Director’s Report
May 2016
Development
Edgar Villanueva, Schott Foundation
We have tried to have this conversation for a while now. It was really good to hear that he is seeing more interest in funding the organizing field. He was also helpful in pointing me to some new funding possibilities. We checked in about the education work that Gamaliel is doing and he is looking forward to the report. Schott has become a member of the Democracy Alliance and he suggested that I reach out to Gara. I shared with him that I had already had an initial conversation with Gara and was following up soon.
Pastor David Herndon
We had a pre-meeting in preparation for the call with Molly from the Shelter Rock UU Veatch Program.
Staff Development Call
Amelia has been organizing us to make sure that we don’t drop anything. Jay is pushing the specific grant reports and proposals. Cynthia has been instrumental in keeping the Ford process clear and moving. Gordon was doing a great job at making sure that we had proposals on time and on topic. Now that we are going to be working with a contract writer we need to be on top of the deadlines and operate in a very pro-active way. These calls are so important because we need to keep each other focused and aggressively perusing new prospects as well as keeping our current funders.
Expansion in Maryland, Alabama and Tennessee
Chattanooga
It was great to be back and see all the progress. Angela, Mike and I had a pre-meeting with Jefferson Hodge and John Murphy. We re-worked the agenda and assigned roles.
Nashville
Angela and I teamed up. We met with the new organizer, attended the fun development committee meeting and checked in with Mike.
Oak Ridge
This was a very busy day. It was really smart to come the night before. Angela and I had the following meetings:
- Pastor Derrick Hammond (Oak Valley Baptist) and Ana; and Angela and me (Jake Morrill, Oak Ridge UU)
- Naomi Asher (Exec Director, United Way) and Ana; and Pastor Steve Sherman (First Christian Church and President of Oak Ridge Ministerial Assoc.)
- We were not able to meet with Father JB Shelton (St. Mary’s Catholic), but he is interested.
Throughout the morning at Oak Ridge UU, the staff of First Presbyterian met. Pastor Sharon Youngs, while unable to meet for a one-on-one, was introduced.
The Steering Committee meeting at Oak Valley Baptist, 194 Hampton Rd. This was a good opportunity to learn about what they would like to see happen and to share Gamaliel organizing model.
Knoxville
Conversation with Beth and Viviane about their organizing plan for the next few months. The next step is a local training June 11th.
National Relationships
Charlene Sinclair
Following up with her on the work that she is now engaged in with CCC. We need to look at moving this effort on the ground.
Pan-African Women International Convocation
2016 is a critical year for making sure that hunger and poverty are on the platforms of candidates aspiring to public office. The unique season of elections in the United States as well as elections in countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Jamaica, Haiti, Niger, and the Dominican Republic are opportunities to make changes that address inequities and empower women and girls. This event will help lift the voices and organize Pan-African women of faith and enable them to influence the platforms of candidates.
This consultation will:
- affirm the leadership provided by Pan-African women to address hunger and poverty,
- highlight the important role Pan-African women of faith have and can play by lifting their voices in advocacy and elections,
- inform the collective efforts to ensure that specific issues facing Pan-African women and girls are understood and considered by decision makers
Rev. Sue Engh
I am very excited about the possibility of Sue contracting with Gamaliel to focus on the GNCC.
Affiliate’s Activities
MICAH Banquet
Powerful display of the commitment to dismantling structural racism.
State Director’s Meeting
We met in Chicago for a day and advanced a lot of the planning for June and training.
Organizers Of Color
We are getting ready for the retreat and focusing on our role to advance the Youth Track.
AALC
The leadership team followed up on their commitments to make a presentation to the Council of Presidents about mass incarceration, and updating the AAlC documents. They also revised their mission and vision and are getting ready the proposal to make mass incarceration Gamaliel national priority.
Ntosake
The team is moving the goals and holding the network accountable for the commitments made for September.
Reflection
We have been anticipating Alexis’s Law School graduation for a long time. We were so exited to see her in that goofy cap and gown that it felt like all of us were becoming lawyers. As if seeing Alexis complete this great accomplishment wasn’t enough, President Obama delivered the commencement address. At the general Howard graduation he was powerful and very agitational. At the Law School graduation Attorney General Lynch delivered the message. I am so proud of Alexis and yes Gamaliel now has its own attorney. As Cynthia Jarrold knows, there is nothing more Gamaliel centric than a road trip with Angela James. We drove from DC to North Carolina on our way to Georgia to pick up a rental to drive to Chattanooga on our way to Nashville ending in Oak Ridge TN. I finally drone her to the Nashville airport so she could get to Houston for Alexis family graduation party. I drove back to Atlanta, returned the rental and flew to Milwaukee to get ready for the State Director’s meeting in Chicago. I have attended so many Banquets and Breakfasts that I had to pause and wonder if this is why there is hunger in the world. LOL! I am definitely eating way too much. From TN to Niagara I am so proud of how leaders and organizers and integrating the LTA and Strategic into all major events. There is a commitment in Gamaliel to hard money by holding large banquets and successful Ad-books. Many of our organizations are celebrating 20 years and committing to continuing in the struggle for racial and economic justice.
Reading
Rising Expectations (and Raising Hell): My Decade Fighting for the Labor Movement. This book tells the painful story of the Gore loss. It affirmed for me, why the Partnership Agreement with the AFL-CIO and Gamaliel is so critical. We must eliminate the disconnect that exist between our faith and labor. I encourage the California team to reach out to authors.
Jane McAlevey has been an organizer in the labor and environmental justice movements for the last twenty years. She is a contributing writer at The Nation magazine. Her articles can be found in a variety of progressive journals and magazines. She is currently working on a second book and is a frequent commentator on radio and TV shows. She is a PhD candidate at CUNY Graduate Center and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bob Ostertag is the co-author of Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) and author of People’s Movements, People’s Press: The Journalism of Social Justice Movements and Creative Life: Music, Politics, People, and Machines. He has also published two movies and over twenty CDs of music, and covered the Central American civil wars as a journalist. He currently teaches at UC Davis and lives in San Francisco.
