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How do we

There is nothing we love more than high-stakes fights against powerful opponents. And we only work with movement allies — from non-profits, labor unions and grassroots coalitions to legislative offices, foundations and electoral campaigns.

3 black pawns and a fallen white king

We know what it takes to win elections at every level.

Founder and principal Gabe Tobias has run and advised successful federal, state and local electoral campaigns across the country. Macwil can serve as general consultants for:

  • Federal, state or local candidates
  • PACs and 501c4s, including independent expenditures
  • Support at any stage of the campaign, from launch to GOTV
  • Creating and implementing finance, field, communications, digital and political strategies
  • Recruiting and onboarding staff
  • Overseeing fundraising, operations, compliance, and other vendor relationships

Creative + aggressive strategy for progressive movement clients taking on critical fights against powerful opponents.

Fighting Goliaths requires smart strategy that recognizes where our opponents are vulnerable, and how we can exercise our own power in nimble ways to take advantage of those vulnerabilities. Work with Macwil to create strategies that combine:

  • Opposition research and vulnerability mapping
  • Earned media, paid media and messaging
  • Direct action
  • Targeted advocacy and lobbying
  • The court system and other legal tools
  • Aligning stakeholders with shared interests

Designing and facilitating simulations & scenario planning for the progressive movement.

These tailored exercises put participants through complex real world scenarios in order to build strategies for major campaigns & crises, enhance working relationships across organizations, and develop leadership & professional skills. Simulating the real world allows us to practice our collective strategies in an engaging and egalitarian space. Work with Macwil to run simulation or scenario planning exercise when:

  • Developing strategy before launching a legislative, electoral or advocacy campaign – or testing existing campaign structures & contingency plans
  • Preparing multiple stakeholders for coordinated response to a potential crisis moment
  • Engaging funding partners and donors around your strategic & operational challenges
  • Onboarding new staff to an organization, or new partners to a coalition
  • Synthesizing a multi-stakeholder analysis of complex & unpredictable environments

Read about our methodology and a simulation we ran around the New York State budget in this piece by Gabe Tobias for The Forge magazine.

Photo of Gabe Tobias

Gabe Tobias is founder and principal at The Macwil Company. He co-founded Movement School in 2019, served as Senior Advisor at Justice Democrats where he helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman to Congress, and ran Our City PAC to elect progressives in the 2021 New York City elections. Gabe began his career as a community/labor organizer with ACORN and a field organizer on the 2008 Obama campaign before working for a decade in international development with roles at Oxfam GB, US State Department/IRI and the Norwegian Refugee Council. A born and bred New Yorker, Gabe is based in Brooklyn.

The Macwil Company gets its name from Gabe’s grandfather Sam who first worked at and then ran a children’s clothing shop called Macwil in New York City from the 1930s to the 1960s.

hello [at] macwil [dot] co

3 black pawns and a fallen white king

© The Macwil Company, 2023