What is DSA?

The Democratic Socialists of America is a grassroots, multi-tendency, membership-based socialist organization committed to radical democracy and freedom in every aspect of our lives. With over 92,000 members, DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States and poised to be a significant force in the resurgence of a popular socialist movement.

We’re building a mass movement of the working class. We’re socialists. And we’re unapologetic about it!

DSA is made up of local chapters that organize autonomously. Our chapter is called Silicon Valley DSA. We organize in an area encompassing Redwood City to all of Santa Clara County.

Our Goals

Most of us are familiar with the problems inherent to capitalism: the rent is too high; power has concentrated in the hands of the few, healthcare costs are rising; the earth is headed towards climate catastrophe.

The principal goal of DSA is eliminating the capitalist mode of production and all interrelated forms of oppression it perpetuates (like racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia). We’re working to create a world where everyone thrives. In DSA, we say we’re a “Big Tent” organization because we pursue many different avenues towards socialism: from running democratic socialists for public office to civil disobedience actions; from tenants unions to supporting community land trusts and dignified public housing; and from building union power to forming worker-owned cooperatives.

Silicon Valley DSA seeks to build a majority movement to liberate the US from capitalism. Instead of a political-economic system serving an elite few, we envision a society based on democratic control of resources and production, and social and economic justice for all.

This effort takes many forms, which means there are many ways to get involved. Some examples of what we do include mutual aid distribution, political education, campaigning for democratic socialist candidates, coalition-building, organizing events, and much more. All types of people and all types of skills are needed.

Why We Fight

Capitalism is the Problem

Democracy is incompatible with capitalism, because the people do not hold decision-making power. Instead, those who own the means of production disproportionately influence how society functions. This makes shared, collective power impossible, because those who have power wield it to maintain and extend their dominance.

Democratic Socialism is the Solution!

In a Democratic Socialist system, we will run our society and our economy democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few.

Core values:

• Radical Democracy

• • Having meaningful decision-making power about the things that affect our communities.

• Radical Equality

• • We will abolish white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism, cissexism and other forms of oppression – not just ones reducible to class.

• True freedom for all to thrive and be fully human

• • We will meet basic human needs through collective solutions to our collective problems, allowing individuals to meet their potential, pursue their dreams and build communities that are places for true human connection and love.

Our Local Chapter

We are a membership organization. Each member has an equal voice and vote, and all decisions in our chapter are ultimately up to members like you.

We are a volunteer-run organization, each contributing our time and labor as we are able. We share a vision of a just and equitable society. We are building power across Silicon Valley to achieve that vision, using a diversity of tactics rooted in a realistic understanding of how to organize and challenge entrenched structures.

We are a leaderful organization. That means leadership is not restricted to our elected officers, but is something we encourage in all members. There is a place for everyone’s ideas and skills. Want to organize a campaign or event, or have an idea for how to build a better local chapter? Let’s do it together!

Chapter Structure

Most of our chapter work is organized into issue-oriented Working Groups and internal task-oriented administrative Committees. Each Working Group meets at least every month to organize events, work on projects, and socialize. Most admin Committees meet weekly or bi-weekly. Outside of regular meetings, Working Groups will frequently hold events and project-specific work meetups or hold socials to have discussions, ask questions, and hang out in a casual setting. You’re welcome to attend anything you may be interested in, and anyone is welcome to attend any Working Group or admin Committee!

Working Groups:

Here’s a list of currently active working groups and some of their recent projects.

Electoral

• Supporting Ranked Choice Voting in Santa Clara County in 2025, to end the 2-party duopoly
• Investigating ballot measures and democratic socialist candidates for the Chapter as a whole to vote on endorsing. An endorsement from SVDSA carries weight; we carefully pick our electoral battles to maximize our impact, and turn out the most volunteers and energy that we can, to only support races that address the working class’s material needs
• Researching and publishing voter guides including recommendations (a much lower priority than endorsements) for upcoming elections

International Solidarity

• Supporting Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), a movement which applies economic pressure on Israel in order to fight for Palestinian liberation
• Organizing No Appetite for Apartheid canvasses to encourage businesses to drop Zionist food products and become Apartheid-Free stores
• Divesting from Chevron, which fuels Israel’s genocide of Palestinians
• Supporting the efforts of other anti-imperialist organizations in the South Bay, like San Jose Against War
• Organizing for protections for immigrants by connecting with other immigrant rights groups, like the Rapid Response Network

Labor

• Joining strikes to support workers
• Helping form new unions in our community
• Turning existing unions into democratic, fighting organizations that take bold action for the working class

Mutual Aid

• Running a monthly Really, Really Free Store on the third Saturday of each month at the San José Peace and Justice Center, where folks can take whatever they need for free, including cleaning supplies, clothes, fresh produce, menstrual products, zines, and more. This is run in collaboration with South Bay Mutual Aid, San Jose Food Not Bombs, San Jose Clothing Swap, and Art Pocket SJ. Check out our calendar for the next Free Store.
• Maintaining a community garden at the San José Peace and Justice Center to provide fresh produce to the community, as well as providing other community resources there.

Political Education

• Creating an accessible curriculum on socialism for members and newcomers
• Host educational events that deepen participants’ relationship with the concepts important to achieving socialism

Administrative Committees

Administrative Committees keep the internal functions of SV DSA running. Want to support our chapter as a whole? Volunteer for an admin Committee!

Admin

We help keep the Chapter running by organizing and updating the website, producing guides (like this!), publishing the monthly Newsletter, managing our social media presence, and maintaining our digital infrastructure in accordance with our members’ preferences. If you’d like to contribute to work essential to supporting our growing Chapter, join us!

Finance

We work on budgeting, finance, reimbursements to members for Chapter activities, and managing our assets for taxes. If you want to help make sure our Working Groups and Chapter have the resources they need, join us!

Membership

The Membership Committee helps new members smoothly navigate our chapter and get plugged in to our work. If you want to help with welcoming new members, please join us!

How do I get started?

The easiest way to get involved is to start attending events! We regularly have mutual aid events (like the Free Store), Working Group meetings (to plan and run campaigns), protests that we endorse alongside other allies, tabling (disseminating information to passersby at public events), and social events.

There are several regular events that are particularly suited to newcomers, including DSA 101s, which are a great intro to the org; Branch Meetings and Chapter Meetings, where we gather as a larger group and report to membership what we’ve been working on; and Social Meetups, where we eat, drink, and chat casually.

All of the events on our public calendar are open to members like you, so feel free to attend any events or meetings you might be interested in. Our general Chapter Meetings are usually on the last Saturday of every month at 1-3 PM.

Our Structure

Our Bylaws can be found here. They establish our Chapter’s basic structure and mission, and set the day-to-day ground rules for how we makes decisions democratically.