Our Mission
Mind the Movement was started after the historic 2024 election and the mass firings of federal workers in early 2025.
We subsidize therapy for fired federal workers, out of work campaign staff and underemployed/uninsured community organizers*
*We use the definition of “community organizers” as described by All Due Respect: someone who is doing the “day-to-day work of base building” to address injustices.
Here’s why we’re focused on these three high risk, undersupported groups:
What started as a report on the mental health of campaign staff, has grown to include other movement, civil service and democracy workers.
1. Unemployed Campaign Staff
- During Presidential election years 10k-16k people work on political campaigns.
- Most staff are laid off and lose their insurance within 2 months of election day.
- Campaign staff looking for jobs in the industry are unemployed for 2 months – 2 years.
- We lose ~90% of staff between Presidential years and “off years” not only because of lack of work, but because of the poor working conditions and low pay.
- 91% of 2024 campaign staff surveyed say they’re experiencing anxiety.
- 74% of 2024 campaign staff surveyed have experienced depression.
- 12% of 2024 campaign staff who were surveyed have considered or engaged in self-harm.
- 39% of recent campaign staff are actively looking to leave the industry due to burnout and lack of stability.
This leaves us with inexperienced campaign staff or retaining only those who can’t find better, healthier jobs. When the stakes are this high, shouldn’t we do everything we can to keep the highest performers, best leaders and most connected community leaders?
2. Fired Federal Workers
“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected … we want to put them in trauma.”
– OBM Director Russell Vought caught on a hot mic in 2023.
- Over 137,000 federal workers have been fired or accepted buyouts since early 2025.
- Some fired feds share that they’re experiencing insomnia, panic attacks and suicidal ideation.
- An NIH employee calculated government benefits her family would receive if she killed herself.
Remaining federal workers are left with the stress of knowing they could lose their income any day.
3. Community Organizers
- Organizer compensation is lower than the standard cost of living.
- Most starting organizer pay is less than they’d make working an entry level job at Target. To keep these workers, there needs to be support and incentives to put up with the burnout and lack of financial reliability.
- 9 out of 10 organizers have experienced burnout.
- 3 out of 4 organizers have considered leaving the work due to burnout and poor work conditions.
- BIPOC organizers “deal with particular threats of violence and intimidation due to the nature of their work.”
- Less than 50% of nonprofits offer insurance (and not all plans cover therapy/many therapists don’t accept insurance)
Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Care:
The cost of therapy is the #1 roadblock to getting mental health support. Therapy can cost $100-$250 per session, but movement salaries start in the $20-$50k range. 41% of staff surveyed said cost or lack of insurance prevents them from getting mental health support
And even when staff do have insurance many therapists don’t accept it due to financial and administrative hurdles.
Which is why Mind the Movement exists. Along with short term support and crisis training, we’re also working on structural change to make mental health care a priority for campaigns and organizations. We do this through the work of our Advisory Council, organizational partners and
Here’s how it works:
- Eligible applicants complete our in-take form.
- Approved recipients meet with a Clinical Fellow for an onboarding call
- Recipients schedule time with the therapist of their choosing
- Therapists bill Mind the Movement for completed sessions.
- We subsidize up to $1,400 in therapy per recipient, to be used within 12 months, paid directly to a licensed practitioner.
You can learn more about eligibility here.
Please keep in mind that Mind the Movement does not operate as Crisis Support. If you are experiencing a crisis, please reach out to the 988, the National Suicide + Crisis Line, or contact 911 for immediate help. Additionally, you can access a list of national crisis hotlines and resources broken down by state.
We take this stuff seriously
Mind the Movement follows HIPAA guidelines because confidentially is incredibly important to us, we know these industries are small and we never share details about who seeks support from us.
Our entire team, including our Advisory Council has completed suicide prevention training through the QPR Institute.