Vanessa Priya Daniel

We need each other and our full strength more than ever in these heartbreaking times. Let’s use EVERY tool to make our movements stronger, let’s have each other’s backs, and let’s win!

“Unrig the Game is one of the best books I’ve read in years.” Aparna Rae (Writer - Forbes, Business Insider)

BOOKS — Vanessa Daniel

Help get Unrig the Game’s message to more leaders and movement workers!

🔸Buy 25+ copies for your colleagues, boards, and conference attendees. Happy to send signed bookplates for bulk orders.

🔸Invite or recommend me to speak.

🔸Post about the book.

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Tanya Gobern-Wallace, ED of the National Black Worker Center Project, writes “In Unrig the Game I found a lifeline…as if someone finally understood the terrain I was navigating and offered instruction, a language for what I was experiencing, and tools I could actually use.”

I poured my heart and soul into this Unrig the Game and 45 amazing leaders added their powerful testimony. We broke a silence to make leadership better and our movements stronger. Every week, I receive heartwarming messages from leaders across the country:

Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning Turns 1 💛

Pictured here is an Unrig the Game retreat for leaders organized by The Chisholm Legacy Project.

This image speaks volumes about this journey: Sisterhood, connection, healing.

Poster for the Congressional Art Competition featuring a large artist's easel and canvas with the text "Submit by April 24!" Instructions listed include reviewing the 2026 rules, completing a release form, and submitting by April 24, 2026, at 4:30 PM. The website jayapal.house.gov/services/art-competition/ is provided for more information.

Attention high school students in WA-07 📢

Submit your work to the Congressional Art Competition — and have a chance to have your art displayed in the U.S. Capitol! Entries are due 4/24 at 4:30 PM PST.

I look forward to seeing your creativity!

https://jayapal.house.gov/services/art-competition/

YouTube video by Working Families Party Working Families Party Response to the State of the Union

Watch live: The @workingfamilies.org State of the Union Response, delivered by @summerlee.bsky.social:

Vanessa Priya Daniel in Conversation

Los Angeles, CA - Scripps Presents:

Vanessa Priya Daniel (Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning) in conversation with Myriam J. A. Chancy, followed by a book signing. Books available for purchase.

📍February 24 @ 7pm
Balch Auditorium

🎟️ Get your free tickets:

SOTU is Tuesday. The real state of our union isn’t coming from that podium — it’s coming from us.

I’ve been building something called WeAct. 559 people are already taking verified actions together. New SOTU response actions just dropped.

🧵 Here’s what’s live for the State of the Union:

Black History Month. Ignorance married with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. James Baldwin.

Relevant words.

Use our email and call tools to tell Congress: Not a penny more for ICE brutality!

Email:
- nokings.org/aclu-stopice

Call:
- nokings.org/iceout-senate

- nokings.org/iceout-house

#NoKings
#IceOut

Ensuring that folks like Letetia Daniel’s Jackson have the power to govern has never been more critical than in these times.

My friend and colleague Letetia Daniels Jackson is running for elected office in Alabama.

Please join me in contributing to her campaign: secure.actblue.com/donate/letet...

Letetia is a lifelong champion for the rights of working people, women and Black folks in the South.

Judge orders release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his dad from ICE detention A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. A judge previously ruled that they could not be removed from the U.S. for now.

A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. A judge previously ruled that they could not be removed from the U.S. for now. n.pr/4qVBJLV

➡️ The people who have fought hardest to lead us out of oppression are facing the greatest threats now, especially Black women. Check for these leaders and flank and support them. One action you can take this week is to donate to @ilhanmn.bsky.social to ensure she can keep her security detail.

GiveMN | Ignite generosity. Grow giving.

➡️ Unidos MN, project MONARCA - has trained 26K people and counting as constitutional observers www.givemn.org/donate/Navig...

PRA Website Donation Form Your support enables us to provide changemakers with strategic insights and actionable research to block antidemocratic forces. With a gift today, you bring us closer to building a just and inclusive...

➡️ Public Research Associates - training clergy and community members secure.politicalresearch.org/forms/donate

Donate — The Central Neighborhood

3️⃣ Donate. Many good places and people to fund, here are some:

➡️ The Central Neighborhood (a project of CANDO) - delivering groceries to immigrant families sheltering in place + building local organizing power thecentralneighborhood.com/new-page-2

2️⃣ Call and email your representatives

➡️ Senators (202) 224-3121 or use @5calls.org

Ask them to:
→ Investigate ICE killings
→ Freeze ICE in Minnesota
→ Remove DHS Secretary Noem

Please join me in taking the following three actions to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis and with ourselves because if we don’t respond here, other cities will be next.

Three things you can do right now:

1️⃣ Nationwide Shutdown January 30 - No work, school, shopping.

How This Entrepreneur Aims To Redirect $1 Trillion In Philanthropy Since founding the Decolonizing Wealth Project, Edgar Villanueva has redirected reportedly $1 billion towards "reparative" initiatives. His next goal? $1 trillion.

One thing I love about my friend Edgar Villanueva is that he is not timid about scale. There’s nothing wrong with small & scrappy efforts and they can even win some things but i appreciate when people and orgs on the left play big and set audacious goals. We need more of this!

5) When triggered, before you act, go down the elevator all the way to the ground floor to comfort your child self and whatever tender hurt may have been bothered by what occured.

6) Remember to laugh and have joy in the work!

3) A teaspoon of salt in a glass of water tastes terrible, but in a lake is barely noticeable. Step back and put the bad in the perspective of all of the good.

4) As a leader, invest more time into the people who are clear and effective, than the ones who are not.

A few lessons Helen taught that I carry with me:

1) The importance of a clean cut.

2) Allow time for the mud to settle, so that you can see clearly before you act.

Helen was my coach for years, someone who helped me in the most harrowing times as a leader. She also held space for so many of us who went through Rockwood and who studied with Norma Wong. I’m so grateful for her. Rest in power, Helen. Thank you for all that you gave us.

I’ve been reeling all day from the shock of hearing that the wonderful Helen Kim has joined the realm of the ancestors. It doesn’t feel real. I thought we’d have so much more time with her.

In 2025, my office answered thousands of letters and phone calls, saved millions of dollars, and completed important casework requests for constituents.

We are always here to help you!

Hyperlocal organizing, which can also link to more established organizations for greater durability, is one key answer to the shock and awe tactics of
everywhere, everything, all at once. We are everywhere too. And there are more of us.

Subscribe to read:
www.vanessapriyadaniel.com/newsletter

My Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act establishes real standards for immigrant detention and phases out for-profit facilities.

This corrupt administration shouldn’t be allowed to funnel billions of dollars to private prisons companies who donated millions to Trump’s campaign.

Reimagine to Win: Unrig the Game with Vanessa Daniel Join SVP Seattle on December 4, 2025, for an inspiring evening with author and activist Vanessa Daniel, founder of Groundswell Fund. Drawing from her book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach...

SEATTLE! Today, Dec 4.
There’s still time to grab your tickets.

“Reimagine to Win.

Vanessa Priya Daniel joins Social Venture Partners Seattle to talk about how philanthropy can “unrig the game” by centering women of color leaders and resourcing community power.”

svpseattle.org/event/reimag...