Chippewa Valley Indivisible

On May 25, The Guardian — one of the world’s most widely read newspapers — published a major feature on the Indivisible movement, and CVI was at the center of it.

The piece, “Indivisible: The Mass Movement Leading the Progressive Fight Against Trump,” profiled how grassroots groups across the country were channeling civic energy into sustained local action. CVI’s story — from 28 people to thousands in just a few months — was held up as an example of what the movement looked like on the ground.

International coverage of a group that started in a living room in the Chippewa Valley. It was a sign of just how far CVI’s story was traveling.

On April 18, CVI showed a different side of what a civic organization can be — not a rally or a march, but a community giveaway. Volunteers handed out eggs, egg dye, and Easter baskets to families in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

It was the first visible expression of what would become CVI’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors program — the standing commitment that most opposition groups never make. CVI doesn’t just advocate. It also feeds people, celebrates them, and shows up when they need a hand.

WEAU covered the giveaway. For many in the community, it was their first introduction to CVI — not through a protest sign, but through a neighbor handing them a basket.

On April 5, an estimated 1,700 people flooded downtown Eau Claire as part of the nationwide “Hands Off” protests — the largest public demonstration the Chippewa Valley had seen in a generation.

Eau Claire joined cities across the country in a day of action demanding that the administration keep its hands off Social Security, Medicare, public education, and the institutions Americans depend on. The turnout stunned even organizers — CVI was barely ten weeks old, and the valley had never mobilized like this.

WEAU, WQOW, and Civic Media all covered the rally. It was the moment CVI proved that western Wisconsin wasn’t just paying attention — it was showing up in force. And it was only the beginning: every major mobilization after this one would be bigger.

On March 31, Sen. Cory Booker took the Senate floor for what would become a record-breaking filibuster — surpassing segregationist Strom Thurmond’s decades-old mark. Among the stories he told was Kayanna Spooner’s.

Kayanna’s journey started at a CVI meeting, traveled through a Tim Walz town hall in Eau Claire, and now it was being read into the Congressional Record on the floor of the United States Senate. Her story reached national television twice on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell — first from the Walz event, and again when O’Donnell returned to the Booker filibuster — plus a segment on NPR.

A voice that local organizing surfaced became part of a historic national moment. That’s what happens when a grassroots group listens to its members and helps them be heard.

On March 26, CVI members rallied in Eau Claire as Judge Brad Schimel visited on his “Save Wisconsin” tour — a campaign backed by millions in outside spending, much of it tied to Elon Musk’s political operation.

The message from CVI was direct: Wisconsin’s courts belong to Wisconsin voters, not to billionaires trying to buy outcomes. Protesters gathered to make sure that message was visible, and WQOW covered the action.

With the state Supreme Court race drawing unprecedented national spending, CVI made sure the Chippewa Valley’s voice was part of the conversation about who gets to decide the future of Wisconsin’s judiciary.