees Union
- Organising for Power (Twitter): A training program for organizers worldwide, led by Jane McAlevey, co-hosted by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
- Ulex Project (Twitter): Supporting social movement impact and resilience across Europe (Spain/Catalunya, UK, Turkey, Belgium, France)
- Regenerative Activism
- Advaya: A global platform for transformative education that sits at the intersection of ecology, wellbeing, and community.
- Reframe (Twitter): Bringing together strategists, creatives, leaders, dreamers and technology to move narratives for liberation.
- International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, ICNC (Twitter): We support research, develop educational resources, & share knowledge about how nonviolent civil resistance movements win rights, freedom, & justice
¶ Australia 🇦🇺
- Direct Action Movement: This Australia-based organisation gives non-violent direct action trainings.
¶ Germany 🇩🇪
Trainings organisations in Germany can be found on the German translation of this page.
¶ Netherlands 🇳🇱
Trainings organisations in the Netherlands can be found on the Dutch translation of this page.
¶ Schotland 🏴
- SCALP: Legal training
- Tripod (Twitter): Co-op offering training, facilitation, conflict mediation and support for movements for social, economic and environmental justice.
¶ United Kingdom 🇬🇧
- Seeds for Change (Twitter): "We provide training and workshops for co-ops, campaigns and community projects that are working for social and ecological justice."
- Navigate (Twitter): “Navigate is a team of experienced facilitators and trainers. We facilitate meetings, run workshops and mediate conflicts for groups and organisations working towards social and environmental justice across the UK. Our team can help you to work better together, explore power dynamics, and find a way through challenges and disagreements. We can support you to cultivate sustainable working practices, make stronger collaborative decisions, design your strategy and develop your group's processes. Navigate used to be known as Seeds for Change Oxford.”
- Turning the Tide: “We connect with Quakers and civil society networks and organisations to create positive change through imaginative, active nonviolence and civil resistance.”
- Tipping Point UK (Twitter): We help UK grassroots groups build people power and take action to tip the scales towards climate justice.
- Ella Baker School of Organising (Twitter): We are training an army of union, community and social movement organisers for social change
- Act Build Change (Twitter)
- Social Change Initiative (Twitter) They collaborate with activists, policy makers and funders to deliver lasting social change in Northern Ireland.
- M2 Consultants (Twitter)
¶ United States 🇺🇸
- Building Movement Project: New York based, offers training, consulting and webinars
- Movement School (Twitter): Cultivating the next generation of leaders and organizers to mobilize grassroots engagement in the democratic process
- ACM Strategies (Twitter): We help organizations and leaders win by educating, empowering, and turning workers into activists. Proud to be a women-led team.
- People's Action (Twitter): National grassroots organizing network. We build power for the multiracial working class. Also check out their member organisations.
- Center of Political Education, CPE (Twitter): A resource for political organizations on the left, progressive social movements, the working class, and people of color in California.
- Momentum (Twitter): We train organizers in the craft of building+sustaining movements at scale.
¶ Smaller initiatives
These initiatives do not have a website, but are still interesting to check out:
¶ About this page
In a world where it's becoming increasingly difficult to trust the government to look out for our best interests, more and more people are turning to activism to make a difference. But being an effective activist takes more than just passion—it takes training and practice.
Luckily, there are plenty of organisations out there that can help would-be activists learn the ropes. From environmental groups to human rights organisations, there's a training ground for every type of activist. So if you're feeling called to make a difference in the world, don't be discouraged—there are plenty of organisations out there that can help you get started, which we have listed above.
¶ Q&A
¶ Why should activists train?
There are many reasons why activists might choose to train themselves. For example, they may want to learn new skills to be more effective in their work, or they may want to gain a better understanding of the issues they are fighting for. Training can also help activists to build confidence.
Some ways that workshops can help movements and nonprofit organisations are by providing a space to exchange knowledge and experiences, to meet other activists working on similar issues, and to plan and strategise together. Workshops can also help activist movements to learn new tools and techniques to further their work.
¶ What can I get training for?
Activists could get training in a variety of topics, including but not limited to: community organizing, fundraising, event planning, media relations, public speaking, and writing.
Experienced campaigners organise workshops for your organisation or help facilitate. They can help you to answer questions like these: how to run a successful campaign, how to use social media for campaigning, how to door-knock or canvass for a campaign, how to plan and execute a campaign event, and how to deal with media attention during a campaign. Check out the list above with all organisations that provide these trainings.
¶ Where do I find courses about activism?
At most universities, courses about activism are quite theoretical. Activist Handbook takes a different approach: we provide practical guides to teach you how to make a social impact. On this page, we have listed organisations around the globe that offer training and courses about change-making. Sometimes, the best way to learn more about effective advocacy is to get personalised support from experienced campaigners. We highly recommend you to reach out to
¶ Rebel Academy
This is our attempt at peer to peer education. We believe in sharing knowledge and learning from each other which is why our courses are freely available to anyone who wants to follow. On top of that, they are available in video format as well, all the handouts and materials needed for the courses at Rebel Academy are stored on our website.
¶ How to improve
Do you know an organisation that provides trainings for activists? Add it to the list!
This article overrepresents organisations in the Global North. We encourage you to look for training collectives in the Global South and add them to this page.
Please only add organisations to the ‘international’ list, if they truly operate internationally. If they do not have trainers in multiple countries, do not add them to the international section.
¶ Search keywords
We want as many activists as possible to find this article on Google. We did some research into search keywords related to activist training:
| Keywords | Global monthly searches | Relevancy |
|---|---|---|
| activism workshop | 70 | high |
| activism training | 30 | high |
| activist training | 160 | high |
| training for activists | 0 | high |
| political campaign training | 400 | high |
| nonviolent protest training | 160 | high |
| community activist training | 10 | high |
| activism courses | ||
| how to become an activist |
Data based on Semrush
¶ External resources
- Twitter list: Movement Building organisations by Stroomversnellers