New Movement Leadership Grants

I've spent 13 years of my life as a community organizer in New York-- the last ten with Community Voices Heard. During that period, the field of grassroots community organizing has changed and grown. The groups' approaches are more sophisticated. More communities are now represented, especially immigrant communities and critical labor communities, such as domestic workers and food processors.  And organizing groups are forging creative new ways to develop leaders, to include members in decision making, and to empower voters by connecting them to grassroots activist campaigns. 

That made the selection of groups for the Movement Leadership Grants especially tough. I am the Co-Chair of North Star Fund's Community Funding Committee, heading up the selection committee for the new Movement Leadership grants. The groups that applied were not just good, they were exceptional. In all, 35 groups applied, but we only had the budget to fund five.  So while we agonized about these decisions, it was refreshing to be reminded of the quality of work that's being done in New York City.

The groups we selected are:

• Brandworkers International
• Domestic Workers United
• Families for Freedom
• New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
• VOCAL (Voices of Community Activists and Leaders) formerly known as NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)

North Star has enjoyed long relationships with all of these groups. We started funding them while they were start-ups. So it is exciting to see how our early commitment has paid off.

This new grant has two exciting features. These are the largest grants North Star has ever awarded through its community grantmaking process -- $50,000 over two years for general support. Peer learning sessions are the other feature. These sessions will be regular opportunities for groups to learn together, and to strategize about new ways to collaborate across communities. Our goal is to nurture the skills and relationships that we need to create a broad-based movement for progressive social change.

All of the groups have said they are particularly looking forward to the peer-to-peer part of the program. We have a tendency with all the work that we have on our plates to work in silos. This will be a good opportunity for the groups to explore and perhaps adapt other cultures and models of organizing.

My sense is after two years of participating in the Movement Leadership program, these groups will be doing work even and with bigger impact.  The groups already seem poised for this expansion. And the Movement Leadership grants will be an important part of the roadmap to achieving their goals.