About Darcy
Darcy Burner is an author, technologist, political organizer, and movement builder who has spent two decades at the intersection of technology, politics, and power.
Her forthcoming book examines the different forms of power — moral, economic, political, cultural, network, and enforcement — and offers a practical framework for how ordinary people can understand, build, and wield power to change the world.
The Full Story
Darcy Burner grew up in a small town and went on to study computer science at Harvard, where she developed the analytical frameworks that would later shape her understanding of power systems. After graduating, she joined Microsoft as a program manager, working on enterprise software during the company's period of explosive growth.
In 2006, she made a dramatic career change, running for Congress in Washington's 8th Congressional District. Her campaigns in 2006 and 2008 became national phenomena — she was one of the first candidates to harness the power of online grassroots organizing and small-dollar fundraising at scale, raising millions from hundreds of thousands of individual donors across the country.
Even after those campaigns, Darcy continued building political infrastructure. She helped found ProgressiveCongress.org, working with members of Congress to develop progressive policy platforms. She became a sought-after speaker and strategist in progressive politics, known for her ability to see systems clearly and explain them to others.
Through all of this work — in technology, in campaigns, in organizing — Darcy kept returning to the same question: Why do some efforts to change the world succeed while others fail? The answer, she realized, lies in understanding power — not as a single abstract concept, but as a set of distinct, identifiable forces that operate by different rules.
That insight became the foundation of her book. Drawing on history, social science, and decades of practical experience, Darcy has built a framework that makes the machinery of power visible and actionable for ordinary people.
What Drives This Work
At its core, Darcy's work is animated by a simple belief: ordinary people have far more power than they realize, but most have never been taught how to see it, build it, or use it. The systems that shape our lives — economic, political, cultural — are not immutable forces of nature. They are human constructions, maintained by specific forms of power, and they can be changed by people who understand how.
The book, the workbook, and the bootcamp trainings are all designed to close that knowledge gap — to give communities and individuals the tools to analyze their own power landscape and develop strategies for building the power they need to create the change they want to see.
Follow the Journey
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