About Me
I’m Gabrielle Newell (she/her), an organizer born and raised in Washington, DC. I believe we can build the society and economy we all deserve—together—through cooperative approaches grounded in collective power.
My work spans crisis counseling, government leadership, research, storytelling, and community organizing. Across each role, I focus on helping people come together to meet shared needs, imagine better futures, and turn those visions into real, material change.
I research and share stories of cooperation in action: histories of radical joy in DC, cooperative models in Spain, and community-led efforts around the world that show what’s possible when people organize for one another.
I’ve overseen a government research portfolio advancing anti-poverty programs, founded Baldwin House—a nonprofit social enterprise pioneering new approaches to affordable housing—and led the creation of the first agency-wide Equity Strategy at the nation’s largest social services agency, embedding equity into everyday practice.
At the heart of my work is a simple belief: when we organize cooperatively, we don’t just survive—we create conditions for collective thriving.
Recent Happenings
Story Hour / Happy Hour at Baldwin House
We hosted a ✨Baldwin Baddies happy hour✨ on August 24th at Baldwin House, with a focus on Mutual Aid History in Washington DC. 35 neighbors joined us, and I shared histories of mutual aid organizing in DC, and Veronica (Baldwin House tenant-steward and co-founder of Seeding Stories / Sembrando Historias) spoke about mutual aid today and the importance of storytelling and narrative work for collective power building.
Swann Society pop-ups around town!
During the summer of 2025, I've done over 8 pop-ups of Swann Society. Bringing untold parts of DC history to community events , to remind us we are part of a courageous legacy of finding joy and taking care of each other, even in dark times.
Workshop series: "I'm a gentrifier. Now what?!"
Together with Resource Generation, I have a facilitated a series of workshops for self-identified gentrifiers in Washington DC to shift from awareness to action across 3 domains:
1) Personal, by building meaningful relationships with neighbors anchored in mutual aid
2) Political, by showing up to support local campaigns countering the effects of gentrification
3) Redistribution, by moving money into institutions resisting gentrification
Get In Touch
Let's Get Started
We truly can build the futures we all deserve.