Learn to Lead.
Empowering bold advocates to advance freedom
Struggling to advance freedom in your community? We can help.
The Grassroots Leadership Academy educates and empowers individuals to advance a free and open society in which coercion is limited and liberty prevails.
Our inspiring classes and practical trainings provide the necessary skills to communicate persuasively, recruit volunteers, hold elected officials accountable, and promote the benefits of a free and open society.
GLA graduates change minds, influence policy, and lead in their communities.
Are you ready to lead?
Free training programs nationwide
The Grassroots Leadership Academy offers free, year-round training programs.
Grassroots Leadership Certification
Our flagship offering is the Grassroots Leadership Certification program. This multi-level program empowers students with the tools, tactics, techniques, and strategies to effectively advocate for the values of a free society, like individual liberty and limited government.
Level 1, Grassroots Activist Certification, teaches students the fundamental knowledge and skills to effectively advocate for freedom at the local, state, and federal level. The class is typically offered one night per week for six weeks and requires students to donate six volunteer hours to their communities before graduating.
Level 2, Community Mobilizer Certification, builds on the skills learned in level 1 and empowers students to recruit, motivate, and mobilize others. This class is also typically offered one night per week for six weeks and requires students to donate an additional six volunteer hours before graduating.
Level 3, Grassroots Leader Certification, is an intensive, three-day boot camp for committed grassroots leaders. Students learn how to put all of their skills together and handle real-life grassroots organizing scenarios. Upon completion, students are empowered to run an issue campaign, become a community leader, or pursue a career in grassroots activism.
Sign up to learn more about GLA training opportunities!
Testimonials
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On The Phone, Just Be Yourself
If you’re a passionate grassroots activist, odds are you’ve spent your fair share of time at phone banks, sitting for hours calling hundreds of people about an issue you care about. Whether you’re a phone banking champion or you’re new to the game, these tips will...
Adapting Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: Stand for Something
Alinsky’s Rule for Radicals #12: “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” In grassroots advocacy, it’s not enough to be opposed to something. If you’re going to engage in a grassroots campaign, Saul Alinsky said, you’d better have an...
Adapting Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals: Turn the Negatives into Positives
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #11: "If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside" To explain his eleventh rule, Saul Alinksy tells a story about his time as a grassroots organizer. When he was organizing activists against a...
Majoritarian Values: The Secret to Changing Hearts and Minds
Social media is usually a prime example of people failing to connect across the political spectrum. Rarely does a partisan post resonate with someone from a different party. Instances of a post changing someone's heart and mind are seemingly unheard of. The reason...
How Virginia High Schoolers Led the Fight Against School Segregation—And Won!
Last week was the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that ended school segregation. But while most people are familiar with the story of the Kansas students the case is named for, most people are unaware that the Supreme Court case...
Family Movie Night! Three Movies You Can Use to Talk to Your Kids About Freedom
The Emperor’s New Groove The wild adventures of emperor-turned-llama Kuzco seems like just a zany adventure comedy from Disney. But the movie is actually a cautionary tale about the human cost of eminent domain abuse. Kuzco wants to build his summer home, “Kuzcotopia”...