After #FergusonOctober

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How can philanthropy support organizing in this moment and in the long term? The Neighborhood Funders Group asked four questions – these are the responses.

October 16, 2014 Thank you to the following people and organizations for their contributions: Please fee free to forward this to any colleagues in philanthropy that you think would benefit from this information. To continue this conversation with Neighborhood Funders Group and our partners, please write to us at fundersforjustice@nfg.org.

1) What would you offer as a synopsis of the Ferguson uprisings overall and of Ferguson October, from your own point of view and that of your organization?

Organization for Black Struggle: For us the Ferguson uprising represented a drawing of the line in the sand. Mike Brown's unfortunate death was the catalyst for Black communities to stand up and say, ""Ok, this is the last time! We will not accept this again! We demand change."" The conditions that created the uprising were not just the unacceptable number of police killings of Black people, it is also the lack of quality employment opportunity; the glaring and growing inequities of our segregated city and county; the gutting of quality public education; the rising costs of college tuition; the lack of accountability among elected officials; the criminalization of Black youth; and the flat out denial to recognize Black people's humanity. We knew the storm was brewing, we just didn't know when it would come ashore. The rebellion that emerged required our organization to not only rise to the occasion and meet the people in the streets, but also creatively and effectively channel their energy into sustained action and transformative policy. Ferguson October was part of that creative response and the second step in that process. And we are clear that it was the second step, the first step was taken by the people in the street. We organized Ferguson October to build on their efforts, and put the call out to national allies who were eager to stand with those of us here, because we know people across the country have suffered from the same police abuse, crime and repression in their cities. Ferguson October was a great example of what can happen when ordinary Black and working class people of color, women, anti-racist white allies, students, workers, clergy, LGBTQIA communities and others come together and embrace the intersectional nature of our struggle. And now, as an organization, we have to return to the people to cultivate their raw energies into indigenous organizing work around the issues and policies that can further catalyze transformation. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE): The potential for a Ferguson style uprising has been present in St. Louis for quite some time. Few regions are more segregated than St. Louis, and what happened in Ferguson could have happened anywhere in the region. What was amazing was the spontaneity of the uprising, and how it was led by youth who were fed up and willing to take incredible risks to be heard. Initially we saw our work as just trying to be good allies with and supportive of the uprising. For example, we immediately used our know-how to set up a jail support structure, so that the scores of people wrongfully arrested could get out as quickly as possible. We have also attempted to provide resources for as many local organizers as possible, including hiring a couple prominent leaders (jointly with OBS), and providing additional organizing and canvass positions. As people came in town to help, we had initially discouraged people from coming in because we didn’t have a clear way for them to plug in. However, people really wanted to be present in Ferguson, so we listened to people and called for Ferguson October. What was special about Ferguson October were the sheer number of organizations and individuals who participated, and more importantly how the weekend provided a frame and container for a number of diffuse actions. Community organizations and unions engaged in civil disobedience at political and corporate targets, clergy bore witness and took arrests at the police station, and youth were able to do banner drops at football games, shopping malls, and St. Louis City Hall. Spontaneous actions happened at Wal-Mart. Finally, the influx of people meant that those who have been active in the streets were able to lead a huge march in the streets that lasted all night long. ColorofChange.org: Thousands of people attended this past weekend of resistance in an incredible show of solidarity, love, and hope. Facing tear gas and riot police, people of all ages and backgrounds came together and protested for a special prosecutor outside the doors of County Attorney Robert McCulloch, coordinated a sit-in in front of the Ferguson Police Department, unfurled banners with messages of justice at the Rams game, shut down City Hall, as well as multiple Walmart locations in remembrance of #JusticeForJohnCrawford, and interrupted a political fundraiser for influential Democrats standing on the wrong side of #JusticeForMikeBrown. The scale and scope of the participation in the events over the last few moments has been overwhelming and inspiring. Organizers were taking action at all possible points of intervention and the thousands of people on the ground were supported by ten of thousands online. The most incredible aspect has been witnessing the rising leadership among Black youth and their role in coordinating and leading many of the actions during #FergusonOctober. NAACP LDF: The uprising in Ferguson represents both local and a national moment. At the local level, Ferguson is a community with absent political and movement leadership. The police department preys on the community as a source of revenue through traffic stops and court fees. The killing of Michael Brown in August set off the frustrations of a community where there is no effective leadership. One of the positive outcomes has been the emergency of strong, viable, principled leadership, especially among young people in the community. The residents of this community have discovered their power and the opportunity for change. What they now need is support by being exposed to an array of options for leadership and development in their community. The national story is about the ongoing issue of racial bias in policing. At the time of the killing in Ferguson, my organization was already engaged in this issue because of the death of Eric Garner at the hands of police in Staten Island, NY. Our approach was to identify a structural approach to addressing this decades-long problem. We prepared a letter to the Attorney General, tracing funding programs from the Dept. of Justice for state and local police organizations. We proposed a comprehensive set of incentives and conditions that can lawfully be attached to these programs to begin to change the nature of policing nationwide. Since then we have met with Attorney General Eric Holder and subsequently with his team to try and work through how to embed these changes in DOJ funding programs to police. This is hard work. The police funding lobby is incredibly strong, and federal administrations are skittish about challenging them through the funding stream. We are also working closely on the issue of the militarization of school police, who we learned, have become astonishingly militarized with armored cars, gas grenades, and sniper equipment. Most importantly, we have approached Ferguson from the perspective of criminal justice, education and political representation. Drawing on our expertise in these three core civil rights areas we deployed attorneys, organizers and policy experts from our staff to address what we deemed to be the core areas of deficiency and challenge in Ferguson. This team - which we called our ""Ferguson Rapid Response Team"" has had enormous agility and bandwidth to address needs of the community in real time. Throughout our engagement in Ferguson, we applied this holistic lens to the events there. Our publication ""Ferguson in Focus"" [see below] is an attempt to provide this context to ongoing work in Ferguson. As a result of our (unexpected) intervention on behalf of residents in Detroit who have been subject to mass water shut-offs and our work in Ferguson, we created a permanent and intentional structural ""Rapid Response"" apparatus in September, pulling together attorneys, organizers and policy counsel from across our complex to be available to bring the kind of intellectual and legal and organizational resources we effectively deployed in Ferguson. We even created a ""Rapid Response Fund"" for which our board has assisted us in raising funds.

2) How would you describe the growing national attention and momentum? What are the opportunities for movement-building in the short and long term? (Or, Why does this moment matter?)

Organization for Black Struggle: We think that Ferguson has provided the perfect opportunity to transform the nature of policing in this country. The momentum is there for us to once and for all bury militarized policing. The excessive tactics and equipment used on peaceful protests was adequately captured on social media and, to a lesser degree mainstream media. The coverage was enough to give us the moral high-ground when it comes to militarized policing. In addition, we also believe that we have an opportunity to change the day-to-day culture of policing. We have pushed for a) third-party monitored body-cams, b) effective civilian review boards with subpoena power, c) public national-level database of police shootings, misconduct, etc., d) national use of force matrix, and others policy reforms. In the short term, the movement building is already taking place. Ferguson October was all about movement building, and pulling together different national entities to think about themselves as being on the same page. The sheer number of national and local endorsing organizations illustrates the kind of movement building that is taking place--and the different sectors of participants have already been mentioned. Our challenge moving forward, for the long term, will be sustainability. We have to make sure that we don't fall into the trap of prioritizing certain people's struggles over others and instead seem them as intersectional. We also have to be creative in our work, which means letting go of some ""tried and true"" tactics and allowing a younger generation to blossom and be creative in how they resist their oppression. And in fact, the reason this moment matters is because it literally birthed a whole new generation of young people who have explicitly said that they are willing to sacrifice everything, and die for change. Through their courage, sustained efforts, creativity, and self-sacrifice they have literally demanded a new day! And we all have to either be willing to embrace that or be swept aside with the old world they have committed to transforming. They have said, ""It is now or never. We do it today because if we don't, there won't be a tomorrow!"" And the reality is, tomorrow has always belonged to the youth, but in order for there to be a tomorrow, we have to make changes today. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE): Movement building is always a tough question. My definition of a movement moment is like St. Louis post-Ferguson. So much is happening it is not controlled by any one organization or coalition, and more great work keeps happening. The pieces do fit together though. Youth in the streets know they can take risks, as jail support is well-resourced, for example. I think this moment also raises some fundamental questions about the theory of change. Because so much is happening in the streets, the power structure is trying to figure out what to do, so we are winning a lot. Ferguson, St. Louis County and likely St. Louis City will feature all police with front-facing cameras in the next year. We will win civilian oversight of police in the region. St. Louis City just “Banned the Box” and has also declared amnesty on 220,000 outstanding municipal bench warrants. These wins came not from running strategic campaigns, but by being bold and in the streets. While it is hard to know what starts a movement, having an influx of people and enthusiasm sure helps keep a movement going. This has happened at two critical junctures, the Black Lives Matter Ride and Ferguson October. Longer-term, we need to provide training and resources for both individuals and organizations who are flexible enough to pivot from their campaign work to see opportunities and take advantage of them. I think the more organizations and individuals who engage in sustained dramatic action, the more movements will grow. Groups like the Dream Defenders and the Ohio Student Association have engaged in dramatic action, and there were takeovers of police stations in New Orleans and Milwaukee recently. Social media can spread work quickly, and a little bit of training can go a long way with people who already possess initiative. ColorofChange.org: Our members and allies watched in outrage as the events of Ferguson unfolded. National leaders are now paying more attention to racial profiling and police brutality than they have in years, due to the hard work of Black youth and community leaders in Ferguson and across the country. In order to capture the momentum of this moment and secure long-term, systemic reforms that transform policing nationwide, we need the federal government to intervene and set a higher standard of policing. ColorOfChange has joined a coalition of organizers, local and national, to call on the federal government to take concrete and immediate action to address the nationwide police brutality crisis. Around 200,000 activists have joined this call to action already http://www.colorofchange.org/campaign/historictime-national-policing-reforms/. In terms of movement building, ColorOfChange worked to support local organizations on the ground in Ferguson and St. Louis to leverage our resources to strengthen their infrastructure, impact, and reach. The Organization for Black Struggle has even launched a campaign on our distributive organizing platform http://iam.colorofchange.org/petitions/governornixon-remove-mcculloch-and-appoint-a-special-prosecutor-in-the-case-against-darren-wilson-1 calling on Governor Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor for Mike Brown’s murder case. This week, ColorOfChange also launced the twitter project @KilledByCops, bringing national attention to police violence and misconduct, which so far has around 4000 followers http://magazine.good.is/articles/killed-by-cops. NAACP LDF: I do think we have reached a ""moment"" around issues of policing and bias. The good news is that we are also precisely in the moment when new police chiefs are emerging with progressive, innovative and important ideas about how to re-train police to create a new ethic of policing. This moment also coincides with a strong recognition on the political right (see Rand Paul and 'Right on Crime"" initiatives), the progressive community, and in the current presidential administration, that our criminal justice system is broken. Attorney General Holder's ""Smart on Crime"" initiative has opened up a conversation among law enforcement, academic criminologists and civil rights activists about how to impose real reforms within our criminal justice system. Thus, the movement around policing that has been ignited in Ferguson, which has correlative movements in at least 5 other locations where police killings have raised issues of training and bias, has the potential to create a sustained grass roots base for reforms which can provide momentum for the real change. In terms of Ferguson itself, there is a real opportunity to address core issues of governance and representation that exist not only in Ferguson, but in many working class majority-minority suburbs. While increasing voter participation will help, it will not resolve the lack of governance that is structurally embedded into Ferguson and its surrounding communities. The town is governed by a part-time Mayor (stipend of $350/month) and part-time City Council (stipend $250/month). The real power resides with the unelected town manager and the police chief. This weak governance structure means that no one is in fact responsible for economic development in Ferguson. Instead, traffic fines and court costs are a principal source of revenue for Ferguson, and for the towns that surround it in St. Louis County. From the very outset, my public pronouncements in the first days after Michael Brown's death focused on the demand that local leaders take responsibility for addressing the needs of the community. Here's a link to my appearance on MSNBC in the midst of the crisis which began the discussion about the role of Governor Jay Nixon and other local officials. http://www.naacpldf.org/news/after-ifill-lambastes-lack-political-leadership-missouri-gov-nixon-changes-course We convened a workshop during the Ferguson October weekend on the laws that govern recall elections and write-in candidates. This workshop was conducted at the request of community groups who are interested in demonstrating their political power, perhaps by recalling the Mayor and members of the Council. We will be following up with an all day convening on how Ferguson residents might imagine the restructuring of their local government. In mid-September I gave a speech at the St. Louis History Museum ""From Brown v. Board to Ferguson: the Unfinished Business of Civil Rights."" This speech provides some of the larger civil rights context of the Ferguson events. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQjQmViwfhE&feature=youtu.be.

3) What do you think are critical resource needs? What are the specific types of creative and grassroots organizing that’s happening, as well as the legal support, communications/media narratives, etc.? This can be in the short, medium, and/or long term.

Organization for Black Struggle: Working together, OBS and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) have deployed a canvassing team that has made contact with over 1,000 households in the Ferguson area on the issue of police and municipal court reform. We've identified those interested in having deeper discussions and hosting house meetings with their neighbors, friends and family members. We have already begun to engage these residents in small group conversations about the problems and issues that they feel are most pressing in their communities. However, these conversations must be broached beyond the Ferguson area. OBS has identified 3 municipalities surrounding Ferguson (Dellwood, Jennings, and Pine Lawn) that are afflicted by similar racial disparities regarding policing practices and economic opportunities. We need to expand our canvassing infrastructure to these localities and begin to engage with residents in both deep internal community and broad county-wide conversations. This would generate powerful connections within communities and across municipalities as well as create an organizing network rooted in indigenous power. This county-wide expansion has been really hindered by lack of funding for canvassers and organizers who could facilitate these internal community and county-wide conversations. It's likely that some of the issues and problems identified by residents through these canvasses, house visits, countywide conversations could be changed through policy reforms that would require legal and legislative support that is currently not funded. There are also some legislative pieces that can also advance transformative policies but that would need legal support. Not only is MORE continuing its ongoing (and very successful) work on the municipal court reforms, OBS is also planning to launch a campaign to decertifying police departments based on stricter population requirements that would prevent small municipalities (less the 1500 residents) from establishing police departments. This would reduce the number of municipal police departments whose activities need to be monitored. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated that a county-wide civilian review board process will be among the recommendations that they will consider. We have an opportunity to implement innovative reforms, which could cover multiple municipalities, if we organize around, and in parallel to, the ongoing Department of Justice investigation. These are all efforts that require expansive legislative and legal support, which we currently do not have. Further, in spite of the magnitude and geographically expanded nature of our organizing work, OBS has still been working out of the same small space -- Rowan Community Center (RCC) in Ward 22 in the city. The RCC is reasonably close to the county but in it current state, it cannot possible sustain the scale of work that we will be doing over the next few months and years. We recognize the need for a dedicated space closer to the county residents that we will be working with--particularly (and ironically) because many of them cannot drive due to warrants and suspended licenses as a result of the very policing practices that we are attempting to change. However, the space issues is also hindered by funding considerations. Along the lines of infrastructure, OBS currently has no communications infrastructure to speak of. We have been supported until recently by pro bono and coalition-sponsored team who will soon transition out of this campaign. This represents a huge loss in capacity that needs to be filled for all the organizing work to be optimally successful. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE): There are a variety of different creative organizing forms happening right now. There are youth in the street. There are artists who are doing things like actions at the symphony. There are faith groups and others who are organizing internally within their bases and congregations, and having difficult discussions about racial justice. Another interesting organizing approach is a mass canvass. Right now we (OBS and MORE) have 10 canvassers going out and knocking on doors. Unlike canvassing in non-movement moments, people are unbelievably receptive and off of a canvass, we are setting up a lot of house meetings. If we can figure out how to fund the canvass, we can do outreach to and engage tens of thousands of people while the moment is happening. At the moment, legal support is in great shape. A legal collective has formed and most folks are being connected with lawyers. However, if they decide to press charges against everyone, it will be much stickier and a lot of resources will be required. Particularly if there is no indictment, people will be out in the streets in a pretty serious way, and significant legal support will be required. Also, there is considerable need to compile everyone’s statements and stories and look for legal angles that have not existed. Communications is a huge hole for us. We have imported some communications talent, but among the local organizations, new and old, there is currently no indigenous communications funding or staffers. While there is a lot being won in the streets, we cannot underestimate the necessity of legislative support for some issues that require contentious legislative bodies to fix. For example, state legislation is being introduced that would require independent investigations of every police shooting. While the bill has bipartisan sponsors, those working in the capital will need to figure out how to work both sides of the aisle, given the power of the Fraternal Order of Police in the legislature. Longer-term we hope that there can be support provided to a wide array of emergent organizations, who are bent on transformation. Larger support of a growing organizing infrastructure in a medium sized region, can create some significant long-term policy wins. Also, we have the ability to try some pretty cutting edge organizing experiments and demands. ColorofChange.org: In the short term, we believe that local organizations on the ground need immediate communications support to assist in crafting and amplifying their message to a broader audience. The greatest needed faced by all organizations in this moment is more resources to build rapid response programming. We need funding to strengthen and build our infrastructure, so in moments of crisis we can effectively respond while driving a narrative for long term systemic change and leverage change locally that can create models for the future. NAACP LDF: This community needs to see options. How might they re-imagine their government? What kind of policing would be appropriate and effective for this community? They need the opportunity to develop regional solutions for policing and governance. I have been pushing local activists to be ambitious in their vision of what they could achieve. The Ferguson uprising has resulted in the emergence of new leaders - who are badly needed in this community. Those grass roots leaders and groups should be supported. This uprising emerged and has been sustained largely on twitter and other social media platforms. Social media has played a key role in documenting police practices (I even found myself sending ""vine"" videos to the Dept. of Justice). The documentation of this set of events should be preserved in a narrative that can be engaged on social media and can be made accessible to other young activists around the country. The local legal system needs a major overhaul, especially the municipal courts system. The local legal community should be compelled to engage with the National Center on State Courts and national judicial organizations to adopt best practices in due process and court organization.

4) What do you want funders to understand about this moment? What do you want them to understand about longterm organizing? E.g., since we know that lasting change takes sustained multi-stakeholder organizing, what should funders keep in mind if they are interested or committed to supporting local and/or national work over the long term?

Organization for Black Struggle: This transformation has to occur on multiple fronts--it can't just be electoral. It has to involve indigenous organizing, policy transformation, and it has to be nationally coordinated. The push for justice in Ferguson is incomplete if it does not also include conversations about similar or intersectional issues across the region and across the country: the militarization of police, structural failures of US immigration policies; the erosion of public education, and the rising costs of college tuition. These are all seemingly disparate issues that are deeply connected to the nature and culture of policing in this country. OBS is currently working independently on some campaigns but we also coordinate with partners like MORE the local Don't Shoot Coalition in the ongoing work around Justice for Mike Brown and broader police accountability issues. These kinds of coalitions need to be plugged into extended national networks so that the results of the organizing work is resonant and consistent. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE): It is a complicated time, and money has the potential to play out in a challenging way. Groups that were the first in the streets are the least likely to access significant money, and some might want to become more organizational, while others want supplies and to be movement groups. It seems we need to invest in a good faith table, with resources, both monetary, communications and technical support, available to everyone. If we can do that and thread the needle among the nonprofits, the community organizations, the movement organizations, and those who want to continue to be out there, then we can really focus on transformation. I would encourage funders to not have preconceptions about their theories of change, and to listen to what local folks are saying, though ask hard questions. If we do this right, the St. Louis region can be a model for transformative organizing and incredible progress towards racial justice. ColorofChange.org: This moment has illustrated the strength and power of emerging young leaders and youth organizing. Organizations now need support to help develop the next generation of civil rights leaders and organizations, especially those forming in smaller metropolitan cities like St. Louis, Columbus, and Detroit. Additionally there exist a serious communications and narrative change challenge in the racial justice space that aligns with our infrastructure gaps, but also exists even where we have infrastructure. As demographics change and our media landscape becomes more participatory due to technology, our ability to drive and shape narrative with a clear agenda and solid research will be one of the major keys to achieving systemic change. NAACP LDF: Ferguson is a reflection of what is happening in small working class majority-minority suburbs throughout this country. These jurisdictions lack the political and economic infrastructure to create real opportunity and outlets for their population. Many of these suburbs, like Ferguson, were created as a result of desegregation efforts, as white residents fled cities to avoid integrated schools, and as African Americans left cities in search of better economic opportunity and housing. Thus the recent events in Ferguson should be viewed as part of a longer continuum in which race, class, housing and education challenges require intentional, thoughtful and innovative problem-solving and governance. It would be powerful to demonstrate in Ferguson how the challenges of these communities could become engines for real change. We developed a resource guide called ""Ferguson in Focus"" which we imagined would support funders, media, scholars, and activists who need to understand the facts about Ferguson in historical, educational, economic, and political context. You can find it at this link. http://www.naacpldf.org/files/publications/Ferguson%20in%20Focus_0.pdf "
January 13, 2021

Discount Foundation Legacy Award

The nominations are now open for the 2021 Discount Foundation Legacy Award!

The Discount Legacy Award annually identifies, supports and celebrates an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and contributed significantly to workers’ rights movements in the United States and/or globally. Through public recognition and a $20,000 stipend, we hope to recognize and amplify the work of individuals at the intersections leading the way toward justice for low-wage workers of color. This is a one of a kind opportunity to recognize the often unheard voices of worker movements - that includes volunteers, members, workplace leaders, and more who are transforming the lives and rights of their fellow low-wage workers of color. 

To be eligible for the Award, a nominee must be active in worker justice, including but not limited to organizing and advocacy-related work. Additionally, nominees do not have to be employed at an organization or institution whose mission is to advance worker justice – they can be volunteers, members or other leaders at an organization or workplace organizing effort. We will not be asking questions regarding immigration or other legal status, and nominees do not have to reside in the US.

Nominees need to be nominated by someone other than themselves, through a simple, quick and accessible application process found here. The Award is meant only for individuals. Organizations, groups of individuals or institutions are not eligible for consideration. If you know anyone who you think should be recognized for their significant commitment to worker justice at any level - from a workplace to the neighborhood to the nation -  this is your chance to provide them a powerful boost and real resources they can use in whatever way they choose! 

In addition to being publicly recognized for their remarkable contributions to the movement, the 2021 Discount Foundation Legacy Award winner will receive a $20,000 stipend to provide them with the flexibility to expand upon their professional activities and achievements They will not be asked for any reporting requirements, and the funding has no specific strings attached or other specific obligations. The winner of the 2021 Discount Foundation Legacy Award will be invited to be honored at a virtual event in 2021. To learn more about the eligibility requirements and nomination process, please see our FAQs here — and please spread the word about this opportunity to your networks, colleagues and friends!

All nominations must be received by 11:59pm ET on March 11th, 2021 through the online nomination form. We’re happy to help answer questions about the award, or support with any trouble you have with the application — please reach out to emily@jwj.org.

Created in partnership with Jobs With Justice Education Fund and the Neighborhood Funders Group’s Funders for a Just Economy, the Discount Foundation Legacy Award was launched in 2015 to commemorate and carry on the legacy of the Foundation’s decades-long history of supporting leading edge organizing in the worker justice arena beyond its spend down as a foundation in 2014.
 

 

Convocatoria de nominaciones para el premio Discount Foundation Legacy 2021 

¡Ya están abiertas las nominaciones para el Premio Discount Foundation Legacy 2021!

 

El Premio Discount Legacy identifica, apoya y celebra anualmente a una persona que ha demostrado un liderazgo sobresaliente y ha contribuido significativamente a los movimientos por los derechos de los trabajadores en los Estados Unidos o en todo el mundo. A través del reconocimiento público y un estipendio de $20,000, esperamos reconocer y ampliar el trabajo de las personas en las intersecciones que lideran el camino hacia la justicia para los trabajadores de color con salarios bajos. Esta es una oportunidad única para reconocer las voces a menudo inauditas de los movimientos de trabajadores, que incluyen voluntarios, miembros, líderes en el lugar de trabajo y más que están transformando las vidas y los derechos de sus compañeros trabajadores de color con salarios bajos. 

 

Para ser elegible para el premio, un nominado debe ser activo en la justicia laboral, lo que incluye, pero no se limita, a la organización y el trabajo relacionado con la defensa. Además, los nominados no tienen que estar empleados en una organización o institución cuya misión sea promover la justicia laboral; pueden ser voluntarios, miembros u otros líderes en una organización o esfuerzo de organización en el lugar de trabajo.  No haremos preguntas sobre inmigración u otro estado legal, y los nominados no tienen que residir en los EE. UU.

 

Los nominados deben ser nominados por alguien que no sea ellos mismos, a través de un proceso de solicitud simple, rápido y accesible que se encuentra aquí. El premio está destinado únicamente a individuos. No se tomará en cuenta a las organizaciones, los grupos de personas o las instituciones. Si conoce a alguien que crea que debería ser reconocido por su importante compromiso con la justicia laboral en cualquier nivel, desde el lugar de trabajo hasta el vecindario y la nación, esta es su oportunidad de brindarle un impulso poderoso y recursos reales que puede usar de la manera que elija. 

 

Además del reconocimiento público por sus notables contribuciones al movimiento, el ganador del Premio Discount Foundation Legacy 2021 recibirá un estipendio de $20,000 para brindar la flexibilidad de expandir sus actividades y logros profesionales. No se le pedirá ningún requisito de presentación de informes y la financiación no tiene condiciones ni obligaciones específicas. Se invitará al ganador del Premio Discount Foundation Legacy 2021 a un homenaje en un evento virtual en 2021. Para obtener más información sobre los requisitos de elegibilidad y el proceso de nominación, consulte nuestras preguntas frecuentes aquí y haga correr la voz sobre esta oportunidad en sus redes y entre compañeros y amigos. 

 

Todas las nominaciones deben recibirse antes de las 11:59 p. m. ET del 11 de marzo de 2021 a través del formulario de nominación en línea. Nos complace ayudar a responder preguntas sobre el premio o brindar asistencia con cualquier problema que tenga con la solicitud, envíe un correo electrónico a emily@jwj.org.

 

Creado en asociación con Jobs With Justice Education Fund y los Funders for a Just Economy del Neighborhood Funders Group, el Premio Discount Foundation Legacy se lanzó en 2015 para celebrar y continuar el legado de décadas de historia de la Fundación de apoyar la organización de vanguardia en el campo de la justicia laboral más allá del exceso de gastos como fundación en 2014. 

 

 

 

2020 Awardee:

Andrea Dehlendorf

Co-Executive Director of United for Respect

Andrea DehlendorfAndrea Dehlendorf is Co-Executive Director of United for Respect, a national organization building power for people working in low wage jobs by centering their voices, experiences and solutions in the national movement fighting for the future of work, our economy and corporate regulation. With Andrea’s fierce leadership, United for Respect organizes people employed at the country’s largest employers to amplify their demands on corporate leaders in the service economy and policymakers to provide family-sustaining jobs. United for Respect leverages technology — social media and a new digital platform, WorkIt — to support people working in retail by bringing them into communities of support and action with one another. Through online peer networks and on-the-ground base-building strategies, United for Respect scaffolds the leadership and stories of working people to advocate for solutions to the pressing needs of the country’s massive low-wage workforce.

Andrea’s roots in the movement go deep, and include seminal experiences winning major victories with people working in the most unstable and precarious low wage service jobs, from janitors to hotel workers. Prior to United for Respect, Andrea worked on some the labor movements most innovating campaigns including Justice for Janitors, Airport Workers United and hotel worker organizing in Las Vegas. She lives in Oakland, CA with her twelve year old son.

Learn about United for Respect.

 

2019 Awardee:

Odessa Kelly

Co-Chair of Stand Up Nashville

Odessa KellyA native of Nashville, Odessa Kelly works diligently to bring positive and equitable change to the Nashville community by serving as co-chair for Stand Up Nashville, a coalition of community-based organizations and labor unions that represent the working people of Nashville who have seen our city transformed by development, but have not shared in the benefits of that growth. She also serves as Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH), Economic Equity & Jobs task force chair. Her work with NOAH has included building one of the largest and most powerful social justice movements in Nashville. She has advocated for the working class and underserved communities in Nashville, issues ranging from affordable housing to establishing the first ever Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in the state of Tennessee. She believes that Nashville has the potential to achieve a progressive paradigm shift -- a cultural shift in how a traditional southern city becomes a leader in the progressive movement across the country.

Learn about Stand Up Nashville.

 

2018 Awardee:

Enrique Balcazar

Community Organizer and Leader at Migrant Justice

Enrique "Kike" Balcazar immigrated to the United States from Tabasco, Mexico when he was 17 years old. He joined his parents on a dairy farm in rural Vermont and worked for years on farms across the state. Enrique joined Migrant Justice and became a leader in the successful campaign to expand access to driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants in Vermont. He became part of the organization's Farmworker Coordinating Committee and is now an organizer and spokesperson. Enrique is one of the principal architects of Milk with Dignity, a worker-led program securing human rights and economic justice in dairy supply chains. In 2017, during a national campaign calling on Ben & Jerry's to join the program, Enrique and fellow organizer Zully Palacios were arrested by ICE agents while leaving the Migrant Justice office. A wave of protests won their release from detention, though Enrique remains in deportation proceedings. Despite the government's persecution, Enrique continued to lead the Milk with Dignity campaign to victory, signing a historic contract with Ben & Jerry's in October, 2017. 

Learn about Migrant Justice.

 

2017 Awardee:

Luna Ranjit

Co-founder of Adhikaar and the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition

Luna Ranjit’s work is rooted in the community. For more than a decade, Luna guided Adhikaar's programs, research, policy advocacy, and partnerships, building visibility and power for the emerging Nepali-speaking immigrant community. As a co-founder of the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition, she helped lead the way for the sweeping changes to improve working conditions in the nail salon industry. She also served on the advisory board of the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salons Alliance. Luna has been quoted and featured in print and broadcast media on the issues related to workers’ rights, immigrant rights, language justice, and civic engagement. Her groundbreaking work has been recognized by many community organizations and elected officials. In 2016, she received the Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize created to support and inspire innovative social change makers throughout the world.

Learn more about Adhikaar.

 

2016 Awardee:

Alfred Marshall

Organizer with the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice

As an organizer in New Orleans, Alfred works to win back power for structurally unemployed and underemployed Black men and women through campaigns to achieve higher wages and better standards in his community. Through Alfred’s tremendous organizing campaigns, he has helped win local hiring on post-Katrina public construction and development projects, a “Ban the Box” rule, and a living wage and paid sick leave ordinance for individuals employed under city contracts. “By sitting down and talking with other workers at the New Orleans Worker Center, I realized that we’re in this together,” Alfred said. “New Orleans won’t stop. I won’t stop. This award is bigger than I am. It’s all about doing the work on the ground. We’re shaking this world up."

Learn more about the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice.

Find More By:
News type: 
NFG News
Topic: 
Economic Justice
Workers' Rights
December 17, 2020

Strike Watch 2020 Review: Defund the Police to Build Worker Power

By Manisha Vaze, Director, NFG Funders for a Just Economy

As we close this year, it’s probably safe to assume that you, like me, are emotionally and physically exhausted. The never-ending tragedy of this year’s global pandemic, the job loss, the deep inequality of the economic and health systems, and the new exposure for many Americans to systemic racial injustice, racial terror, and state violence overlayed our own personal losses and struggles. For me, while my partner and I were lucky enough to keep our jobs, it included family and friends who had COVID-19, a family member killed by the police, and much time away from our loved ones. I’m really ready for a winter break.

Prior to joining NFG, I organized alongside immigrant families facing deportation in New York City and with chronically un- and underemployed people in South Los Angeles. My political education is rooted in the organizing I was involved in as a student in the early 2000s, and movement responses to 9/11 shaped my experiences of centering Black and Indigenous communities in our fight against surveillance and violence against Arab, South Asian, and Muslim communities. We organized to address the continued consolidation of corporate power, surveillance technology and data control, as well as new austerity policies, unimaginable (at the time) job loss. We confronted radically accelerated separation of families, detention, and deportation of migrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and hand-in-hand with police. I learned to listen to people, dream big, demand what we actually need (not just what is winnable), and build towards that interlocking vision of economic and social justice through strategic and incremental wins and constantly evolving tactics.

Today, as the new US federal administration begins to take shape, some may be content with a collective sigh of relief. However, the organizer in me is asking you to stay vigilant and move resources to where movements are directing us: to organizing, power building, and movements calling to defund the police as a pathway to community and worker justice. We have an enormous opportunity in philanthropy to truly support, through solidarity and resources, the visionary movements that are building power for systemic change. Movement organizers have made significant gains in 2020. The cultural shifts we’ve experienced as a result have unprecedented numbers of people calling for abolition of the police and ICE, supporting unions in new industries, and shifting and expanding public budgets. Organizations have built and formed stronger coalitions, multi-racial, multi-gender, and multi-sectoral movements. And, importantly for our sector, the highly-visible organizing power of community members and workers has moved foundations to understand how philanthropy has supported extreme wealth accumulation and is entrenched in the perpetuation of racial capitalism and heteropatriarchy. Collectively, this has resulted in foundations increasing their investment in organizing and advocacy efforts toward economic and racial justice.

 

To some vocal pundits and media, defunding the police sounds like a new concept born out of the George Floyd uprisings, but it is a decades-old call to action, voiced by Black feminist leaders and those most impacted by police violence. Visionary movements that have been calling for defunding the police see how this strategy releases revenue that can be invested into infrastructure, social protections, housing, worker protections, and other community needs. Upending the power of police unions, not just “reforming” them, will allow more opportunities for strategic campaigns that realign public budgets and real community safety to meet the community’s needs and the goals of philanthropy’s investments in economic justice and equity.

Furthermore, defunding the police, ICE and violent surveillance forces offers an opportunity to align with workers expanding the labor movement. Police unions have since their inception had contentious relationships to workers calling for better working conditions, safety nets, and social protections. The expansion of policing in the late 19th century was precisely to bust labor organizing during work stoppages and strikes. In the last decades, we have seen countless examples of employers using immigration (now ICE) raids to threaten workers who attempt to organize. The labor movement has long recognized the antagonistic role police played on the picket line, and chose not to build with their unions. And the reality is that while some police unions are part of these institutional labor structures, most police associations are not – maintaining a business association 501(c)(6) status instead of a tradition labor union status or 501(c)(5).

If we’re serious about worker power and contesting for governing power in the US it’s important to recognize how the police and carceral systems hamstring the movement’s ability to make strategic and progressive policy gains. Their outsized power influences public budgets, dictates narratives about community safety, and render them immune to scrutiny and accountability. All of this leaves community members and workers who organize to increase funding for public schools, transportation, job quality, healthcare and other needs, fighting for scraps. The good news is, the decision to prioritize criminalization over community care and economic development is a relatively new one, borne of decades interlocking efforts to shift public narrative, policy and power. This orientation is by no means inevitable, and can be countered by a concerted, long-term power-building effort that includes partnership from philanthropy.

At NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy, I am privileged to work with funders who inspire me to think differently about philanthropic work and grant making, and have led efforts in our network to understand power, how to shift it to transform communities, and learn how racial capitalism undergirds our economic system and impacts our work in philanthropy. Most recently, FJE interviewed Jidan Terry-Koon, FJE Coordinating Committee member and Director of People pathways at the San Francisco Foundation who shared that if funders truly centered the most marginalized, especially Black and Indigenous workers in their economic justice grantmaking, they would understand the connection between building the power of all workers and shifting funds away from the police and carceral systems. FJE members have also formed deeper partnerships with Funders for Justice (FFJ), now an independent organization, to support movements to divest from the police and the carceral system and invest in community safety, housing, and other public investments.

We need to open ourselves up to a longer arc of change. The leadership of worker movements and coalitions inspires me to envision where we could be in the next twenty years. Learning from FJE’s programming, I know we can move more money for justice. Movement leaders have called for these changes in philanthropy before, and I’m recommending them again. Philanthropy must mobilize to:

  • Make multi-year, general support investments and grants in base building and organizing.
  • Collaborate with other funders to ensure that we’re building community power and supporting local and regional ecosystems.
  • Influence funders to deeply fund organizing efforts that build community and worker power, and especially worker organizations that build power to make impact (in addition to and) beyond their workplaces to support the common good.
  • Fund groups that are building a new transformative economy through alternative wealth building including cooperative models and other small business development.
  • Advocate to increase your yearly grantmaking, and your institutions assets, resources, and influence to support power building and organizing.
  • Learn about your institution’s finances and make adjustments to divest from the criminal and carceral systems and invest in non-extractive industries.
  • Utilize your relationships with allies in organized labor to fund collaborative efforts that build power locally and shift state and federal policy.
  • Continue your own education and build consciousness amongst your colleagues about the history of the mass accumulation of  wealth in philanthropy rom centuries of corporations extracting wealth from enslaved people, people who are incarcerated, workers who are not paid living wages and without any job security or social protections, and a rigged tax system benefiting the wealthy.

We must support the movement’s call to defund the police and abolishing ICE as a pathway to building worker power. This year showed us that, if forced to, funders can move money quickly – let’s not wait until we’re forced to again. As funders of the worker justice movement, we can no longer stay out of this fight. As I count the days until the end of the year, I will be taking time to rest, heal, and get ready. We have much more work to do.

To learn more about how philanthropy can move resources to movement groups calling to defund the police and reimagine community safety, make sure to read and share Funders for Justice’s Divest/Invest online toolkit for funders. To continue to support and build community and worker power and racial, gender, economic and climate justice, stay connected to Rob and me to help advance NFG’s Funders for a Just Economy program.

Photos by Manisha Vaze from Black Lives Matter/Defund the Police protests in Los Angeles, California in Summer 2020.