Chaos vs. control: Unleashing the power of your network

Only a year out of graduate school, I had taken on the challenge of running the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network. I had run a chapter of the network in school, and started chapters across the Midwest. And, now, folks all over the country were stepping up to start new chapters, and proving our members could affect change in cities across the country. Roosevelt’ers were writing renewable energy policies in Michigan, increasing access to affordable higher education in New Haven, and making progress towards a living wage for everyone. But, despite the powerful impact we were having, I was constantly hustling to raise enough money to pay staff and support members without hard facts that I needed in my arsenal; ballpark estimates of membership and a general sense of chapter activity are woefully insufficient for a ten page grant report. And, though we begged chapter leaders to report back on their events and members, for years, we really only knew what folks had time to share...