History
Since 2006.
Organized by the people on the ground — who did the work.
Twenty years of camps. A post-election debrief that grew into a movement tradition — and a next chapter we're writing together.
20 years of RootsCamp
A reunion and a recommitment
This anniversary is not only about looking back. It is an invitation to reconnect alumni, credit the people and ideas that shaped the movement, document what we learned, and build the relationships the next cycle will require.
RootsCamp didn't start as a platform. It started as a camp — a few organizers in 2006 who wanted to debrief an election without a keynote, a panel, or a preset agenda. They wrote the rules in real time: whoever shows up are the right people, participants set the agenda, when it's over it's over.
Two decades later, those rules still hold. What's changed is who hosts: from the New Organizing Institute to Wellstone Action to GAIN Power, the camp has passed from one steward to the next. The next chapter — local and state camps every cycle, and a shared commons for what we learn — is what we're building now.
Twenty years of camps
Origins
2006 – 2010NOI launches an unconference where participants set the agenda, and organizers use it to debrief each cycle.
The New Organizing Institute hosts the first RootsCamp, an unconference modeled on BarCamp. Organizers set the agenda, with one rule: no tourists.
After the 2008 election, practitioners from the Analyst Institute, AFL-CIO, and Rock the Vote present tested findings on what worked and what didn't. Personal contact beat impersonal contact.
The fifth national RootsCamp, one of the first progressive gatherings after the midterm losses. Dissent's account: attendees weren't wallowing, they wanted to get better at organizing. RootsCamp Massachusetts draws 100 local activists the same year.
Expansion
2012 – 2015National camps grow to thousands, regional camps spread, and NOI hands RootsCamp to Wellstone Action.
The national camp in DC draws nearly 2,500 people, per Common Cause. Attendees live-tweet the sessions.
Thousands fill the Washington Convention Center. Sen. Elizabeth Warren drops in for an unscheduled speech, attendees post sessions on the wall, and badges include pronouns. RootsCamp Massachusetts expects 250+ in Boston.
In October, NOI announces it will fold into Wellstone Action, and the December RootsCamp is pushed to early 2016.
Wellstone Action Years
2018Wellstone Action runs RootsCamp, with a focus on a more inclusive politics.
Wellstone Action organizes RootsCamp, with a stated focus on inclusive politics. After the midterms, 1,000+ gather in Baltimore, with sessions on white supremacy inside progressive spaces and from campaign staff for Stacey Abrams and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It's the last in-person camp before 2025.
GAIN Power Years
2020 – 2024GAIN Power takes over hosting RootsCamp.
GAIN Power begins hosting RootsCamp. The camp goes online as the pandemic keeps organizers apart, and the tradition holds through a virtual room.
Revival
2025Back in person, stood up in under eight weeks after a devastating loss.
RootsCamp returns in person at the Maritime Conference Center near Baltimore: 325+ attendees from 43 states and 161 organizations, 150 scholarships, 60+ sponsors and donors, and 22 partner organizations.
A virtual camp extends the room, with 597 registered. Across both formats there were 132 peer-led sessions.
A federal worker's call for support in a Big Ideas session starts a Signal chat that day. The Federal Workers Alliance for Democracy is born over lunch that weekend.
Twenty Years
2026 – 27State camps after the midterms, tied to the 2028 primary calendar.
RootsCamp turns 20. Six state-level post-election camps (SC, NV, NM, NH, MI, VA) run on the RootsCamp in a Box model, with a national convening in Virginia. Dates are still TBD publicly.
What starts at camp
A spark is a collaboration, project, or connection that began at a camp. Some stay sparks. Some grow into rooted organizations. In 2025, a federal worker's call for support in a Big Ideas session started a Signal chat that same day, and the Federal Workers Alliance for Democracy was born over lunch that weekend.
Class of 2006
Twenty years. One camp, then and now.
If you were in that first camp — or any camp since — this cycle is your reunion.
Two decades after a few organizers wrote the rules in real time, RootsCamp comes back around. Come find the people you debriefed with, see what grew from the sparks you started, and help the next camp set its agenda. Add your name, share your story, or help host a camp near you.
Keep the story going