Michigan Student Power Alliance

What Michigan Student Power Alliance does

Michigan Student Power Alliance (MSPA) is a Michigan-based, youth-led nonprofit organizing network founded in 2014 (originally as Michigan Student Power Network) and operating across the state's colleges and broader communities. The organization runs relational-organizing training, student organizing summits, statewide issue campaigns, direct actions, voter guides during election cycles, and curated educational resources (zines, reading lists, toolkits on reproductive justice, decolonizing social justice work, and community care). MSPA positions itself as the only statewide organization in Michigan led by youth at both the staff and board level, and it articulates its approach through a published Theory of Co-Liberatory Socialism (Manifesto of Change, 2024).

MSPA operates with 3 identified core staff members — Emily Jones (Executive Director), Eleanor Aro (People of Color Caucus Coordinator), and Maria Sobrino (Communications Director) — and serves students and youth organizers across Michigan campuses alongside broader progressive coalitions engaged in social, environmental, economic, and political justice work. The business model is non-commercial: participation is free, services are grant- and donation-funded, and the organization offers paid relational-organizing opportunities to youth leaders as its primary form of programmatic resourcing. No technology platform, proprietary software, or app product is disclosed; the "product surface" consists of community-organizing programs, educational content, and digital distribution via Instagram, TikTok, an email newsletter, and a blog on a Squarespace-hosted website.

The organization's distribution model is community-led and field-based — organizing activities are delivered directly on college campuses and through coalition participation rather than via commercial sales channels. MSPA's competitive positioning rests on its youth-led governance structure, its decade-long operating history, and its codified ideological framework. No revenue, funding totals, or financial disclosures are available in the input, reflecting the limited transparency typical of small grassroots nonprofits; correspondingly, growth and financial trajectory cannot be reliably classified from available data.

Name

Michigan Student Power Alliance

Legal name

Michigan Student Power Alliance

Website

https://mistudentpower.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Michigan Student Power Alliance is a youth-led, statewide nonprofit organizing network in Michigan that provides relational-organizing training, mentorship, paid organizing opportunities, voter guides, and educational resources to students and progressive coalitions across the state's campuses and communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Organizing and Advocacy Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Government & Leadership Programs (EDALAHAA), Community Engagement & Service-Learning Partnerships (EDALAOAI)

Keywords

• Youth organizing
• Nonprofit advocacy
• Community organizing
• Voter education
• Grassroots activism

Headquarters

HQ city

Detroit

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership and Donations: As a nonprofit organization, MSPA operates through member participation and likely relies on donations and grants to fund operations. No explicit revenue streams are disclosed in available materials.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Michigan Student Power Alliance is a youth-led nonprofit organizing network that delivers relational-organizing training, mentorship, and paid organizing opportunities to students across Michigan college campuses and broader communities. It runs statewide issue campaigns, voter education guides, student organizing summits, direct actions, and short-term community programs such as guerrilla gardening, all anchored in a Theory of Co-Liberatory Socialism framework. The organization's work is free to participants and funded through donations and grants.

Product overview

Michigan Student Power Alliance (MSPA) is a grassroots youth organizing network established in 2014, functioning as the only statewide organization led by youth (both staff and board) in Michigan. MSPA operates as an inter-generational network rather than a traditional technology product, offering a multifaceted approach to organizing that includes voter education programs (2024 Voter Guide), educational resource libraries (zines, reading lists, toolkits), student organizing summits, statewide issue campaigns, direct actions, and guerrilla gardening programs. The organization is structured around a Theory of Co-Liberatory Socialism framework that combines relational organizing, educational empowerment, community care, and grassroots direct action to achieve transformational change. Their programs serve students on college campuses and broader communities across Michigan, providing comprehensive training, mentorship, and paid organizing opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 2024 Voter Guide A comprehensive voter education resource covering voting procedures, ballot information, electoral alternatives, healing justice, movement building theory, and justice organizing in Michigan, published for the 2024 election cycle.
• Student Organizing Summits Hosted events that bring together student organizers from Michigan colleges and universities for skill-building, networking, and strategic coordination.
• Relational Organizing Skills Training Training programs designed to cultivate relational organizing skills and strategic planning, led by the Executive Director within the Accomplice Caucus.
• Statewide Issue Campaigns Coordinated campaigns with coalitions of progressive groups building with students and youth on pressing social and political issues across Michigan.
• Direct Actions Organized demonstrations and actions to advance movement goals and demand policy changes on issues affecting Michigan students and communities.
• Guerrilla Gardening Programs Short-term funded programs focused on community food sovereignty and local agriculture initiatives across Michigan.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• March For Our Lives: A youth-led advocacy organization mobilizing students through campaigns, voter engagement, and direct action to influence policy — overlapping with MSPA's student organizing, voter guides, and direct-action programming.
• Student Voice: A student-led nonprofit that trains and supports young organizers in civic engagement, campaigns, and leadership development in schools and communities — overlapping with MSPA on student-led training, mentorship, and civic participation work.
• IGNITE: A national nonpartisan organization that trains young women and nonbinary young people in college communities in civic engagement, voter participation, and policy advocacy — highly comparable to MSPA's campus-based, student-focused civic training model.
• Sunrise Movement: A youth-led national movement that organizes students and young people around progressive political demands (climate, electoral accountability) via direct action, training, and hubs — directly comparable to MSPA's youth-led organizing model and use of training programs and direct actions.
• Michigan United: A statewide Michigan coalition of progressive community organizations running issue campaigns, voter engagement, and member-led organizing — comparable in geography, scale of coalition-building, and statewide student/community engagement focus.
• Detroit Action: A Michigan-based progressive grassroots organization running issue campaigns and coalition organizing in the same geographic and ideological space as MSPA, often partnering with progressive groups in the state.

Emerging players

• United We Dream: The largest immigrant youth-led network in the U.S., mobilizing young people through training, voter engagement, and direct action — adjacent overlap to MSPA on youth-led training and mobilization but focused on a distinct constituency (immigrant youth).
• Generation Citizen: A nonprofit that brings civic education and youth-led action projects into higher education and high school settings, similar to MSPA's organizing-summit and voter-guide products but delivered in partnership with schools/courses.
• Mikva Challenge: A youth civic engagement nonprofit that trains and empowers young people to become active participants in democracy through issue campaigns and civic action — comparable in mission (youth empowerment) and use of issue campaigns plus voter resources.

Broad incumbents

• Movement for Black Lives: A broad national coalition organizing across racial, economic, and social justice issues with strong youth engagement — comparable to MSPA's intersectional approach to social justice organizing, but operating at significantly greater scale and scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/mistudentpower/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@michiganstudentpower
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mistudentpower

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Michigan Student Power Alliance