Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani during an abortion rights rally in Orlando. (Photo by Jheff Mathis)
ORLANDO | Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskamani announced Jan. 9 People Power for Florida’s first political organizing bootcamp.
The bootcamp, which will be held at the University of Central Florida Feb. 4, will provide high school and college students with advice on how best to politically organize, take on leadership positions, conduct community outreach and digital strategy, as well as go in-depth about the upcoming 2023 legislative session.
The event will feature special guest speakers to include newly elected Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost and former state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith.
“Part of our hope with these bootcamps is that we’re kind of unraveling this complex, complicated system so that you understand that you have power and here’s some of the most strategic ways to express that power,” says Eskamani, who is also the founder of People Power for Florida.
The upcoming bootcamp is intended to be the first of many held at schools across Florida. During the half-day training, students will learn from both political and community leaders about how to enact political change on their campus.
“There really has not been an intentional effort to organize young people on college campuses with the tools they need to be successful, not just campus leaders, but even successful professions long-term who are civically minded and civically engaged. That’s what drew us to kind of come up with this bootcamp concept,” Eskamani says.
People Power for Florida launched in 2021 as a voter registration organization. The organization is intended to rally and empower college students to engage in politics.
“After Nov. 8th, we had just a brainstorming session with our team of staff and fellows to really figure out what we wanted 2023 to look like, partly because of Florida’s just devastating election results, where at least from my perspective, many of the wrong people were re-elected or elected to office,” Eskamani says.
People Power for Florida’s goal is to one day ensure that “every person has access to the ballot and can use their vote as their voice to put power back in the hands of the people,” according to its website.
“Politics can feel very overwhelming and complicated and it’s actually designed to feel overwhelming and complicated. This has been an ongoing battle for years and it’s weaponizing bureaucratic systems to cause harm,” Eskamani says. “Part of our hope with these bootcamps is that we’re kind of unraveling this complex, complicated system so that you understand that you have power and here’s some of the most strategic ways to express that power.”
A second bootcamp has already been funded to be held in March at Florida State University, but a date has not yet been chosen.
“My hope is that we’ll be able to not just take it to UCF, not just take it to FSU, but also take it to other campuses as well and make sure that across the state, young people realize that they have a voice,” Eskamani says.
For more information on People Power for Florida and its upcoming events, visit PeoplePowerForFlorida.com.
