Florida Rising Together

Florida Rising and Florida Rising Together were formed due to the 2021 merger of New Florida Majority and Organize Florida, which were affiliate groups of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD). ⁵  

Background

Florida Rising Together was previously the New Florida Majority Education Fund, the charitable arm of New Florida Majority and was founded in 2011. In 2021, Organize Florida and New Florida Majority merged to form Florida Rising, and the group’s educational efforts were consolidated as Florida Rising Together. The two organizations were affiliates of the Center for Popular Democracy, a national left-of-center organizing group that operates many state and local affiliate groups that were at the forefront of demonstrations against the Trump administration. Florida Rising and Florida Rising Together remain CPD affiliate organizations leading the group’s efforts in Florida. ⁵

In addition to being the educational arm of Florida Rising, Florida Rising Together has been affiliated with multiple political action committees operated by Florida Rising, including the Florida Freedom PAC and the New Florida Vision PAC. ⁶

Merger

In 2021 the Center for Popular Democracy announced that Organize Florida and New Florida Majority had merged to become Florida Rising, effectively combining the CPD’s organizing efforts in the state into a single organization. It stated that “Florida Rising will be a new and powerful model on how Black and Brown communities, women, femmes, LGBTQ+ and every voice left out of decision making can be liberated.” CPD also touted the groups’ engagement in the 2020 election and its fight for a $15 minimum wage. ⁵

In effect, the merger folded the organizing activities of Organize Florida into New Florida Majority, with New Florida Majority changing its name to Florida Rising while the New Florida Majority Education Fund becoming Florida Rising Together. ^{2 3}

Activity

Florida Rising Together conducts training and educational efforts for Florida Rising. The group is focused on voter registration and voter mobilization. The group states that its work consists of leadership development and “voter registration, restoration, and protection” with a geographic focus on the major metropolitan areas within Florida. Its stated issue focus areas are voter participation, climate and environmental policy, and housing policy, and it supports left-of-center and far-left positions in such policy areas. ¹

Funding

Florida Rising Together has received funding from a variety of left-of-center grantmaking organizations and its annual revenue has grown significantly, increasing from $2.4 million in revenue in 2017 (when the group was the New Florida Majority Education Fund) to $20.19 million in 2022. ²

Funders of Florida Rising Together include the Community Justice Project, the Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment, Demos, the Climate Justice Alliance, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Sierra Club Foundation, Civic National, and the Arca Foundation. ⁷

Florida Rising Together has also received funding from the Marguerite Casey Foundation. ⁸

Leadership

Andrea Cristina Mercado is the executive director of Florida Rising and Florida Rising Together and was previously president of New Florida Majority prior to the merger of New Florida Majority and Organize Florida.  Mercado was a co-founder of the labor activist group National Domestic Workers Alliance. A career left-wing activist, Mercado had previously worked for Miami Workers Center, the San Francisco-based left-wing organizing group Mujeres Unidas y Activas, and a Brazilian group campaigning against international trade. ⁹