We Believe Operations Matter
The Capacity Shop (TCS) is a 501(c)(3) education and resource center dedicated to democratizing access to operational wisdom and know-how.
We connect social justice organizations to the tools, training, and technical assistance needed to strengthen operatonal capacity, maximize impact, and build power.
Our Core Offerings
In today’s high-threat environment, building the operational capacity to execute bold work and strategically manage risk has never been more important. TCS is committed to building a resilient, bold, and safe social justice ecosystem with the power to win critical public policy battles and prevent and withstand attacks.
We serve social justice movements in three ways:
1. We build and maintain an Operations Resource Hub
TCS runs a resource hub that democratizes access to operations-focused tools, training, and resources. All of our resources are multi-entity informed—ensuring that nonprofits have access to the knowledge and resources they need to execute bold, compliant work across a family of legal entities.
2. We run educational programs to build the bench
TCS offers educational programs and courses designed to build the bench of trained, multi-entity informed operational staff. We seek to attract, train, and retain operational talent prepared to serve, empower, and protect social justice organizations and movements.
Bold & Safe Course
3. We create operational infrastructure that strengthens the social justice ecosystem
Operational infrastructure is what turns moments into movements. TCS is committed to building operational infrastructure that creates resilient and powerful ecosystems. We form deep partnerships and make sustained investments in states, movements, networks, and we collaborate to build the capacity to prevent and withstand attacks while thriving.
Our Partners
We don’t do this work alone. TCS is part of a growing and diverse operations ecosystem dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of social justice movments.
We form deep partnerships across the social justice ecosystem with:
- State and organizational leaders
- State and national infrastructure networks
- Physical security providers
- Digital security providers
- Compliance firms and CPAs
- Experienced operations practitioners and CEOs
- Legal service organizations and attorneys
- Other 501(c)3 capacity providers
TCS is also a founding member of the Power & Protect Operations Network (PON)—a network of operations-focused, capacity-building providers with proven track records of improving the operational capacity and safety of social-justice organizations. Networks like PON help nonprofit organizations meet the challenges ahead by strengthening operational infrastructure and boosting collaboration among technical assistance providers.
Who We Serve
TCS works with social justice pioneers exploring innovative ways to mobilize their communities and build power.
We center impacted communities in our work, prioritizing collaboration with organizations that center the experiences and voices of historically underserved groups at the intersection of race, gender, and class.
We serve ecosystems, movements, organizations and leaders that:
- Work toward a more just, inclusive, egalitarian, and cohesive American society;
- Use levers of power to rectify racial, social, economic and/or environmental injustices and inequalities;
- Share a commitment to raising up the voices and protecting the rights of those underserved and underrepresented in our democracy; and
- Share a deep respect for the dignity of all people regardless of race, gender, ability, age, or sexual orientation.
Our Values
These values serve as a commitment to ourselves, to our work, and to the collaborators, leaders, consultants, funders, and partners with whom we work. They are also an invitation to our community to hold us accountable. We seek to use our values to create systemic change; collaborate with stakeholders and leaders to build power, equity, and sustainability within our ecosystem; and address systematic oppression.
We believe that disruption of oppression in all its forms-systemic, organizational, interpersonal, and personal, is required to achieve liberation for us all. We commit to centering racial, gender, and economic justice strategies core to that disruption in everything that we do, including our organizational practices. We do this by ensuring that our values and anti-oppression principles drive our programs and partnerships; naming power dynamics and working to shift them; and committing our time and resources to this work.
We believe that systemic change must begin with us. We commit to living our values, holding ourselves accountable for the agreements we make, and examining and addressing individual and collective habits that reinforce dominant culture. We do this by engaging in continuous learning as to how race, background, and experiences have affected us within systems of oppression; providing loving feedback; and building intentional accountability practices in all of our work.
We believe that open and honest communication is central to all trusted relationships, and that change happens at the speed of trust. We commit to transparency in all aspects of our work, and to investing in equitable long-term relationships beyond transaction. We do this by ensuring that our work and processes foster transparency, especially as to financial matters, time commitments, power dynamics, and by centering people and relationships above all else.
We believe that to build power to transform our society, we must explore innovative ways to build capacity within our movement. We commit to doing the work of capacity-building differently by dismantling aspects of the dominant culture of nonprofit consultancy that often fail to value the diverse lived experiences, expertise, and knowledge of community leaders. We do this by honoring leaders’ wisdom; building intentional learning into our external work, internal practices, and partnerships; and co-creating innovative solutions to emergent challenges.
We believe that transformative and radical collaboration within our movement is required to create and sustain systematic change. We commit to forming long-term relationships with diverse stakeholders across our movement, to building lasting organizational and nonprofit ecosystem capacity, and to disrupting funding practices that divide us. We do this by forming deep, sustained, values-based partnerships; engaging partners to co-create solutions to shared challenges; and participating in joint fundraising efforts to support the important work of collaboration.
We believe that our work must be sustainable. We commit to centering wellness, sustainability, and resilience in our programmatic work, policies, and ongoing organizational practices. We do this by creating intentional practices that support self care, building coaching into our programs and internal practices, and dedicating resources to support wellness and cultural and organizational sustainability.