Hi! I'm Vic Gómez and I am the Senior Organizer at With Many Hands.

I'm eager to attend the Rockwood Leadership Institute as I recognize the need to expand my skill set. With 12 years of experience in organizing at OLE, I've developed a strong foundation in community engagement, from canvassing to directing electoral campaigns at a statewide level. My role at With Many Hands has presented new challenges, requiring me to adapt quickly to diverse communities and cities across multiple states. Our model of organizing is ambitious, we move into rural cities and begin identifying issues and immediately start investing in local leadership to push deeply felt campaigns. We can not win federally if we do not win municipally. This work combines deep community engagement, electoral work, and issue-based campaigning, and demands a distinct set of skills. As we navigate high-stakes conversations, community fears, and systemic distrust, I need to be equipped to lead effectively, build trust quickly, and provide the right tools so people in their own homes can take charge and to become the organizers they’ve been waiting for.

Daily, I engage with individuals who are skeptical of their government, yet yearn for support and encouragement to drive change. We work to overcome relational barriers, identify structural injustices, and maintain a steadfast commitment to being the voice of reason and empathy in the face of racist, misogynistic, and anti-poor systems. To achieve our goal of flipping elections in 2026 and reclaiming congressional power, I must maintain a diligent model of fearlessness, and decisiveness to foster leadership and build our base. I believe Rockwood Leadership Institute can instill lessons and models for me to carry out this work well.

Our work in Greeley is a testament to the struggle between entrenched systems and emerging voices, with big money interests seeking to exploit and steal from working-class people. In a short amount of time we have been able to cut a deeply felt issue (a Greeley taxpayer funded stadium pet project for the local millionaire), encourage new working-class candidates to emerge in every single municipal race this elections, and are fighting for a seat at the negotiating table for our community benefit agreement. In Iowa, we're witnessing a surge in activism around issues like immigration, ICE's unfair treatment, and the environmental impact of data centers on agricultural land. People are already feeling the effects of heavy agricultural pollution, with many forced to buy their own water due to contaminated sink water, now with the looming threat of big data pollution. We're working to cut through these issues and counter the harmful promises of Project 2025. To succeed in 2026, we need to win now locally.

If you can donate to support me going through this program I would be so grateful!

Onward!