People United for Democracy and Education
Pueblo Unido por la Democracia y la Educación
PUDE is a people-led political project rooted in the barrios of Arizona. We exist to prepare our communities politically—not for loyalty to parties or institutions, but for the survival, dignity, and long-term wellbeing of our people.
For generations, our communities have been pushed to participate in politics through fear, misinformation, and crisis. Too often, we are pressured to vote against ourselves—arming the same systems that criminalize, cage, deport, and harm us. PUDE exists to break that cycle.
We believe political education is protection. When people understand how power actually works—who makes decisions, how budgets move, how laws are enforced—they are harder to manipulate and harder to silence. We are not building short-term turnout. We are building permanent political consciousness rooted in the barrio.
PUDE organizes from the ground up through Comités del Barrio, community-based formations where people organize locally, represent their people, and shape collective political direction. From there, we move from the barrio to the ballot, engaging elections without illusion and always with strategy.
This is not charity.
This is not a campaign.
This is organized people building power.
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Sister Organizations, Shared Roots
PUDE works alongside Semillas Arizona as a sister organization. While each organization has a distinct role, both are rooted in the same communities, values, and commitment to collective wellbeing.
Semillas Arizona focuses on community education, organizing, accompaniment, youth leadership, culture, and collective care. Through this work, people come together, build trust, and organize around shared needs in their neighborhoods.
PUDE carries that organized community energy into political space—engaging policy, elections, and public decision-making with clarity and responsibility. Together, as sister organizations, Semillas and PUDE ensure that community work and political engagement reinforce each other while maintaining independence, accountability, and integrity.
How We Organize
PUDE organizes with intention and discipline. We do not rely on crisis cycles or election-only engagement.
Our organizing is:
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community-led
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year-round
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grounded in political education
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accountable to the people
We believe decision-making must be collective and rooted in lived experience, not imposed from above. Our structures are designed to protect people, prevent burnout, and sustain struggle over time.
Defense, for us, is care. It is the ability of communities to respond together, stay informed, and protect one another without isolation or panic.
We organize for the long term. Not one election. Not one campaign. A future.
Our Power
Our power comes from the barrios and the people.
PUDE is rooted in organized communities across Arizona—families, blocks, workplaces, churches, and neighborhood networks that are already connected and already moving. We do not invent community. We organize what already exists and bring it into collective direction.
At the center of this power is our General Assembly of Barrios.
The General Assembly meets once a week and is made up of representatives from barrios across Arizona. Each representative carries the voice, needs, and priorities of their community into a shared space of coordination and decision-making. Together, these representatives reflect a force of over 4,000 registered members organized through Comités del Barrio and allied formations.
This is not symbolic participation.
It is organized representation.
The General Assembly is where communities align strategy, share resources, and move together. It allows people from different barrios to act collectively while respecting the autonomy and realities of each community.
PUDE works alongside many organizations, movements, and political formations that share values around dignity, safety, and justice. We believe strong alliances are built when communities are organized from the ground up and able to engage institutions and political actors from a position of clarity and strength.
Our power is not centered on personalities.
It is rooted in collective structure, shared responsibility, and accountability to the people.
When the barrios move together, they don’t disappear into politics.
They bring their voice, their priorities, and their power with them.