Sunrise Movement

Sunrise Movement describes itself as “a movement of young people fighting to stop the climate crisis and win a green new deal.” It is organised as a 501(c)(4) (EIN 82-1232167) with a separate 501(c)(3) education fund (EIN 46-4773036), both registered in Washington, DC.

Stated strategy

Sunrise sets out three strategies on its own site: making the Green New Deal popular by showing that climate policy improves everyday lives; electing “Green New Deal champions at every level of office”; and grounding work in local chapters that combine at national moments. It frames its opponent as “billionaire rule.”

Its own account of its record

The organization dates its arrival to 2017, when, in its account, “tackling the climate crisis was barely mentioned by politicians,” and says it grew within three years to hundreds of chapters and helped plan the global climate strikes. It cites a 2018 sit-in at Nancy Pelosi’s office as a turning point, states that 23 of 25 Democratic presidential candidates went on to endorse the Green New Deal, and describes the Inflation Reduction Act as “the largest climate bill in U.S. history — and still a compromise on a compromise” that “is not the Green New Deal.” These are Sunrise’s own claims about its influence and are presented as such.

Relevance to digital political discourse

Sunrise’s organizing model pairs a chapter network with a national social media presence across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, and it publishes toolkits online for local groups to run their own actions.