By Whitney Young

Since the 2024 election results came in, we’ve been living in a grave, new political reality for the past 14 months. Instead of grieving the loss, we activated, and our activations took different forms. Some of us started gathering resource lists for our community, while others, like Boots on the Ground, began organizing. 

Boots on the Ground started with the nonprofits that needed the most assistance after the new administration took office in 2025. From there, it grew into a multifaceted community action plan: sharing information and current events over Substack and social media; community-building programs such as Workshop Wednesdays; and engaging the Midwest to show up at local and statewide protests and rallies—a little something for everyone to get involved at their own pace. 

We reached out to Boots on the Ground co-founders, Nancy Mays and Martha Lawrence, to learn more about their mission and to gather a few pieces of advice regarding the political environment we find ourselves in for the foreseeable future.

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