Movement Building Lift Every Voice

Lift Every Voice

Movementas a Building 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy

Lessons From the Equal Voice for America’s Families Campaign Table of Contents

01 About Marguerite Casey Foundation: Our Vision, Our Mission

03 A Message From The Chair And The President & Ceo By Luz A. Vega-Marquis And Freeman Hrabowski III

04 Looking Backward, Moving Forward: From Forging A Foundation To Nurturing A Movement 07 Campaign Facts 08 Philanthrophy’s Role In Movement Building: The EqualVoice Example

12 Guiding Principles Of The Equal Voice For America’s Families Campaign

16 Community- based Organizations As Leaders Of Movements: A Case Study From The Equal Voice Network “People Are Hungry To Take Action”: The Parent Voices Story “It Came From The People”: Will Jennings And The Target Area Development Corporation 27 Equal Voice History 28 Looking Forward: From Community To Collaboration To A National Family Movement

35 Ask, Listen, Act: The Marguerite Casey Foundation Guide To Movement Building 43 Equal Voice In Context: Movement Building As A Philanthropic Strategy For The 21st Century 45 Equal Voice for America’s Families: A Snapshot Traveler, your footsteps are the road, nothing more; traveler, there is no road, you make the road by walking. Caminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.

– Antonio Machado, from “Proverbios y cantares XXIX” in Campos de Castilla

1 Our Vision Our Mission We imagine a just and equitable society Marguerite Casey Foundation for all, where all children are nurtured exists to help low-income families to become compassionate, responsible strengthen their voice and mobilize and self-reliant adults; where families their communities in order to are engaged in the life of their achieve a more just and equitable communities, the nation and the world; society for all. and where people take responsibility for meeting today’s needs as well as those of future generations. A Message From the Chair and the President & CEO

In 2007, Marguerite Casey Foundation – in partner- Families campaign ignited, Marguerite Casey Foun- ship with its grantees and their constituents – began dation already provided support for advocacy, a journey by asking two questions: What would a activism and issue education to community-based nationwide movement aimed at raising the voices of organizations that have at the heart of their respec- poor and working families look like? and What would tive missions social justice and movement building it take to spark and sustain a movement that ensured among families living in poverty. those voices were heard, not on a single issue but across all issues that affected their lives? Those organizations constituted a natural base of allies because, although their constituents and phi- Our desire was to ignite a movement that crossed losophies may be diverse, they share a core belief: the lines of issue, race, geography and political and that families have the best understanding of their organizational turf – a movement that recognized own issues and the capacity to identify solutions families as repositories of solutions to their own con- to the problems they face. And because the foun- cerns, and one that made enough collective noise to dation was structured in a unique way, with our press those solutions onto the national stage, a stage program officers serving as resources and partners where poor people, if their needs were considered at to grantees rather than simply reviewing proposals all, were more likely to be talked about than heard and signing off on grants, and connecting groups from directly. to one another was already a key part of our mission, we were well poised to join hands with them We had come to those questions through a research in what seemed less like a radical departure than process that helped us set the course of our founda- simply a natural extension of the mission we had tion: We had commissioned more than 40 papers been pursuing all along. from experts and practitioners and held listening circles in six regions of the country, where more than The Equal Voice campaign was a manifestation 600 family members shared with us their vision of of the foundation’s mission, but it was also a test. what a foundation dedicated to a family-led vision of What would this idea of a family-led movement, social-change philanthropy might do. taken to scale, look like at a moment when our country was more diverse than ever in its history That process brought us to a juncture where our and more economically stratified? questions could be answered only in the doing. The only way to find out whether a family-led movement From the literature on advocacy and community was possible was to support our grantees and their organizing, we understood we were working within constituents in launching it. the American tradition that if you give people the tools, they will pull themselves up by their boot- Although the challenges were formidable, we had straps. But, first, they must have the boots and one tremendous asset going in, and that was our straps! And that, with the Equal Voice for Ameri- grantees and the families themselves. So – with an ca’s Families campaign, is what Marguerite Casey investment of money, time and person-power more Foundation set out to provide. significant than any our relatively young foundation had made before – we set out to build a new road by To say that what resulted exceeded our expecta- walking it together. tions is more than an understatement. Early on, we thought the campaign might result in a single large Casey Family Programs created Marguerite Casey event of perhaps 5,000 family members. Today, we Foundation in 2002 as a private, independent grant- can count at least 15,000 family members who par- making foundation, the central mission of which is to ticipated in 65 town hall meetings between Octo- lift the voices of low-income families and strengthen ber 2007 and September 2008, and another 15,000 their capacity to advocate for themselves and their who gathered at three simultaneous campaign con- children. Because of that mission, by the time the ventions on Sept. 6, 2008, to ratify the Equal Voice spark that became the Equal Voice for America’s for America’s Families National Family Platform. If there is a genius in organizing, it is the capacity to sense what it is possible for people to do under given conditions, and to then help them do it. – Frances Fox Piven

When the campaign was launched in October The platform touches on a variety of issues: housing, 2007, the foundation’s message to families and education, immigration, criminal justice, child care grantees was: “We’re not going to prescribe what and others. The platform is multifaceted because the your needs are. We are going to use our capacity to impact of poverty on people’s lives is multifaceted. The elevate your power and authority to identify and Equal Voice campaign – and the resulting Equal Voice drive the process to address those needs.” What movement, as it moves forward – was grounded in the foundation does is always about the families this same understanding: that living in poverty has an – building the capacity of people in their commu- impact on virtually every aspect of families’ lives. It has nities. The key to the campaign was believing in an impact on the work they do, the quality of their chil- the grantees and families, which allowed them to dren’s education, and their health, safety and security. believe in themselves. This movement is about making those connections across the spectrum of life. The families responded with an overwhelming appreciation for being seen as capable of chang- Since its inception, Marguerite Casey Foundation ing their own futures. They also found tremen- has been dedicated to creating a movement of work- dous value in being connected with other like- ing families advocating in their own behalf for change. minded, like-situated people from around the Over the course of the Equal Voice for America’s Fami- country. Those connections allowed the families lies campaign, we learned from those families and, in to recognize that the challenges they face are not doing so, made progress toward answering a funda- unique to their family or community but occur in mental question: How can foundations support move- rural and urban areas across the country. There is ment building most effectively? What is our role in a a tremendous power that comes from that realiza- phenomenon that ultimately must involve thousands, tion – a sense that, col- be led by those most affected, lectively, your family If the Equal Voice movement recasts the way and be shaped in many ways, and community might public policy is made, engaging families in that by factors far beyond our own be able to tackle forces process, then we and the thousands of caminantes sphere of influence? that alone feel over- who have joined and will join the Equal Voice whelming. journey are on our way to the changes America’s The families who attended families so urgently need and so clearly deserve, the Equal Voice conventions The 65 town hall meet- building the road by walking it. reported a median annual ings held in partner- income of less than $25,000. ship with the grantees Today – with the country not across the foundation’s five major grantmaking out of economic crisis, a crisis that puts additional bur- regions – Deep South, Midwest, Southwest, West, dens on low-income working families, and with leader- and Washington state – were opportunities for ship in Washington, D.C., offering an opportunity for low-income, working families to identify issues change – those in a position to do so must elevate the affecting their quality of life and to put forward voices of the families that built the Equal Voice move- national, state, community and personal solutions ment so that they are heard by those in a position to in a national family platform. The resulting docu- bring about the changes the movement seeks. ment – ratified at the Equal Voice national conventions in September 2008 and, subsequently, presented by family delegates to policymakers in Washington, D.C. – consists of nearly 100 recommendations for policy change at the local, state Freeman A. Hrabowski and federal levels. The carefully crafted recommendations, should they be enacted, would Chair of the Board result in an America that more closely matches the ideals on which the nation was founded than it does today. Luz Vega-Marquis President & CEO Looking Backward, Moving Forward: From Forging a Foundation to Nurturing a Movement

“The destiny of all of us is, to a large extent, in the keeping of each of us,” Jim Casey opined – a philosophy that would guide the family’s philanthropic efforts over the coming decades.

Over the past two years, the Equal Family Programs, Casey Family Ser- standing that poverty is the major driver Voice for America’s Families campaign vices and, most recently, the Jim Casey for children entering the foster care sys- has evolved into a family-led move- Youth Opportunities Initiative and tem, the mandate to “tackle the root ment to improve the economic well- Marguerite Casey Foundation – have cause” was no small assignment for the being of families. The goal is nothing devoted their resources to supporting fledgling Seattle-based philanthropy. short of a sustained shift in national vulnerable children and their families, attitudes and policies affecting poor with a special emphasis on those in fos- A safe route for the nascent foundation and working families. Equal Voice rep- ter care. might have been to focus on funding resents a new leg in Marguerite Casey prevention services in order to meet Foundation’s journey, but at the same “The destiny of all of us is, to a large the goal of reducing the need for fos- it is entirely in keeping with the foun- extent, in the keeping of each of us,” ter care. But foundation President dation’s unique history and founding Jim Casey opined – a philosophy that and CEO Luz Vega-Marquis and the philosophy. would guide the family’s philanthropic foundation’s board of directors took efforts over the coming decades. a bolder approach, choosing instead Marguerite Casey Foundation is the to structure the foundation around a youngest of the “Casey cousins,” a clus- Marguerite Casey Foundation was single, albeit expansive, focus: nurtur- ter of foundations created by descen- created with a mandate unlike most ing a movement of low-income fami- dants of Henry J. and Annie E. Casey, philanthropic organizations. In 2001, lies who could successfully advocate whose son Jim started what would be- Casey Family Programs – which fo- for themselves and their children, ulti- come United Parcel Service (UPS) in cuses on children in foster care – cre- mately achieving policy reform and so- 1907. The Caseys believed deeply in ated the foundation with the goal of cial change that would help bring them the value of family and community, a addressing the root causes of children out of poverty – the single greatest pre- commitment reflected in their phil- entering foster care. The intent was to dictor of foster-care involvement. anthropic legacy1. In fact, the foun- help families become more resilient dations the family established – the and less reliant on public systems to be- With an initial endowment of $600 Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey gin with2. Given the widely held under- million, Marguerite Casey Founda- tion established for itself a clear and Vega-Marquis joked with those who know what their children need and sweeping mandate: “to help low-in- charged her personally with the task. have the answers to the challenges come families strengthen their voice But she drew something important they face. From that philosophy grew and mobilize their communities in from those requests, even if she could a philanthropy that relates to those it order to achieve a more just and equi- not answer them exactly as framed: serves as “human beings [who are] table society for all.” She recognized that there was a con- deserving, contributing, doing all the stituency tired of the status quo, ready things they are supposed to be doing,” That mission, said Luz Vega-Marquis, for change and eager to be part of that as Vega-Marquis put it, but who had who was hired to run the foundation change, if given the tools to do so; that not had access to equal opportunity in 2001, was not something she and is, a movement was just waiting to be for themselves and their children. the foundation’s board of directors nurtured into being. came to in a vacuum: Helping families gain access to that We started with typical things From the listening circles, Vega-Mar- opportunity is not simply a matter of foundations do when they are quis and her colleagues learned about meeting families’ needs in the chari- starting out: We did a lot of data movement building already taking table or humanitarian sense, but of collection, public opinion, replace in disenfranchised communi- empowering the families to change search into the trends, opinion ties across the nation. But they also the very social structures that cre- leaders interviews. But we also learned that those communities and ate and perpetuate social inequities. did two things that were really their activism – the ingredients for a Vega-Marquis’ challenge, as she saw different. One was commission- national movement – were not con- it, was “to embed that philosophy in ing 40 papers from practitioners nected with each another. the foundation, and everything we do and consumers to get their ideas – the internalized belief that families about what to do. And then we From the outset, Marguerite Casey have solutions, and we are going to took that information back to the Foundation had chosen its grantmak- listen and hear the solution and figure community to hear their reac- ing regions strategically, according out ways to help them execute it.” tions, by holding listening circles to Director of Programs and Evalu- in six sites across the nation with ation, Cynthia Renfro, focusing its A related core value that emerged more than 600 community mem- resources on those areas of the coun- early on was the importance of fo- bers. The idea that came out of try identified by Annie E. Casey cusing on families as integral wholes, 5 that was that we should do move- Foundation KIDS COUNT data as rather than isolating children as the ment building and focus on em- having the highest concentration of target group to be served. Recogniz- powering families and not direct children living in poverty. With that ing that children thrive when families service. Their notion was that infrastructure in place, the founda- are secure, Marguerite Casey Foun- you cannot service people out of tion could support the development dation developed a commitment poverty. We are guided by a phi- of a national movement by weaving to supporting parents (and grand- losophy that believes the family together smaller movements already parents and other extended-family has solutions to their problems. brewing in its grantmaking regions: members) as the best advocates for That to me is the most important in cities like Chicago and Los Ange- their children and acknowledging distinction – that internalized be- les; on American Indian reservations that families are the repositories of lief that we need to listen to the in New Mexico; in the colonies along solutions to the challenges they and voices of the families, to hear the the U.S.-Mexico border; in the small their communities face. As straight- solutions that they have, and then towns of the Mississippi Delta – any- forward as that may sound, it repre- help them realize them. where and everywhere low-income sents an unusual path not only for parents wanted a better life for their philanthropy but also for the service That notion proved a touchstone as children and were ready to come to- and advocacy groups who depend on the foundation developed its identity, gether in the belief that they deserved foundations to support their work on and again as the idea for the Equal an equal shot at the American Dream. family issues – some of whom tend, Voice campaign emerged and evolved. often unwittingly, to speak for, rather In the foundation’s early days, Vega- “To me, movement building is ca- than walk alongside the families. Marquis recalls, people would tell thedral building,” Vega-Marquis said, her, “We want you to build a move- “because it’s going to take some time. This families-first philosophy, in ment.” Her response was that MCF The most important thing we can do turn, led to an operating and grant- could help nurture a movement, but with the people we are working with making strategy uniquely tailored to that building and leading an authen- is to get them to believe in themselves the foundation’s values and mission. tic movement to improve the lives – that they can do it.” On the ground, providing commu- of America’s working families was a nities with “bootstraps” translates mission only the families themselves It is a faith central to Marguerite as supporting leadership develop- could accomplish. Casey Foundation itself. Ruth Mass- ment among the grantees, connect- inga – CEO of Casey Family Programs ing them to one another and creating “If building a movement was that in 2001– handed on to Vega-Marquis new platforms from which grantees easy, I would have done it already,” the central philosophy that families and families can be heard.

Lift Every Voice Providing bootstraps also means of- grantees and family members met to fering core operating support to work out a strategy for the Equal Voice grantees – because, as Cynthia Renfro campaign. The foundation’s board of put it, “the grantees are the mecha- directors was invited, but only as ob- nism by which we empower or nurture servers. The family members and the the families.” staff members from community-based organizations who came to support “It’s surprising,” said Renfro, “how of- them did all the talking and made the ten organizations represent themselves key decisions. as working for, or on behalf of, families, and they do that, but they don’t get Surprising – and occasionally dismay- the input of the people they say they ing – those accustomed to traditional represent. We look for what we call models of philanthropy, Marguerite cornerstone organizations that have a Casey Foundation does not operate genuine relationship to families in the from predetermined issue areas, nor community; that have family members does it accept unsolicited proposals. on the board, or an internship or after- When the foundation identifies orga- school program – some way in which nizations committed to social change it is clear that they are constantly get- and grounded in and trusted by the ting feedback from the families.” local community, however, it often de- velops long-term partnerships via mul- In its effort to develop a core group tiyear general‑operating-support grants. of grantees that are held as long-term partners, the foundation looks for “We don’t care so much about what it “core alignment with the foundation’s is,” Vega-Marquis said, explaining the movement building strategy and decision to eschew narrowly defined approach and…five key competencies: program areas. “We care about how it networks, leadership development, is done – [whether an organization is] 6 cross-issue organizing, public policy building the capacity of people to act advocacy and cornerstone capacity. on their own.” Organizations must demonstrate the ability to effect change and/or deliver and track results that improve the quality of life for low-income families.” Marguerite Casey Foundation's “Families first” philosophy is also reflected in hierarchy-tipping events such as the early 2007 gathering in Albuquerque, N.M., where

Organizations must demonstrate the ability to effect change “and/or deliver and track results that improve the quality of life for low-income families. Cynthia Renfro ” Director of Programs and Evaluation Marguerite Casey Foundation

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Campaign Facts

in partnership with 30,000 families participate in the Equal Voice for America’s Families campaign, the majority with incomes less than $25,000 a year, attend 65 town hall meetings across 12 states communicate in 11 different languages identify eight core issues: child care, education, criminal justice reform, employment and job training, health care, housing, immigration reform, and safe and thriving communities recommend 98 policy changes at the state, local and federal levels create one national family platform

September 6, 2008: participants gather at three national conventions 800 flights and 200 busses transport families across the country others drive up to 19 hours, as far as 1,613 miles, to attend 15,000 families come together in Birmingham, Chicago and Los Angeles connect in real time via simulcast, joined by 5,000 online viewers adopt one national family platform

five months later, 150 family delegates travel to Washington D.C. visit offices of 42 senators and representatives hand deliver one national family platform

Lift Every Voice Philanthropy’s Role in Movement Building: The Equal Voice Example

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy On Sept. 6, 2008, 15,000 people filled conference halls in Los – the majority representing families with incomes less than Angeles, Chicago and Birmingham, Ala., for the Equal Voice $25,000 a year3 – made their voices heard at town hall meetings for America’s Families national convention. If you had stopped and conventions across the country, forging relationships that a Marguerite Casey Foundation staff person racing through the led to collective efforts the foundation could not have imagined halls and asked whether the campaign had come off as origi- at the beginning, a question emerged that was more than se- 9 nally planned, it’s hard to imagine being greeted with anything mantic: Was Equal Voice a movement in the making? other than a quizzical stare. And, if it was, then what would it take – and what would it First, the size and scope of the response to the campaign’s call to mean – to cultivate and sustain a movement that – unlike the action so exceeded anyone’s expectations that the original plan- best-known social movements of the past – did not revolve ning was a dim memory. Foundation President and CEO Luz around a single issue or injustice, but, instead, was multi-issue, Vega-Marquis recalls that initial discussions focused on mobi- encompassing every system, each social inequity that had the lizing perhaps 5,000 families nationwide; then, as interest and potential to affect the future of a child and his family? It was this momentum grew, that figure rose to 7,500 and then 10,000 for commitment to seeing everything through the lens of the fami- a one-time gathering. ly, not piecemeal but as an organic whole, that promised to take Equal Voice into uncharted territory, even as it hewed to the What the campaign eventually became – 65 town hall meet- values of many of the great social movements that preceded it. ings in 12 states, culminating in simultaneous conventions in three cities – “happened in the doing,” said Vega-Marquis. “It Making Equal Voice a reality also required crafting an unusual got a little out of hand,” she joked, but, in fact, that was exactly structure for operationalizing the campaign – one that drew on the point. the strengths of all the partners while leaving decision-making firmly in the hands of the families. What that meant was that Early on, Vega-Marquis recalled, there were those who ques- while Equal Voice was foundation-funded, it was led by the tioned the foundation’s commitment to building a multi-issue families and the grantees. A national advisory board was formed agenda for families. “We heard, ‘Can you really bring organiza- along with regional advisory boards, and regional coordinators tions and people across issues, disciplines, race, constituencies were chosen by and affiliated with grantee organizations (but and geography to work on a unified platform?’ People told us, again supported by the foundation). The day-to-day work of ‘You’re not going to do it. Give it up. You need a single issue ’… organizing town halls and mobilizing families to attend them [But] we were ferocious in guarding the original intent of build- rested with grantees, rooted in the community and supported ing a movement” – a movement that would cut across issues by the foundation – a structure that leveraged the strengths of to address the day-to-day realities of those who would lead the all involved. movement: the families themselves. “It was a structure that allowed for collaborative decision mak- Initially, those involved in Equal Voice referred to their efforts ing and maximized the foundation’s resources,” explained Di- more frequently as a campaign than as a movement. But as rector of Communications Kathleen Baca. “We provided the Equal Voice rapidly grew in unexpected ways, as targets were resources, but the families and grantees were the architects of met and then surpassed, as tens of thousands of individuals the campaign.”

Lift Every Voice Clearly, the foundation's financial in- “It’s hard to see a movement when vestment in Equal Voice was crucial to you’re inside of it,” observed the Rev. its success. The foundation maintained Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins, executive its role as convener, providing resources director of Chicago’s TARGET Area for town hall meetings and other gather- Development Corporation, a founda- ings as well as a national organizing and tion grantee, as she reflected on the communications infrastructure to link evolution of Equal Voice and its rela- disparate groups and their constituents. tionship to historic movements for so- Grantees played their part by mobiliz- cial change: ing their constituents, keeping them Once time has passed, then you informed about Equal Voice and facili- can look back and see, “Yes, this tating their involvement. Perhaps most was a movement.” A movement crucial, the family delegates forged the happens when people from across connections and determined the priori- an area start thinking the same way, ties that would not only change hearts understanding the issues the same and minds but also, ultimately – and the way and understanding the solu- tens of thousands who participated are tions the same way. And I think determined this will happen – change that’s what’s happening with Equal policy, law and the fabric of their own Voice. I think that’s what Margue- and their children’s lives. rite Casey is doing. I absolutely think Equal Voice is a movement. And I think that’s what’s happening with Equal Voice. Van Pelt–Watkins believes the foundation’s vision of “having low-income I think that’s what Marguerite Casey is doing. people understand that they have a I absolutely think Equal Voice is a movement. role to play in decision making that im- - Rev. Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins pacts their lives” is taking hold across the nation. 10 In all the places we’ve done Equal For Baca, one of the most powerful Voice work, people have become aspects of the campaign was watching informed and willing to speak up community leaders from across the for themselves, and understand country stand shoulder to shoulder that they’re not alone…. There are with families to advance a single agen- people struggling all over the nada focused not on a single issue or de- tion, and people all over the nation mographic but on the collective needs are saying, “We deserve better, and of America’s families and children. we will have better, because we’re going to fight to get something Nonprofit leaders often work within a better.” I think that’s a movement structure that forces them to compete – a movement to empower low-infor funding and provides few oppor- come families with the ability and tunities to work together across issues the space to speak on their own be- and regions, a structure, Baca ob- half and make decisions about the served, that “they didn’t create, but on laws that govern their lives. which they are dependent for survival.” But she noted that when the terms To understand what it took to get to of engagement shift – as Marguerite the common ground and shared val- Casey Foundation worked hard to ues Van Pelt–Watkins describes, it is make happen in structuring its sup- worth looking at where things stood port for Equal Voice – so that collabo- before the Equal Voice campaign. In ration is valued over competition, and 2003, the foundation commissioned time and space are created for all to Fern Tiger Associates to interview be heard on equal terms, leaders who numerous grantees and well as foun- have, in fact, been working toward dation staff and board members. The common goals quickly reach the con- consultant reported that “although clusion that Baca and the foundation they talk about it, none of the [grant- did: “They hold much greater power ee] groups could point to having successfully linked their issues through if they all come together.” And it is in shared dialogue or activity long term, that “coming together” that the seeds and there is little evidence of effec- of any great movement are sown. tive work that crosses disciplines”;

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy the consultant concluded that “such connections will take a long time to build and could require a good deal of maintenance as each organization is already taxed in its attempts to organize around its issues, build a base, and ‘make a difference’ within existing structures (government, community, schools, etc.) which are themselves organized to address singular issues.” The challenges outlined in the consultant’s report are not unique to Mar- guerite Casey Foundation grantees. In a study to determine the ability of 43 social-change agents to mobilize around a specific issue, 25 percent of the social-change agents said there were no cross-cutting issues around which they could collaborate. Van Pelt–Watkins, who cites this study in her dissertation4 on research and social change, points out: Though research shows a prepon- that work with them day to day, as- Kwoh added, summing up the balance derance of interconnections be- sumed leadership. Only then could the foundation aimed to achieve, “We tween social ills, the social change the disparate organizations and many are very thankful for Marguerite Casey agents in [this] study could not thousands of families weave themselves Foundation’s help, but we always saw identify the interconnectedness into a national movement that reflect- that the leadership has to come from us.” of the challenges with which they ed their own aims and concerns. 11 were faced…. Though the re- Since the ratification of the national maining 32 organizers agreed that Stewart Kwoh – winner of a MacAr- family platform and presentation of the it was possible to unite around thur “genius” fellowship and presi- platform in Washington, D.C., Margue- issues, more than half of them in- dent and executive director of the rite Casey Foundation and Equal Voice troduced a new issue that no one Asian Pacific American Legal Center are moving forward on many fronts: else mentioned. This level of frag- of Southern California, a foundation convenings, foundation mini-grants mentation appears to be a reflec- for collaborative efforts, and grantees 5 grantee – believes the foundation has tion of the times. successfully achieved the delicate and and non-grantees working together on unconventional balance of provid- multiple issues. After the tremendous To nurture a national movement uni- ing resources and support yet leaving undertaking of mobilizing tens of thou- fied around a multi-issue platform, leadership in the hands of those most sands of individuals in the campaign, foundation staff and the board of di- affected. the foundation and grantees are also rectors understood that business as taking time to reflect on the relationship A number of foundations have of the campaign to social movements of usual would not work. The founda- contributed different pieces to tion could not carve out strictly delin- the past and what values will define this eated program areas or ask its grantees [movement building], but I think new movement going forward. for top-down defined deliverables and Marguerite Casey Foundation expect them to come back in one or really is one of the first that has From the foundation’s commitment two years with reports on how they dedicated huge resources to a cat- to take cues from its grantees and their had achieved them. If the goal was to alytic activity — the building up constituents, a number of other guiding empower a movement of low-income for and the convening of a large principles have emerged. Staying true to families speaking for themselves, it gathering in September 2008. I al- those principles requires, in many cases, was essential that those families – fa- ways saw it as catalytic rather than changing entrenched ways of doing cilitated but not led by the grantee that the foundation was going to business – most crucially, shifting tra- organizations that worked with them own it…. It was like a kick-start, ditional power balances among funder, – take ownership of the movement a helpful resource infusion to let grantees and members of grantee or- themselves, and that the foundation us see that it is possible that the ganizations. But each challenge – even remain clear that its role was to catalyze people could come together from struggle – is productive, bringing with and convene but not to define, own disparate organizations that are it a new insight that is incorporated or lead the movement. Equal Voice not in a common union and not into the larger vision of the Equal Voice would be realized only when the fami- in a common area—and there was movement as it continues to “build the lies themselves, and the organizations a lot of hope generated from that. road by walking.”

Lift Every Voice Guiding Principles of the Equal Voice for America’s Families Campaign

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy We Are the Leaders We Have Been Waiting For The commitment to ensuring that families remain at the fore- Parker – who has worked her way up the job ladder because front of the Equal Voice campaign – not as spokespeople employers recognized her personable manner, strong work or showpieces but as leaders and shot-callers – is perhaps ethic and ability to pick up new skills quickly – had, however, 13 the most important principle guiding the campaign, as well a more accurate self-image that she hadn’t yet given voice to: as the most challenging to maintain on a day-to-day basis. “I’m a survivor! That’s who I am. I’m very proud of who I am.” Old habits die hard on all levels, from reporters who would prefer to interview executive directors or foundation staff As Parker listened to the stories of the other family delegates, rather than working parents, to the grantee organizations it dawned on her that she was not the only survivor in the themselves, which – knowingly or not – sometimes strug- room: “Once you heard people opening up, you didn’t feel so gled with ceding power to those they have been more ac- lost,” Parker said. “They had a lot of guts to open up and tell customed to representing. these hundreds of people what was going on in their lives, what’s bothering them and what their issues are. But family members who participated in Equal Voice made clear in interviews that the Equal Voice campaign, as they “I’d never experienced anything like that,” she continued. experienced it, stayed true to this central value. Consistently, “You do lose track of what’s going on out there, because as the campaign evolved across the country, family members you’re working all the time, and you don’t have the time to held the microphone – they had one opportunity after anoth- really sit down and talk about it. So, for me to speak up about er to testify as to what they had experienced, describe what what my struggles are did help me to open up.” they thought about those experiences, and analyze what they believed needed to change to improve their families’ lives. For Chicago’s Anton Charles, the experience of being iden- Beyond the sense of agency that came with being involved tified as a leader – and seeing others like him rise to the in determining the campaign’s priorities, many described the same challenge – was life changing. When he joined the process itself – listening to others tell their stories, and feeling Equal Voice campaign, Charles was already working with empowered by that experience to tell their own – as making the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, a community- them feel less alone. based organization that tackles issues such as immigration, health care, education, youth rights and citizenship. But, at Charmaine Parker, a single mother from Clovis, Calif., was 19, he was still trying to figure out “what I wanted to do with one of those listening. Parker traveled to the Chicago Equal my life.” Voice convention with 150 other family delegates. At first, she felt out of place among the leaders and staff of the com- Charles was writing in his journal, catching up on notes from munity organizations and their family constituents. “You got- the meetings he had attended, when “it hit me – this is what ta understand – all I ever did was work and take care of kids,” I want to do. I even told the president of Marguerite Casey she explained. “I didn’t graduate high school…. So, I just kind Foundation that I wanted to be involved in organizing for the of kept my mouth shut at first, because I felt a little inferior.” rest of my life and do stuff like this to help change the world.”

Lift Every Voice What inspired him, Charles said, was tween convening and controlling. The the sense of purpose and excitement foundation offered resources and fa- in the convention hall. “In all other as- cilitation – including what Luz Ve- pects of life, you have people just work- ga-Marquis calls the “hyper-role of ing; you have people just getting by. But convener” – to amplify the families’ these people, they were trying to make voices, but the power to decide what a difference, trying to change things to those voices would communicate be- make life better for others. I felt like, longed to the families alone. since I was a part of it, I could do the same thing.” For example, the Equal Voice for Amer- ica’s Families National Family Platform was published under a letter from Vega- Marquis and William Bell, representing Every Issue Is a Family Issue the endorsement of Marguerite Casey Foundation President and CEO Vega- Foundation and its parent organization, Marquis believes that, until people Casey Family Programs (of which Bell understand that you cannot work on is president and CEO), but neither staff health care without working on living- nor board of either foundation had the wage jobs and good schools and safe opportunity, nor the authority, to ap- communities as well, organizations prove the platform. That strategy was woven into the way Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You Marguerite Casey Foundation provid- cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. ed financial support as well: Many of the foundation’s 250 grantees serve the You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You poorest of the poor, in the most desti- cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. tute regions of the country, so the foun- … You cannot stamp out a people’s cause. dation paid for everything necessary to 14 make the town hall meetings and other – César Chávez key campaign events possible – transportation and hotels for the families, may have “wins” in particular battles, food, child care, posters, brochures – but the families in whose name a sin- and hired nine regional coordinators to gle-issue campaign is waged will not help bring the local efforts together, but see the comprehensive change that of- no organization or individual received fers what they most seek: a better fu- a grant specifically to participate in the ture for their children. campaign.

Realizing that principle proved to be a Making sure no one was “paid” to par- “hot spot” in the Equal Voice campaign ticipate in Equal Voice served a dual because organizations that had advocat- purpose: First, it allowed the founda- ed for change around education, hous- tion to support the movement without ing or child care, for example, were now the power imbalance that almost inevi- asked to work with new allies across tably comes with competition for direct issues. That comprehensive approach funding. That approach increased the was/is crucial to the success of Equal odds that the goal of leaving control in Voice – so much so that participants in the hands of grantees and constituents an October 2009 follow-up convening would be realized. in San Francisco spontaneously broke into the chant “Every issue is a family Second, it furthered the goal of weaving issue!” after agreeing that would be a a network among participating groups guiding principle for their future work. by encouraging cooperation among grantees, who shared available resources as needed, rather than fostering competition that, again, can be difficult to avoid The Foundation Would when grant dollars are on the table. As Convene but Not Control Kathleen Baca, the foundation’s director of communications, pointed out: From the start of the Equal Voice cam- There was no reason to compete. paign, Marguerite Casey Foundation There was no mandatory participa- was meticulous in drawing the line be- tion. We were not going to pull a

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy grant if an organization didn’t participate. The reward was coming together and creating something across the country that could not happen otherwise. In the end, people were competing over how many constituents they could turn out for town hall meetings. That’s very different from competing over money. The focus was “Let’s make sure each region and state is well represented.” That energy and excitement translated on the ground as something important. Although participation was voluntary and no organization received direct funding for participating – or lost funding for choosing not to participate – fully 95 percent of the foundation’s 250 grantees chose to join the campaign. dren and community. The participants For grantees that wanted to continue to at some town hall meetings were so di- work together toward the goals defined verse that a dozen different languages in the national family platform, the foun- were heard; in those instances, tech- dation found innovative ways to offer re- To Make a Movement, You nology provided a bridge via headsets sources that would sustain alliances and Have to Break Some Bread (provided by the foundation) that working relationships. More crucially, offered simultaneous translation. But perhaps, grantees in various areas struck Although environmental issues had a the technology was never more than up, continued and/or expanded alli- place in the final family platform, the a tool; what made the difference was ances of their own, and continue to meet campaign may have fallen short of its the shared meal, the faces of mothers and work together toward common 15 own ideals in its use of fossil fuel. It took across the table from each other that aims in alignment with the platform. 200 buses, 800 airline tickets and hun- – whether or not they shared a spoken dreds of passenger cars to get people to language – told the same story of a life Equal Voice has engaged people of all the three simultaneous conventions, and anchored by family. ages, including veteran leaders who par- uncounted passenger miles were racked ticipated in several key movements of up over the course of the campaign as The connections made over hot coffee the past half century, including the civil organizers pursued what would prove to at the start of a working day or over rights movement. Those leaders bring be the campaign’s central strategy: get- lukewarm coffee as a group worked an understanding of the time it takes – ting people together. into the night – the sense that there measured in decades, if not longer – for were others across the country who an ideal embodied by a movement to Although technology was utilized at shared the same struggles and the gain traction and be implemented as every opportunity – from conference same commitment to change – would policy. They know that once legislative calls and list-serves to the simultaneous provide the fuel for continued effort or other policy gains have been made, broadcasts that linked the three conven- after the buses and planes had re- those gains must be realized in the com- tions – the heart of the campaign took turned the groups to their respective munity. All those involved with Equal place face-to-face in conference rooms, communities. Those previously seen Voice agree that its success as a move- living rooms and church basements as rivals for resources were now seen ment will be defined in great part by its across the country. Those who might as allies in a battle the scope of which staying power. otherwise have been divided by race, was much greater than fighting for ethnicity, political inclination or geog- pieces of a diminishing pie. The question of how funders, commu- raphy broke bread over tables strewn nity organizations and the families lead- with markers and butcher paper as they ing a movement for equity can best work worked out a common platform and, together can be answered only through in the process, discovered the depth of It’s Not Over Until It’s Over sustained action. The partners in the their commonality. Equal Voice movement are a living labo- Equal Voice was not seen as a three-year ratory. Their accomplishments already Repeatedly, those involved in the cam- initiative or as a “pilot” project; rather, indicate that the common will to build paign described attending a town hall the foundation, the grantees and the and sustain such a movement exists or planning meeting and discovering families understood they were part of a among families, community-based or- that “the other” was, in fact, “just like long-term effort that would reach its nat- ganizations and at least one committed me” – in their experience, their strug- ural conclusion only when the families funder. That, itself, is a strong base from gles and their aspirations for their chil- realize their self-determined goals. which to survey the road ahead.

Lift Every Voice Community-based Organizations as Leaders of Movements: Case Studies From the Equal Voice Network The Parent Voices Story To Patty Siegel, executive director of California Child Care paign and Marguerite Casey’s movement building strategy Resource and Referral Network (CCRRN), the Equal have given me a place … to say, “Yes, this is what has always Voice philosophy of families organizing around their needs driven me, and now here is a foundation – here is a visionary and goals – as they define them – made sense immediately. leader – that is willing to take a lot of risks and invest in those of us who are doing this type of work. And so it has been, for In 1970, following activist Tom Hayden’s advice to Organize me, a way of creating a circle around my own life’s work. your own community, Siegel, then a young mother with three kids under the age of 3, organized a child care cooperative. Part of the Equal Voice campaign from the beginning, Siegel Over the years, her tiny neighborhood co-op grew into Cali- worked with others and Marguerite Casey Foundation to fornia Child Care Resource and Referral Network, which develop the idea and then put the full resources of CCRRN provides direct services and referrals to families and child and Parent Voices behind it. care providers via 17 chapters and 57 member agencies across California. CCRRN also gave birth to Parent Voices, Siegel wasn’t the only one to throw herself into Equal Voice a parent-led grassroots network that advocates making qual- work: Almost all of the 600 families who work most closely ity child care accessible and affordable to all families. with Parent Voices became engaged in the campaign. On Sept. 6, the full contingent made its way to Los Angeles, one Today, the walls of Siegel’s small corner office in downtown of the three cities in which the Equal Voice national conven- San Francisco are papered with photographs of children – tion took place. Buses came in from across the state: Chico, her own and others – taken over four decades. The photos Stockton, Oakland, San Francisco, Fresno and Sacramento. share the walls with plaques, awards and resolutions of appreciation for her efforts on behalf of families. Siegel’s ani- Siegel’s blue eyes filled but her voice didn’t falter as she mated, apple-cheeked face lit up as she talked about how described six full buses from Fresno alone pulling up to Equal Voice has taken her “full circle” as an activist. the Hyatt Hotel at 1 a.m. after a 200-mile drive. Children draped in blankets peered sleepily from their mothers’ and After years spent balancing her advocacy work with the fathers’ arms as entire families disembarked in front of the time-consuming effort of coordinating the provision of di- hotel, where Siegel waited outside to help with registration. rect services, Siegel noted: [The campaign] reinforced for me how important movement Even before the doors to the Staples Center opened for building is as a strategy. In a sense, the Equal Voice cam- the convention the next morning, Siegel had a feeling that was familiar, but also somehow new: Equal Voice at all levels, from the ini- She felt she and her 600 compatriots, tial organizers to the leaders of grantee and the thousands of others they were organizations to the family members about to join inside the huge conven- themselves. Organizers used to focus- tion center, were in the process of making on jobs, for example, came to un- ing history. derstand that people couldn’t work if they didn’t have housing or green cards, and they formed strategic alli- Since the convention, Siegel, who ances with those working on issues describes herself jokingly as “the old they might previously have seen as movement person that can’t let go,” has outside their area of interest. These connections, multiplied by the hundreds and eventually thousands, wove ...tough issues we struggle with – child care, health care, the net that would carry the weight education, immigration – those have been more siloed. of the needs and aspirations of the And the remarkable thing about Equal Voice is that it is tens of thousands who participated in Equal Voice, and the many more they an effort to break out of those silos and say, “What do represented. we have in common?” Patty Siegel, however, is nothing if not - Patty Siegel pragmatic: To her, the Equal Voice campaign – no matter how many thought about where – in the historical people it brought together, no matter continuum of social change movements how much good feeling it generated – Equal Voice fits and what it does and – wouldn’t be worth the time invested does not have in common with the now- if it didn’t add up to concrete change iconic movements she threw herself for the families she works with. Un- into in her 20s and 30s. derstanding the ways in which Equal 18 I think its birth has been a little dif- Voice did contribute to change for the ferent because most of those efforts Parent Voices families, and the many – whether it’s the civil rights move- more they represent, offers an illumi- ment, the anti-war movement or the nating example of how the Equal Voice early days of the women’s movement ethos played out on the ground. – were really in reaction to [a specific form of] oppression. It’s not so much that Equal Voice de- livered anything to the Parent Voices But the tough issues we struggle with families and others like them; rather, – child care, health care, education, it’s the work the families did with each immigration – those have been more other and with others across the coun- siloed. And the remarkable thing try during the campaign that shifted about Equal Voice is that it is an ef- their thinking in ways that allowed fort to break out of those silos and say, them to transform their advocacy work “What do we have in common?”… at a critical time. In the summer and It gave people from different stages fall of 2009, when California faced a of their organizing life a chance to budget crisis that threatened to unravel break bread, share ideas and think just about every strand in the public about how we might move forward. safety net, that shift in thinking helped families preserve and even expand the Siegel remembers sitting at a table state’s funding for child care. during the planning stages of the campaign engaged in intense discussion Even before the state government went with a small group of longtime orga- into budget freefall, many California nizers with vastly different operating families were facing fundamental issues strategies – men who might in other of survival: At an April 2008 Equal Voice circumstances be considered rivals – town hall meeting in Fresno – hosted and thinking, “Only Luz Vega-Marquis by Parent Voices, Radio Bilingüe, Par- could get these four guys to sit at the ent Institute for Quality Education, table and talk.” Fresno Center for New Americans, Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo That same sense of breaking down bar- Indígena Oaxaqueño (Binational Cen- riers to form new alliances has infused ter for the Development of Oaxacan

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Indigenous Communities) and Ameri- can Friends Service Committee – the stories of about 200 people from the Mixtec, Hmong, Mexican, Cambodian and other communities in the Fresno area formed a portrait of families in crisis: from not having enough food for their children to inadequate housing and transportation, language barriers and extreme emotional stress. But there was also a note of resilience and of direction: Family leaders had a clear sense of what was required of them and their representatives in order to make better lives for their children, their elders and themselves, and had a rapidly developing sense of the strategies that would take them there. “Our families want a better future,” event organizer Nayamín Martinez summed up as the town hall meeting wound down, “a future that as immigrants and refugees we dreamed of in our old countries.” a siege mentality, the parent advocates, of other working families they might said Siegel, were “vigilant at every hear- not have met, but whose futures, Equal In March 2009, California Governor ing, continued to put a real face on the Voice had shown them, were linked to 19 Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a regressive policies the governor was their own. budget that would have gutted the proposing, and beat back every single state’s already inadequate child care one of them.” Parent Voices was certainly not the support program (with a waiting list only group in Sacramento advocat- of 200,000 strong) – slashing subsi- Between April 30 and June 12, 2009, ing to preserve a particular service to dies for welfare recipients, changing representatives from Parent Voices a vulnerable population. California’s eligibility benchmarks, and increasing chapters across California testified be- 2009 budget process threatened es- the fees low-income parents pay above fore the Senate Budget Committee, the sential services to just about every what most could afford. That combina- Budget Conference Committee and the group in the state, from school chil- tion of blows would have cost many Joint Legislative Budget Committee; dren to the housebound elderly. But thousands of families their access to showed up for a 500-person rally that the Parent Voices campaign was un- child care and, in a domino effect, cost drew five legislators, all of whom com- usual in that it was not only success- them their jobs and, quite possibly, the mitted on the spot to specific actions ful in stopping the attack on existing roof over their heads. to keep child care affordable and acces- child care supports to the working sible; made 40 legislative visits; deliv- poor, but also managed to add several But the mothers and fathers of Par- ered 100 letters written by parents and million dollars out of federal stimu- ent Voices – the same ones who had child care providers to Senate President lus funds to the state’s budget to help gathered at Equal Voice town halls and Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg; and left 100 some of those 200,000 families wait- shared their values, their challenges pink slips symbolizing potential unem- ing for child care support – an out- and their strategies for facing those ployment for the governor. come the parent advocates had been challenges – were not about to let that seeking in direct collaboration with happen. When one Parent Voices member testi- Equal Voice since day one. fied before a committee, as many as 150 In an extraordinary mobilization that more sat in the galleries showing their Patty Siegel believes drew energy and support – working parents, often with Patty Siegel pulled out an 8-by-10 pho- focus from their Equal Voice experi- multiple jobs, for whom taking a day tograph of a dozen beaming Parent ence, parent advocates converged on off to travel to the Capitol was no small Voice members surrounding Speaker the state Capitol in Sacramento for sacrifice. One day it was so hot in Sac- of the House Nancy Pelosi and a color- a campaign they have since dubbed ramento that one of the parents passed ful hand-lettered sign they had made to “Seven Weeks, Seven Meetings.” Dur- out from the heat. But they persevered, show their appreciation for her support ing a tense summer budget session showing up to preserve child care not in making sure the stimulus bill includ- when legislators were operating under only for themselves but for thousands ed funds for child care.

Lift Every Voice In previous meetings with Pelosi, Sens. When Parent Voices advocates were Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer approached by a broad-based coalition and Rep. George Miller, Parent Voices working to secure paid sick days for members had underscored that without workers, they signed on to help. Work- child care support, there would be no ing in coalition with other groups was, economic recovery; that is, Americans thanks to the parents’ Equal Voice expe- couldn’t work if their children weren’t rience, now second nature. When they safely cared for. learned the governor proposed elimination of not only CalWORKs (Califor- In the end, the federal stimulus package nia’s version of welfare benefits) but also included $20 billion of new child care the Healthy Families program – crucial money, $200 million of which made its safety-net programs for low-income way to California. families – they rapidly organized family members from five Parent Voices Siegel remembers Rep. Miller telling chapters to attend the relevant budget her something in early 2009, while the hearings and drop off postcards at every stimulus package was still being nego- legislative office in the Capitol. tiated, that indicates the tremendous political potential of an organized grass- Between July 1 and the final budget en- roots movement such as Equal Voice: actment, Parent Voices was back in Sac- “We need to hear from people that this ramento every week – after the issue of would make a difference,” referring to child care had been resolved. Speaking the inclusion of money for child care. before the Budget Conference Commit- “And I don’t mean, politely, people like tee, they made it clear to the committee you, Patty. I mean the people who need and to their own constituency that child jobs.” care was just one brick in the levee that was at risk of breaking, unleashing dev- astation on the children and families of 20 When family delegates assembled at California. the Press Club in Washington, D.C., to unveil the Equal Voice for America’s “This is the Equal Voice story,” Patty Sie- Families National Family Platform. gel said, her pride unmistakable. “The Foundation President and CEO Luz campaign laid a foundation and instilled Vega-Marquis had told the delegates: in people the sense that it is bigger than “What we did on Sept. 6 was just a our one issue. By the end of June, child launching pad.” Clearly, the Equal Voice care was essentially intact. … Parent delegates from Parent Voices took her Voices could have said, ‘We’re done. We words to heart: Parent Voices advocates did pretty well, all things considered. were there in Sacramento to make sure Look how awful it is for everybody else, the $200 million allocated to California but we got ours.’ Instead parents said, for child care was disbursed as intend- ‘We can’t stop now because look what ed, but they were no longer content they’re doing to foster care, look what with securing gains around “their” issue they’re doing to health care; look at all only. They now saw families’ needs as a the issues that are important to us that whole, reflecting a transformation Patty we worked on in the Equal Voice cam- Siegel believes was a direct outcome of paign. We’ve got to keep going.’” the Equal Voice experience.

[The campaign] reinforced for me how important movement “building is as a strategy. In a sense, the Equal Voice campaign and Marguerite Casey’s movement building strategy have given me a place.... Patty Siegel Executive Director ” California Child Care Resource and Referral Network / Parent Voices

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Building a movement of low-income families Key drivers of change will facilitate ..... Greater organized self-advocacy and activism by working poor families with the skills, knowledge, access and support networks to be effective in reforming public policy

Cornerstone Organizations • Well-established in target communities • Effective in training parents/youth as leaders, advocates and/or organizers • Successful in helping families achieve policy change Highly Engaged Base of Constituents • Skilled leaders – parents and youth – from low-income neighborhoods and communities of color • Self-interest and education in community Network of Networks issues • Sustained connections among constituencies and organizations across regions and issue areas • Collective capacity for regional and national movement building Cross-Systems Change Efforts • Successful policy reforms driven by 21 working-poor families using: • Facts based on action research • Strategic framing of issues • Institutional relationships

...... Movement building • A substantial, growing and engaged constituent base make up of working-poor families and natural allies who share their interests • Supported by strong, sustainable community-based organizations that are linked with each other regionally and cross-regionally across disciplinary, ethnic and ideological boundaries • Benefiting from a sophisticated communications effort that utilizes strategic framing to shape media images of their issues and to ensure consistency of message across all participants • Informed by excellent data and analysis as well as candid feedback from evaluation efforts • Understanding the needs and desires of different races and cultures while bringing a multicultural perspective to reform efforts • Capable of responding quickly and decisively to opportunities as they arise via the collective capacity of a nimble, 21st Century coordination structure that effectively uses technology • Constantly renewing itself by identifying, training and promoting new leaders within its ranks

Lift Every Voice “It Came From the People” Will Jennings and TARGET Area Development Corporation

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy 23

Ten years ago, Will Jennings looked like someone who When he spoke from the podium at a town hall meet- barely had a chance, much less a voice. Locked up in Illinois ing during the Equal Voice campaign, Jennings wore an state’s Sheridan Correctional Center, Jennings had spent a immaculate suit and tie, with a matching handkerchief total of 13 years in prison on drug and weapons charges neatly folded into the breast pocket. The suit jacket and stemming from a criminal career that began with bagging handkerchief are his trademark look inside TARGET’s heroin at the age of 14. As a prisoner, state law banned him offices as well – dressed down a notch with a T-shirt and a from voting, much less playing a central role in the civic life pair of medallions around his neck – but out on the streets, of his community or having a voice on the national stage. he wears a black jacket with CeaseFire’s orange logo mark- ing him as peacemaker to all he passes. He aims to help At 53, Jennings is quite literally part of the salvation of the stem the killings that have plagued the Auburn Gresham community where he spent his formative years – those neighborhood where he lives and works – a neighborhood when he wasn’t locked up – using and selling drugs. After on the far south side of Chicago so stigmatized by violence getting clean with the help of an in-prison drug treatment that a visitor has a hard time convincing a cab driver to slow program, Jennings was released in 2002 and has stayed down in front of the TARGET office long enough for her to clean. Now he works for TARGET Area Development Cor- leap out of the cab. poration – a Marguerite Casey Foundation grantee and a key player in the Equal Voice campaign – as a supervisor According to a Department of Justice evaluation, the Cease- for CeaseFire, a citywide violence prevention initiative in Fire initiative has brought down the number of shootings which TARGET is a partner and which has recognized Jen- in Auburn Gresham a striking 17 percent. On a steamy day nings for his outstanding work. in early June, Will Jennings’ influence in the neighborhood is clear. Young men drop in to see him in TARGET’s office Jennings, spends part of his time at his desk at TARGET’s throughout the afternoon, and most of the neighborhood seems to know him when he leaves his desk to stroll, or street-front office and the rest combing the streets of Chi- patrol, the adjacent blocks. The Chicago schools are letting cago’s South Side, often until midnight, striking up conver- out for summer, and Jennings – who has already been to sations with young men who remind him of his younger two elementary school graduations on this particular day self but whom he’s determined to help steer in a different – is anxious about what the hot, jobless months ahead will direction – into school and away from the dangers that cost bring. Already, he’s been preparing by knocking on doors, him decades of his own life. talking to parents and grandparents, asking about summer

Lift Every Voice plans and trying to help families pre- prison on drug charges at a rate – rela- pare for what, traditionally, can be tive to their proportion of the popula- the bloodiest months of the year. tion – that is more than 23 times that of whites. “The best thing I can do right now is to walk the walk,” said Jennings, survey- An investigation by the Illinois Crimi- ing a corner crowded with young men nal Justice Information Author- in plain white T-shirts, “because they ity determined that Cook County don’t have any role models. All they see accounts for two-thirds of the state’s is guys selling drugs, standing on the drug arrests; 85 percent of those corners. But when they see me coming arrested on drug charges in Cook down 79th Street or 69th Street, they County are African American. The recognize that I’m a changed man and analysis by the Criminal Justice Infor- that I’m trying to show them that there mation Authority concluded “arrests is a better way.” and convictions of African-Americans for [drug] violations in Chicago and Jennings uses the word “joy” to describe in Cook County are driving the state’s the feeling his work in the neighbor- racial disparities in imprisonment.” hood brings him. But when he talks about the police and ambulance sirens When Jennings traveled to Washing- that interrupt his sleep each night, and ton, D.C., to visit lawmakers, the above issues were the ones he emphasized. I really had no idea that other people were going through Writing letters and signing petitions were one thing – this time he watched the same circumstances, situations and challenges that the policymakers’ faces closely to we were in the Midwest; that it wasn’t about where we make sure they were paying attention. lived, it was about who we are... people just struggling Drug treatment saved his life, Jennings 24 for justice. said. Now, in a city where more than - Rev. Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins half the black men carry a felony con- viction, he believes it’s “essential that the current criminal justice system the way that drugs, incarceration and – built on a poisonous foundation of joblessness are eating at the spirit of his revenge, racism and retribution – be community, sorrow softens a voice that transformed into a system that reflects is otherwise so strong it fills the vast old our society’s better values of restitu- theater where he acts in plays staged tion, reconciliation and rehabilitation.” by the local Ambassadors for Christ Church – a voice that Equal Voice has The factors that fuel the dispropor- amplified many times over by providing tional incarceration of black and Jennings a podium from which to voice brown Americans are many and oper- his deeply held concerns, and a group ate at the local, state and federal level. of allies across the country with which But like the Parent Voices advocates to tackle those concerns. Like others in California, Jennings can point to in Equal Voice, Jennings has come to concrete change on the issues he understand that it will take many voices, cares about most deeply. At the neigh- many hands to bring change even to the borhood level, TARGET’s efforts via few square blocks he holds most dear. CeaseFire have contributed to a drop in drug-related violence. At the state Although Jennings recognizes that the level, Jennings has helped educate success of Equal Voice will lie in the legislators about the potential impact enactment and then realization of the of allowing judges to divert low-lev- national family platform in its entirety, el drug offenders into county “drug certain planks are particularly mean- schools” instead of jail or prison. And ingful to him: education, public safety, at the national level, a long-awaited drug treatment and sentencing law. shift has begun in the federal drug laws that have much to do with the According to a report by Human Rights staggering numbers of African Amer- Watch, blacks make up nearly three- icans in prison. After years of “tough- quarters of the prisoners charged with on-crime” rhetoric and increasingly drug offenses in Illinois and are sent to harsh mandatory minimum-sentenc-

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy ing laws from the federal government, the Obama White House and the Department of Justice have endorsed the elimination of the infamous “100 to 1” ratio of penalties for crack and powder cocaine – an issue Jennings pointed to specifically as affecting his community and contributing to racial disparities in sentencing – and both the House and Senate have intro- duced legislation to equalize those penalties. In addition to those concrete vic- tories, what keeps him going day to day, Jennings said, referencing his work with Equal Voice, is “the coming together.” He recalls being amazed to see “so many nationalities, people from all walks of life coming together” in common cause at the Equal Voice At a moment when the media are like- thing, not accepting the status quo town hall meetings. The transforma- ly to focus on race relations in terms and really working hard to make tion that experience and others like of conflict and fault lines, or on gaffes change for our communities. And it in his work with Equal Voice runs by public figures followed by canned she said that if we were committed deeper than some rainbow idealism. mea culpas, Equal Voice – by bringing to doing it, she was committed to Formerly accustomed to focusing his together people from a multitude of helping. energy on advocating for the rights of backgrounds and ethnicities not just African Americans like himself, the to talk about race but to work together In Chicago, as Van Pelt–Watkins tells stories he heard and the people he across race – is forging authentic rela- it, a powerful synchronicity emerged 25 got to know at Equal Voice gatherings tionships, connections that can be between nascent local efforts and opened his eyes to direct connections built only through long-term collective the broader framework provided by between his experience and those of effort toward a common goal. Equal Voice. Local leaders, she said, people from other ethnic backgrounds began talking together about what it – connections that broadened his alli- The Rev. Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins, would take to “build a powerful base ances and his sense of calling. TARGET’s dynamic executive direc- of people working on the same issues, tor, said that just as it had for Jennings, across ethnicity, across religion, across He’d long been aware that African Equal Voice confirmed long-held region.” As that local coalition built Americans faced disparate treatment beliefs, but also took her and the orga- momentum, so did the foundation’s in America’s criminal justice system: nization in new directions. effort to find out from its grantees Although they are just 14 percent of what they thought would work best as the nation’s drug users – and using As a grassroots social justice organiza- a national effort. drugs at a rate similar to whites – they tion dedicated to working in partner- make up 74 percent of the nation’s ship with low- to moderate-income Van Pelt–Watkins said that grantees drug prisoners.7 At Equal Voice gath- communities to build community asked the foundation to hold regional erings, he met immigrants whose power and capacity to solve stub- meetings so that grantees could get to friends and family were also behind born urban problems, TARGET Area know each other and learn from each bars, in this case “just for wanting to Development Corporation has a mis- other’s efforts. “Out of the regional be part of a country,” he said. That sion that is in line with that of Margue- meetings, we said we should do some- connection solidified for him when rite Casey Foundation and of Equal thing national,” she recalled. “Over he traveled to Washington, D.C., to Voice. Van Pelt–Watkins’ own involve- time, from one region to the other, it protest alongside Elvira Arellano, an ment with the Equal Voice effort began became clear that we were all saying undocumented mother who sought a few years before the campaign’s offi- the same things, and we needed to refuge in a Chicago church but was cial launch. Foundation President and figure out how to work together. And eventually deported with her son. CEO Luz Vega-Marquis floated the that’s how we ended up with Equal “I sympathize with them,” said Jen- idea of some kind of collective action Voice. It came from the people.” nings, adding that the suggestion to a group of grantees and asked for that Latino immigrants are taking their help in shaping what that might As Van Pelt–Watkins began listening to jobs away from African Americans look like. Van Pelt–Watkins recalled: the stories of others across the nation, is “lies.” He noted, “We ain’t had the This woman had fire in her belly, it also became clear that her own nat- jobs in the first place, so how are they and it lit me. She spoke about ural constituency was much larger and taking them?” people getting up and doing some- more diverse than she had previously

Lift Every Voice imagined. She said, “[before Equal town hall or in Springfield but also in Voice,] I really had no idea that other Washington, D.C., and advocating for people were going through the same policies that would improve their lives circumstances, situations and chal- would require alliances with others lenges that we were in the Midwest; who were hundreds, even thousands that it wasn’t about where we lived, of miles away, people who might look it was about who we are – people of and sound different from her constitu- color, low-income people, and people ents and herself but who were fight- just struggling for justice.” ing the same battles. It would require Equal Voice. Van Pelt–Watkins, a Pentecostal min- ister as well as a community organizer, “Going outside the black community walked out of Equal Voice gatherings and starting our work with Latinos, with a new understanding of “the need Arabs and Asians was challenging,” to work across ethnicities and across Van Pelt–Watkins acknowledged. religions, which is something we never “[People] were afraid.” The counter would do [before]… It became clear to that fear, she believes, was deeper that we needed [to work] not only understanding, and Equal Voice, with with African Americans, but to work its face-to-face town halls and con- across ethnicity, and across religion, stant flow of communication among across race and across regions.” participants across the country, provided just what was needed: “an envi- Van Pelt–Watkins got a jump-start on ronment where people will be willing this widening of horizons: In the years to share and build a brand new knowl- leading up to the Equal Voice cam- edge base together, because that’s paign, she traveled with Marguerite what we have to do. It has to be based Casey Foundation staff to several parts on the knowledge in each of our heads of the country to talk about how TAR- and the experiences that we’ve had, 26 GET was using evaluation to inform and that takes time.” its work. Just as her understanding of the scope of the problems of low- income families evolved through the new relationships made during those trips, so did her sense of what it would take to tackle the problems. Families in her neighborhood were affected by decisions made not only at Chicago’s

I [Jennings] recall being amazed to see so many nationalities, “people from all walks of life coming together in common cause at the Equal Voice town hall meetings. Will Jennings” Supervisor , CeaseFire TARGET Area Development Corporation

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Equal Voice Timeline

2006 The Idea Marguerite Casey Foundation and its grantees decide to launch a yearlong campaign – Equal Voice for America’s Families – to raise the visibility of issues facing low-income families by crafting a platform of priorities and solutions. 2007 Families Get Involved Between 2007 - 2008, 15,000 families attend 65 town hall meetings to shape a national Family Platform. 2008 National Family Platform The Equal Voice National Family Conventions 27 Platform is released and ratified by 15,000 families attending simultaneous conventions in Birmingham, Chicago and Los Angeles. 2009 Equal Voice Across the Country Local and regional projects emerge across the country to advance the Equal Voice National Family Platform. 2009 Equal Voice in Washington, D.C. 150 families travel to Washington, D.C., to present the national family platform to elected officials. 2009 Advocacy and Media Equal Voice Policy Convening held in San Francisco, CA.

Lift Every Voice Looking Forward: From Community to Collaboration to a National Family Movement

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy By the time 15,000 families from around the country gath- never going to change, but there is also the potential ered at three convention sites on Sept. 6, 2008, to ratify the to become more determined than ever. If you take the Equal Voice for America’s Families National Family Plat- example of the civil rights movement, the more the dogs form, the ground had shifted under them in profound ways. came out, the more the beatings continued and the fire Barack Obama was on his way to the White House, the Dow hoses kept coming, the larger the crowds got. People Jones Industrial Average was on its way to the basement, were saying, “You can’t scare us away, because this is not and unemployment was through the roof. The nation was about how I feel today. This is about how my children well into a recession that, by some reports, could leave it will feel 10, 20, 30 years from now, because of what I did with more than 12 million more people living in poverty today.” than when the economic decline began. Family members involved with the Equal Voice campaign In February 2009, Star Paschal – an Auburn, Ala., mother appear to have taken the higher road, understanding that of three and Equal Voice participant who traveled to the the goals they have set will take time and collective deter- nation’s capital to help deliver the family platform – noted mination to achieve: “This is a lifelong fight I have taken on to her fellow delegates: “Families have always suffered, but for myself,” Star Paschal said. “If we have to come to Wash- now we’ve gone from living paycheck to paycheck to living ington, D.C., every year, it will be done.” day to day.” Angelique Gordon of Chicago’s TARGET Area Develop- What, in this context, is the future of a family-led movement ment Corporation tackled Capitol Hill with a similar dedica- of working families, asserting their right to fundamentals tion. After a formal unveiling of the platform at the National such as decent housing, living-wage jobs and a solid edu- Press Club, she rode one of several buses that took delegates cation for their children when many of those things seem to the foot of the Capitol Building. From there, wearing red more out of reach than ever? The potential for giving up Equal Voice lanyards, the delegates fanned out in teams to the fight – or simply for the movement to diffuse as fami- House and Senate office buildings, where they would deliver lies concentrate their energies on the day-to-day struggle the platform to legislators from their home states or to those for survival – cannot be discounted. they felt could best move their issues forward. But Casey Family Programs President and CEO William “They may or may not be in the office,” Gordon said briskly Bell, who has lived through such moments before, said as she walked the unfamiliar hallways, “but we still have there is another possibility: to do our part and deliver the platform. This is the voice When people feel that things have gotten worse instead of the people. If we can get it in their hands, it’s a great of better, there is the potential for conceding that it is achievement.” Minutes later, she and her team were The platform itself, Luz Vega-Marquis handing the platform to Rep. Jesse noted during the trip to Washington, Jackson Jr. As Gordon went over it D.C., offers not only hope but also with him point by point – child care, concrete direction: “It gives anybody employment, health care, education involved a blueprint for change and – Jackson punctuated Gordon’s litany speaks about giving people a hand up of concerns with a series of “Amens” as they reach for that elusive American and offered the group a commitment Dream.” She noted that the platform of support. is important not only as a document of what families have done and decid- The Rev. Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins ed together but also as a promise of – executive director of TARGET what they will do moving forward: “It Area Development Corporation and speaks to their commitment and dedi- one of a number of family delegates cation to working even harder for the who compared Equal Voice to the objectives and goals presented in the civil rights movement – pointed out platform.” that during demanding movements for change, there were many people Inspired as they were and are by the whose life circumstances might not commitment of the families dedicated allow them to march in the streets or to Equal Voice, those involved with engage in other forms of direct protest, the campaign are not naïve about the “but they were yet informed, they yet challenges ahead, challenges posed in the platform itself, with its compre- Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the hensive mandate for change across the spectrum of issues that affect the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic American family. Even as the dust and injustice which make philanthropy necessary. debris were swept from the floors of – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. the great halls that hosted the simul- 30 taneous three-city national convention, those close to the heart of the learned, their minds were opened up campaign were reflecting on what had by what they saw, so that at the critical transpired and what lay ahead. Had time, instead of being enemies against Equal Voice, in fact, crystallized into the civil rights movement, they were a genuine social movement of and for supporters.” America’s families – and, if so, what would it take to sustain that move- Similarly, Van Pelt–Watkins said, ment over the long term? Equal Voice has informed and engaged a large constituency, all of whom may Clearly, the 18 months of intensive not be able to make the kind of long- community- and campaign-building term pledge Star Paschal did when she leading up to the national conven- was in Washington, D.C., but who, tion generated a tremendous amount nevertheless, are allies of the effort: of emotion and energy. People who Even if they can only come one had never been asked to weigh in on the national stage not only found their time and see, “Oh my god, I’m not individual political voices, but joined the only one who’s working these in a swelling chorus of similarly situ- two jobs and not having food at ated families across the country, find- the end. We’ve got people in the ing strength in numbers and a comfort Southwest who are working 18 in common circumstance that few had hours a day, and they don’t even experienced before. have clean water! So, yes, when I go to vote, I’m gonna remember those But if that had been it – if the founda- things.” If they didn’t have access tion, its grantees and the families of to the stories and information that Equal Voice had simply gone out on we shared through the Equal Voice the grace notes of the national convention, writing up the final reports and campaign, they would continue to resting on their laurels – the great good vote the same way – or even not will built up over those 18 months vote, thinking it doesn’t matter, would have dissipated or, worse, might when it does. have soured into disappointment or

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy even cynicism as those on the ground began to suspect Equal Voice would fade as quickly as the promises of an election season. The risk was certainly present. Although the foundation continues to invest in the grantee organizations that came together under the Equal Voice umbrella, Equal Voice could not – and was never intended to – evolve into a permanent foundation-driven initiative. Its goals were at once too lofty, too holistic and too grassroots for any single entity, no matter its assets or influence, to own. If the campaign was to evolve into the movement for social change that the family participants had so stirringly called for, it would have to do so under the leadership of those family members themselves, at a time when many were struggling simply to put food on the table. In movement terms, it’s still early days. Mexican and Filipino farm workers, by way of comparison, began strik- dance had contacted elected officials, of the families they represent. Kwoh ing and organizing to form a labor built coalitions, volunteered and/or notes that at a time when nonprofits union as early as the 1930s, but the connected with others in their com- face layoffs and budget cuts because of 31 United Farm Workers of America was munities on the issues that matter the recession and might have ended up not established until 1966, and it was most to families. Many groups have fighting for diminished funding, this another decade before the UFW won hosted gatherings of their own, from kind of partnership stands out. passage of legislation giving Califor- small strategy sessions to conferenc- nia farm workers the right to organize es. Several are using a “report card” Of the foundation’s role in sparking and bargain with their employers. But or similar framework, grounded in grassroots local coalitions like the one young as Equal Voice may be, there the Equal Voice platform, to mea- in Los Angeles, Kwoh said: are signs that momentum is building, sure progress on the platform issues I think that what Marguerite Casey that coalitions are blossoming, that and hold legislators and other poli- Foundation is trying to do is exact- promises to stay in touch are leading cymakers accountable. ly on target. The signal they are to “what’s next?” meetings and a col- sending is that we will be stronger lective rolling up of sleeves, and, most In Los Angeles, for example, a coali- together than we are apart; stronger promising, that concrete progress is tion of 20 groups formed to con- united than we will be just fighting being made on the issues spelled out tinue the work of Equal Voice. The our separate battles. … To link our in the national family platform. community-based organizations agendas in terms of a platform or a involved were inspired to do so, more cohesive common agenda, I The Parent Voices and TARGET Area according to Stewart Kwoh, whose think, is the way to go. Development Corporation stories are Asian Pacific American Legal Cen- just two among many examples of how ter helps coordinate the coalition, In describing the road ahead, Kwoh Equal Voice is taking root across the “because the people who went to echoed Vega-Marquis’ hope that the country. Coalitions are emerging or the September 2008 convening have foundation’s role remain carefully expanding and coming up with a vari- asked them, ‘What’s next?’” defined, with decision-making power in ety of strategies to address the issues the hands of the families and those who Equal Voice participants identified as Using the Equal Voice platform as a work with them. By funding the Equal priorities and to make the overall plat- template, the Los Angeles coalition Voice campaign, Kwoh explained, Mar- form a reality. devised a cross-issue report card guerite Casey Foundation provided “a against which they measure local catalytic tool.” Now, he said, it is up to Polling during the October 2009 fol- government on issues such as edu- communities and the leaders they des- low-up convening in San Francisco cation, employment, public safety ignate “to figure out how this is going revealed that, despite the economic and immigration. The 20 groups to come together into a movement for pressures of the previous year, more work together – across race, issue change – locally and regionally, as well than two-thirds of the grantees in atten- and locale – driven by the concerns as nationally.”

Lift Every Voice Kwoh drew an analogy between where Similarly, in Chicago, the Equal Voice the Equal Voice movement stood as of campaign fostered the development the Sept. 6, 2008, national convention of the United Congress of Commu- and where the Obama presidency was nity and Religious Organizations, a at the end of its first 100 days. Tremen- coalition of 12 groups, most of them dous collective good will and energy foundation grantees, that have come had been mobilized, but now people together with the explicit mandate to were looking for concrete results – work across race, region and ethnicity improvements in their lives and those to move a local agenda that is in direct of their children. alignment with the Equal Voice family platform. The questions the Southern California coalition is asking on this front are very The Rev. Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins, specific. Kwoh elaborated: co-founder of the United Congress, How are low-income people helped explained that the language of the in terms of jobs? How are they Equal Voice campaign helped bind helped in terms of safety, or trans- the group together with another knot. portation, or immigration status? [I]t wasn’t just about what we were … Obviously to get broader-scale thinking about and our ideas for our help, you have to have a change of futures, but also that we were part of policies – [for example,] compre- this larger campaign that reinforced hensive immigration reform. But the very ideas that we had; that rein- you also have to look at short-term forced our highest thoughts about and medium-term milestones or ourselves and our highest hopes for objectives to help people. So, are our organizations. … If we didn’t have that, then we would have been fishing around, trying to find the pieces that bind us together. 32 I think that what Marguerite Casey Foundation is trying to do is exactly on target. The signal they are sending is that we will Marguerite Casey Foundation sought strategic ways to support collabora- be stronger together than we are apart; stronger united than we tive efforts as the campaign evolved will be just fighting our separate battles.... into the Equal Voice for America’s - Stewart Kwoh Families Coalition. In the summer of 2009, the foundation released a request for proposals specifically we reducing the drop-out rate, or is designed to support networks either it continuing to climb? Are we get- formed or strengthened during the ting people some jobs through the Equal Voice campaign. More than 50 stimulus package, or are they just proposals came in from the founda- locked out? … It’s not just, “Let’s tion’s 250 grantees – local, regional change this big grandiose policy”; and national nonprofit organizations they want to see how their lives are that work with families in the poor- being changed. So that’s where we est areas of the country – an impres- have to hold governmental officials sive number given that many of the accountable, our corporate leaders proposals came from collaborations accountable, and ourselves account- and networks that included multiple able. Are we making the change that foundation grantees. our families need and want?” Many of the 18 networks the foun- Although it is too early for Kwoh or dation ultimately funded had come anyone else to have the answers to together during the Equal Voice those questions, the coalition he is campaign, either as an outgrowth part of is moving forward in promis- of the planning bodies for town hall ing ways. In addition to implementing meetings and conventions, or at the the report card strategy, it is holding national convention. The projects its own convenings, as well as meeting funded reflected the issues and strat- regularly in smaller groups to devel- egies highlighted in the Equal Voice op strategies for working together to platform while remaining grounded tackle the specific issues the families in the local communities represented have identified as most pressing. in the networks and collaborations.

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Equal Voice Network Highlights California In Marin County, Calif., a coalition that initially came together to plan a local town hall meeting evolved into the Equal Voice Leadership Academy, which includes foundation grantees and non-grantees. The academy aims to build the capacity of 50 families to engage in local and regional issues that are connected to the Equal Voice platform, to host quarterly community forums, and to create a local Equal Voice online newsletter. Chicago The Sweet Home Chicago Network – 12 organizations working together for an affordable housing campaign – formed as a result of relationships built during the Equal Voice campaign.

Arizona Although the proposed work varied In addition to providing support for Border Action Network is forming a widely, including multistate and multi- groups of grantees as they form local statewide network to strengthen advo- issue efforts, some common themes and statewide coalitions, the founda- cacy efforts, including a multistate bor- and strategies emerged that offer clues tion is helping weave those efforts der and immigration task force. The as to the direction groups working to into a national Equal Voice network 33 network, which includes foundation continue Equal Voice hope to take. while respecting the need for grass- grantees along the U.S.-Mexico border, roots leadership and autonomy. It’s a is developing new constituent mem- Equal Voice Network delicate balance, but, so far, one that bers in rural parts of Arizona to advo- appears to be working. cate at state and federal policy levels for Strategies Build Capacity immigration policies as identified in the The foundation hosts a Web site for national family platform. Build families’ capacity to be heard through the electoral process by using the Equal Voice (www.equalvoiceforfamilies.org), a Facebook page Atlanta report cards to analyze the impact of policies on low-income families and to and a blog that is regularly updated Gamaliel Foundation is collaborating with news related to the concerns with Atlantans Building Leadership for evaluate elected officials on their commitment to family-sustaining policies. presented in the national family plat- Empowerment and Joshua Generation form. In November 2009, the founda- Ministries to provide trainings in cler- tion launched Equal Voice, an online gy-specific organizing methodologies Use Issue Education newspaper dedicated to reporting on for Atlanta-based African American Use issue education to expand a net- the issues and challenges facing low- pastors. The trainings are energizing a work’s capacity to affect policy. For income families and to creating a ven- group of young pastors inspired by par- instance, networks in Washington state, ue in which their stories, perspectives ticipation in the Equal Voice campaign Los Angeles and Chicago that had and voices can be heard. The combi- to provide leadership in Atlanta par- worked primarily at the local level now nation of cyber-resources connects ent networks working for high-quality use education and training to help fami- the groups that make up Equal Voice public education, and to explore how lies advocate for equitable distribution when they cannot be in personal con- to involve their congregations in other of stimulus dollars. tact. community-organizing efforts. Extend Relationships Recognizing, however, that nothing Alabama Extend relationships and connections can replace face-to-face communica- Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Jus- to new non-grantee partners. All of the tion, the foundation hosted a national tice, a six-group coalition significantly successful proposals included an effort Equal Voice Policy Convening in San energized by participation in the Equal to extend the respective coalitions’ Francisco, Oct. 9–10, 2009, inviting Voice campaign, proposed to hire its range of partners to bring a broader one staff person and one family repre- first organizer to help facilitate dialogue range of skills to the networks and, in sentative from every grantee organiza- between immigrant communities and the long term, to exponentially expand tion that had participated in the Equal mainstream Alabama decision-makers. the reach of the Equal Voice. Voice campaign. This lively event gave

Lift Every Voice participants the opportunity to rekin- and authority. That’s what we have dle old relationships and build new to bring home with us, because Luz ones, as well as to participate in train- doesn’t come home with us. We ings that offered concrete strategies go home by ourselves. Today rep- they could take back to their home resents forward movement. The communities. foundation hasn’t lost the vision of ’05 [when preliminary planning “It’s been a rough year,” Luz Vega- for the campaign began]. But it’s Marquis told the 300 individuals gath- not the foundation’s vision. At the ered at the San Francisco Airport Mar- beginning, I saw Luz trying to con- riott, acknowledging the economic vince us it was about us. Now it is turmoil that had coincided with and about us, saying what we’re going followed the triumph of the Equal to do in our own neighborhoods. Voice town hall meetings. “But,” she Putting aside our differences and continued, “we have a linked future. doing something about our differ- We belong together, and we will ences. change this society.” We have to put aside our own In the following hours, participants stereotypes and think, if I [as an shared the tools to do just that. They African American] am worthy of learned how communities can benefit equity and justice, why aren’t the from stimulus dollars, gained strategies Latinos worthy of equity and jus- to advance policy issues at the state tice? If I as a Pentecostal am wor- level, and participated in a workshop thy of freedom from tyranny, then on using media as an advocacy tool, why aren’t the Muslims worthy of including steps to create their own freedom from tyranny? If anybody media. The convening concluded with here is not getting equity and jus- participants identifying and prioritiz- tice, I don’t care how much you 34 ing future actions to be taken by Equal have now, it’s going to run out. Voice for America’s Families. Let’s not hold on to Marguerite Casey Foundation and say “What As the day drew to a close, the Rev. Van are y’all gonna do next?” We know Pelt–Watkins offered a rousing exhor- we can make change. So let’s go tation to her Equal Voice compatriots, back and make it happen. Because one that indicated how deeply the key we are going to shock the world. principles of the Equal Voice campaign – leadership in the hands of the people, and a movement that crossed boundaries of race, turf, issue and geography – had been internalized: In this room, I walked around and heard people speaking with power

You can’t scare us away, because this is not about how I feel today. “This is about how my children will feel 10, 20, 30 years from now, because of what I did today. ” William Bell President and CEO Casey Family Programs

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Ask, Listen, Act: Marguerite Casey Foundation Guide to Movement Building

Marguerite Casey Foundation has made a commitment to Ask, Listen, Act. The foundation willask its grantees to explore challenging questions. The foundation willlisten to the answers. The foundation will act to ensure it is providing grantees with the tools and resources they need to fuel a movement.

By not only funding organizations to support the Equal Voice campaign, systems such as welfare, food stamps working toward social change but also but the campaign helped illuminate and Medicaid to the criminal justice – through Equal Voice – taking a more and expand upon them, informing and immigration systems, to name active and public role as convener and, the foundation’s grantmaking going only a few. at times, instigator of dialogue, Mar- forward, and offering useful insights guerite Casey Foundation has provid- for other foundations interested in, or Understanding that framework, many ed fuel for a cross-issue, cross-racial, already committed to, funding move- foundations have worked – often cross-regional, family-driven movement building for social change. effectively – to improve public sys- ment to change “the rules of the game” tems by granting money directly to for America’s low-income families. those systems for special programs Grantmaking Strategies or overall systems-change initiatives; What the most useful and appropri- for Supporting Movement by providing technical assistance; by ate role is for a foundation support a Building funding nonprofits to help constitu- movement for social change can per- ents of the systems gain better access haps best be addressed by looking at Engage the Consumer to their services; or a combination of a few grantmaking and other related In philanthropy aimed at social the above. Marguerite Casey Founda- philanthropic strategies that have change, the consumers are often also tion is committed to going beyond proven effective or that hold promise the consumers of public services, that model. moving forward. because poor people in America, more so than others, may find their “The traditional way of philanthropy,” In general, Marguerite Casey Founda- lives and families enmeshed in a tan- observed foundation President and tion already endorsed the strategies gle of underfunded or dysfunctional CEO Luz Vega-Marquis, “is to work that follow when it made the decision public systems, from social support inside the system. You work with public health, for example, and you into a grantmaking strategy in which move money around in the hope that families themselves set the priorities will bring big change. But what if you regarding how money is allocated is changed the system by putting pres- the ongoing challenge for the founda- sure on it from the outside?” tion, a challenge now deeply informed by tens of thousands of Equal Voice The families of Equal Voice high- “consumer voices.” lighted the potential of that approach by making it clear that they had a role to play in improving the systems that Help Grantees Ground Action in Research most affected them, systems in which Bringing people together in person is they often felt shut out or unheard. one way to help them grasp the connections between their own experience At one town hall meeting after anoth- and that of others across the country. er, people who might previously have Research – particularly participatory felt invisible within the multiple sys- research that engages the communi- tems that affected their lives shifted ties being explored in a respectful and their perspective by seeing, and hear- productive fashion – is another key to ing, their own struggle reflected in making those connections. Research each other’s stories. The tri-city Equal offers a stamp of credibility that can Voice convention was so diverse that greatly amplify the voices of families translation was available for Span- describing their communities and Engage others in thinking about solutions – it’s not just naming their concerns. my children getting an education, for example, but all the “As systems begin to fail, we find that our passion is not enough,” said one children in the broader community getting an education. organizer interviewed by the Rev. 36 - Luz Vega-Marquis Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins, executive director of TARGET Area Develop- ish, Khmer, Somali, Hmong, Manda- ment Corporation, for her doctoral rin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, thesis. “We need research to help us Creole, American Sign Language and tell our stories.” Another, echoing the more. Some of those who traveled to sentiments of many in the field, told the national convention had never Van Pelt–Watkins that “research vali- been on a plane before – a widening dates our claims and helps us change policy…. [W]ithout research we are of horizons that was literal as well as 6 figurative. easily discredited and dismissed .” “They had a great time both personally “The importance of supporting and on a political level,” said Tony Lee, research and connecting it to the the executive director of Washington broader community,” explained Luz state’s Statewide Poverty Action Net- Vega-Marquis, is that it offers an oppor- work, which sent 100 constituents to tunity to “engage others in thinking the Los Angeles convention site. “To about solutions – it’s not just my chil- be able to respond to the platform and dren getting an education, for example, have input into it was a very empow- but all the children in the broader com- ering experience. … People not only munity getting an education.” had a great time, it deepened their commitment and provided them High-quality research is an essen- with more leadership skills. I think it’s tial tool for those directly engaged in something they will never forget.” movement building work because it helps them set a course that is authen- Marguerite Casey Foundation Direc- tically grounded in the needs and tor of Programs and Evaluation Cyn- realities of the community they aim to serve, rather than relying on guess- thia Renfro underscored that, “The 7 most important thing, is that we work and anecdote. believe that families have the capacity, have the understanding of their issues, While Vega-Marquis and the foun- and can find solutions to their prob- dation were exploring the role that lems.” Turning that understanding research plays in social change, as well

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy as ways in which philanthropy might take a more active role in supporting grantees’ movement building efforts with high-quality research, Van Pelt– Watkins was working on a doctoral thesis illuminating that very subject. 8 In her thesis, Van Pelt–Watkins wrote: To outsiders, it may appear that the work of the social change agent is simply to arouse the masses and lead protesters to participate in direct action. In reality, if the work is to be successful, it must be grounded in a deep understanding of … complex conditions…. Using information gathered through the cyclical process of research and situational analyses, social movement organizations can identify the root causes of many social ills that impact their constituencies. Employing these funding for these services start- priorities were for the campaign processes empowers social move- ing in 2006 through 2008, leaving moving forward. ment actors to (a) assess whether nonprofit social movement orga- political opportunities are favor- nizations to grapple with skill defi- The participants’ responses were able for movement activities, (b) cits at this critical juncture.9 aggregated not months or years down determine if sufficient public will the line, as with traditional academic exists to address the causes or Marguerite Casey Foundation, how- research, but on the spot, and their col- 37 injustices, and (c) consider the ever, is committed to research as a lective responses were then projected movement arena’s capacity to cornerstone of movement building onto the giant screens that linked the house and sustain a mobilization and found innovative ways to inte- three convention sites, offering the effort. grate participatory research into the families a powerful opportunity to see Equal Voice campaign. Those at the themselves as a national collective with Absent the use of research, social foundation understood that an evalua- a powerful collective voice. change leaders are forced to rely tion that came out a year or two after on hearsay, intuition, and popular the national convention – no matter That process is markedly different from knowledge to determine a course how meticulously done – wouldn’t be the body of traditional research on low- of action. This practice can lead immediate enough to offer Equal Voice income families, in which researchers to the sponsorship of misinforma- participants useful information or vali- survey family members to get a portrait tion causing the field’s constituen- dation that their voices had been heard of a problem, for which the researcher cies to pay high tolls while social and taken seriously. What was needed or those in positions of power then use movement organizations stagnate was a research strategy that was quick the data to pose potential solutions. and stumble over how to address and responsive, one that would yield Click-polling leaves the analysis firmly the pressing social issues at hand. valid information in a time frame that in the hands that hold the clickers, a In order to garner a deep under- allowed those being “researched” to methodology that empowers even as it standing of the complex challenges hear their own and each other’s voices informs. in movement building, there is a reflected back to themselves, so they – continual need for timely and rel- not only others down the line – could “I get goose bumps just thinking about evant research data…. Neverthe- make use of the information gathered. it,” said Patty Siegel of Parent Voices, less, according to Dobson (2001), remembering the moment when the many contemporary grassroots Click-polling turned out to be the ideal day’s polling results appeared on the social movement organizations tool. At the three simultaneous Equal screen at the Los Angeles convention rarely utilize research to guide Voice conventions, and again at a fol- site: their work. low-up policy convening in San Fran- [W]hen people were given hand- cisco, participants were given “clickers,” sets and got to vote … and the Further, nearly a fourth of the handsets that they used to respond to issues they cared about were up funders that had been stalwarts in questions about who they were and there, and there were 7,000 in that funding nonprofit capacity build- how their families were faring, as well room [and 8,000 more via simul- ing, such as research and evaluation as what they were doing to advance cast], it was an incredible, moving training, announced reductions in the aims of Equal Voice and what their experience. People really sensed

Lift Every Voice themselves as a part of something Invest Long-Term bigger. They felt a sense of collec- That social change of any significance tive power and hope, which is not may take a long time has profound something that is easy to come by implications for philanthropists com- now. mitted to funding that supports social justice. The timelines and require- Cheryl Milloy, evaluation and research ments common in the world of philan- officer at Marguerite Casey Foundation, thropy may not lend themselves to the said the impact of the click-polling last- mandate the families of Equal Voice ed well beyond the events themselves. laid out. A collaborative work plan “We were excited to have the polling may be required, with a revised sense data from the conventions as well as the of what a deliverable is and a time policy convening because they directly frame different from what has been captured the voices and experiences of the norm. families,” said Milloy – voices that can be challenging to record using other Three reports published over the past data-collection methods. “We used the three years (by CompassPoint Non- polling data from the conventions to profit Services/The Eugene and Agnes report the characteristics of the families E. Meyer Foundation, The Center for who participated. Data points like the Effective Philanthropy, and Grant- makers for Effective Organizations) Marguerite Casey Foundation doesn’t evaluate just whether a concluded that long-term general group gets a policy win or not, but what they did toward that operating grants are more effective than short-term project-based sup- goal; how many people they involved; interim changes; family port. Although the philanthropic com- involvement. munity may never reach consensus on - Alice Ito the question of which is more effective – and a one-size-fits-all approach to 38 grantmaking is likely to benefit no one income levels of the families reinforced – this recent research bolsters what our case that Equal Voice indeed repre- Marguerite Casey Foundation grant- sented the voices of low-income fami- ees (as well as many other nonprofit lies.” organizations working for social justice) have said they most need to sus- The foundation was able to use the data tain their contribution to a large-scale internally to get a clearer picture of the social movement. families who participated in the campaign, and externally, as part of its com- The foundation has responded with munication message about those fami- a commitment to long-term general- lies and the campaign itself. support grants, with a focus on multi- year, general operating support grants; Research, then, as used in the founda- approximately three-quarters of its tion’s movement building toolbox, is grants are renewals. Program Officer not an abstract pursuit but a way of Alice Ito believes that this approach gathering many voices – of listening to helped lay the groundwork of trust that community needs, desires and solu- drew the vast majority of foundation tions to their own issues on a large scale grantees to take on the challenge of rather than making assumptions about Equal Voice – work which was beyond what a community’s problems are or the scope of their respective grants what solutions they most need. and for which they did not receive additional funding. “By the time Equal “If I talk about a family member who Voice started, many organizations had doesn’t have health insurance, that’s a already gone through one multi-year personal need,” said Luz Vega-Marquis, grant, been reviewed and evaluated, explaining why research is a corner- and recommended for renewal,” Ito noted. She added that when a group stone of the foundation’s approach to was advocating for policy changes that supporting movement building. “But were not entirely within their con- if I can connect it to others that are in trol, even if they had not succeeded in a similar situation, suddenly it’s much obtaining those changes, they received greater than that.” ongoing support from the foundation:

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Marguerite Casey Foundation doesn’t evaluate just whether a group gets a policy win or not, but what they did toward that goal: how many people they involved; interim changes; family involvement. As a program officer, I was empowered to say, “Even though you weren't able to get policy changed this time, you came so close, and it was great to see how many of your family members came up and testified.” They could see the foundation being supportive and encouraging, and not punishing them for things that were out of their control. That laid the groundwork for grantees to be motivated to say, ‘Even though we’re not getting additional money for this, everything we’ve done with Marguerite Casey Foundation has been really consistent, so we should consider being part of this cam- what Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins iden- Rather than back away from keeping paign.” tifies as the mass media’s “blame-the- families at the front of the campaign, victim frame, [which] turns pain into Baca broadened the scope of her out- Re-invent Communications shame for the unemployed mother, the reach: “We were intentional about Generating media coverage for issues ex-offender father, and the family that making families the voice and face of affecting low-income people in a cannot afford the rising rent, health the campaign. People gave up their 39 money-oriented culture is hard. Get- care or utility costs.” evenings and weekends to participate. ting attention for a social movement Community and ethnic media did an with poor and working families at the The foundation’s communication team excellent job of elevating the fami- forefront when reporters are not used was faced with the challenge of pitch- lies’ voices and valuing their opinion to seeing them as sources is even hard- ing stories about Equal Voice families and solutions to the challenges they er. Add to those challenges a campaign to media outlets while keeping the face.” Media coverage was important that went beyond single-issue actions families from becoming stock characters not only to advance the Equal Voice to encompass the full spectrum of in trite narratives or painted as victims or agenda but also to reflect back to the working families’ lives and you’ve blamed for their own “plight.” The base- families the impact of their efforts. pushed the parameters of the 800- line requirement was that coverage of the word newspaper article or television campaign be respectful of the family sound bite just to the limit. At the same time, as radio commen- members who were leading it. tator Wes “Scoop” Nisker used to say, “If you don’t like the news, go out As Rami Nashashibi of Equal Voice Because the Equal Voice participants member group Inner-City Muslim and make some of your own.” Under- refused to define the campaign in terms standing the limitations of a tradi- Action Network observed at the policy of a single issue, even those relatively convening in San Francisco: “The media tional public relations campaign in few reporters who might normally the context of an initiative as complex are not covering these issues for the very cover a campaign for social equity had reason we are having this campaign. as Equal Voice, the foundation estab- to look closely to find their headline. lished strategic partnerships that, That is because these are not the issues “Thousands March for Health Care” that get elevated; they are not the issues combined with the work of its internal did not fit the thousands gathering to communication team, would ensure a that get amplified without the type of assess and press for change in all the power we are trying to build nationally.” coordinated and strategic media arm issue areas keeping their families from for the campaign, one that would have thriving and their children from reach- Certainly, the Equal Voice campaign the broadest reach possible while ing their fullest potential. In addition, staying true to the core value of elevat- faced multiple challenges in getting said Marguerite Casey Foundation coverage from traditional media, from ing the voices of the families. Among Director of Communication Kathleen other strategies, the communication reporters and producers used to relying Baca, many reporters and editors were on a Rolodex filled with the powerful unwilling to “recognize families as team teamed up with the foundation’s and their handlers to the nontraditional experts. … We could have 15,000 fam- program team to make key grants that nature of the campaign itself. The cam- ilies, but the question was ‘Will any of would support the communication paign by its very nature was at odds with the presidential candidates be there?’” efforts. Lift Every Voice “What we’re trying to do is change atti- outlets such as The Washington Post and tudes, change a culture, and that doesn’t MSNBC – and stories in nearly 100 happen via quick, feel-good promos,” online news sources. said Baca, explaining why she chose to go with a multitiered, nontraditional New America Media produced 18 mul- media campaign. That included partner- timedia packages (print, video, photo- ing with several groups – New America graph) that ran in more than 50 outlets Media, American Forum, Virilion and and gave about 70 families direct access Onda Films – to connect with ethnic to the media/public space. Onda Films media, support those on the ground produced an hour-long documentary in generating op-eds, host a campaign that offers eloquent testimony to the blog, and produce a full-length docu- struggles and strengths of individual mentary, as well as pitching the Equal families and at the same time charts the Voice story to mainstream and commu- mounting momentum and power of nity-based media outlets. the campaign as it grew from the first town hall meeting inside a state prison The platform itself, produced in two in Monroe, Wash., to the simultaneous formats – a shorter, accordion-style tri-city national conventions of Septem- foldout and a 30-page booklet that ber 2008. laid out in detail the families’ recommendations for change at the local, What reporters in any medium and from any outlet – small or large, ethnic None of [Equal Voice] would have worked if we didn’t have or mainstream – found when they took the program officers we did at that moment. Our grantees the time to look behind the scenes of the Equal Voice campaign was a story trusted that their messages were being heard – they trusted their of poignancy and national import: the program officers and trusted the information they were getting story of American families finding their from us. collective voice, facing economic hard- 40 ship and a harsh political climate by - Cynthia Renfro relying on the most valuable resource they could muster: each other.

state and federal level in education, Key to the success of the campaign’s criminal justice, employment, health media strategy were the family mem- care, housing, child care, immigration, bers themselves, who courageously and safe and thriving communities – shared not only their points of view proved to be a powerful communica- but also their lives, in many cases let- tion tool, containing a clear record of ting reporters and filmmakers into their the families’ roadmap for change and, homes to observe intimate details of in the longer version, the story of the family life. campaign and the voices and faces of the families behind it. The publications Despite the many challenges, the foun- are ones the families can use them- dation’s multifaceted communication selves and distribute as they see fit – as strategy helped the campaign make a the trip to Washington, D.C., demonstrat- broad media imprint, an achievement ed – to spread the Equal Voice message. all the more striking given that the campaign coincided with one of the most The collaborative, multitiered approach closely watched presidential elections to communication that Baca and the in history. foundation took was successful in generating coverage that reached a wide audience without compromising the Foster Collective core values of the campaign. In addi- Leadership tion to spreading its message through Key to the philosophy behind, and the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, success of, the Equal Voice campaign, a campaign blog and live webcasts (500 was ensuring that the collective that people logged on to the live webcast grew out of the 65 town hall meetings of the national convention), the Equal took genuine leadership of the work, Voice campaign garnered print, tele- including but not limited to imple- vision and radio news stories in more menting the national family platform. than 26 states – including high-profile As significant an opportunity as this

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy presented, it may also have been one of the greatest challenges the campaign faced, especially in its initial stages. A commitment to collective leadership requires more than rhetoric; it requires that those accustomed to having a certain amount of power – from foundation staff to leaders of community- based organizations – come to terms with sharing that power so that those in whose name a campaign or movement is waged can lead and speak for themselves, without intermediaries. “Too many of us, even though we are well intentioned, [see policy as] a top- down process,” observed Joe Brooks, vice president for civic engagement at Oakland-based PolicyLink and co- planner of the Equal Voice campaign. Brooks, a veteran funder as well as community organizer, envisioned the power that could be harnessed if foundations themselves engaged in large-scale, long- term collaboration without concern for “credit,” just as the community groups that were part of Equal Voice were chal- Director of Programs and Evaluation “After Equal Voice, it felt clear that peo- lenged to do – around a shared commit- Cynthia Renfro described the program ple valued us for more than the cash,” ment to “enlarging the pot of opportu- officer’s overriding mandate as “being Renfro said. “Cash is huge, but the nity and investing in building the voice in relationship with grantees.” What grantees valued us because they were 41 and capacity of people on the ground this means in practice is that they being heard. I understood that through to affect policy in their own terms, [in don’t talk much about going on “site the Equal Voice process.” ways that] would favor them.” visits”; instead, they look for invitations from grantees to participate in, Leverage Outside Resources for example, regional meetings, “as The mandate contained in the 40-odd Re-envision the Role of participants and collaborators, not pages of the Equal Voice National Fam- Fromthe Program its inception, Officer Marguerite Casey just external viewers,” she explained. ily Platform is as expansive as it is reflec- Foundation defined the role its pro- Program Officer Alice Ito observed, tive of the interconnectedness of the gram officers would play as some- that she prefers to meet not only with needs of those who developed it. Even a thing much deeper, and more col- an executive director and a develop- quick skim makes it clear that support- laborative, than assessing proposals, ment person at a potential or current ing the kind of movement required to writing checks and analyzing interim grantee organization, but also with make the ideals in the platform a reality and final reports. family members in leadership roles regionally and nationally will require within that organization. much more than the resources of a An internal foundation document single foundation – or even the philan- makes clear that “The relationship piece is crucial,” thropic sector in its entirety. [T]he program officer’s role in Renfro emphasized. “None of [Equal relation to a grantee is that of a Voice] would have worked if we didn’t Recognizing this, Marguerite Casey resource: In addition to provid- Foundation has initiated an effort ing access to grant dollars, the have the program officers we did at that moment. Our grantees trusted to make sure its grantees and others program officer can share infor- involved in or supportive of Equal Voice mation, point to useful technical that their messages were being heard – they trusted their program officers have the information they need to gain support or intermediary capacity, access to public resources, including encourage networking and sup- and trusted the information they were getting from us.” This reciprocity stimulus dollars, already perceived as port the convening spaces provided hard to access at the community level. by the foundation. Program offi- between program officer and grant- cers do not insert themselves into ee – rather than the hierarchy that is Through Equal Voice for America’s local decision-making processes hard to overcome when one side con- Families, the foundation is working to – whether within an organization trols the checkbook – is at the core of help grantees broaden their potential or within a community. We ask, the foundation's philosophy, as well funding base by sending them action listen, act and learn how to best as being key to the success of Equal alerts – weekly updates about upcom- serve the needs of each region. Voice. ing hearings, public actions, requests

Lift Every Voice for proposals, updates and distribution from those traditional roles and forge of stimulus dollars at the state level in an active, collaborative partnership to its grantmaking regions. advance a family-led campaign.” Over the long term, public-private The support of the foundation’s board collaboration (as well as foundation- was equally crucial to the success of to-foundation collaboration) will be the campaign: Not only did the direc- necessary to garner the investment in tors support the idea of a campaign America’s children and families the and approve the budget needed to national family platform mandates. mobilize families, they also wrote the foundation’s original mission state- Convene ment, which holds as a central prin- Foundations have an almost unmatched ciple that families should advocate power to convene: They have the in their own behalf. The board “took resources to fund travel and meeting a gigantic leap of faith” in support- costs, and, because of their grantmaking Equal Voice back when it was not ing power, their invitations are rarely much more than a vision, said Vega- declined. By providing the resources Marquis. “I am blessed to have a board to bring thousands of people together that understood this and gave us the at multiple regional and national Equal space to try it out.” Voice gatherings, Marguerite Casey Foundation was able to make a tre- “I think our selection of grantees is a mendous investment in the burgeon- mindblower for people,” Vega-Marquis ing movement without necessarily added, referring to the diverse group using its grantmaking power to make of organizations Marguerite Casey decisions about the course that move- Foundation funds across the country, ment would take. all working toward the goal of improving the lives of low-income families by 42 increasing those families’ capacity to Build the Road by Walking Luz Vega-Marquis frequently refer- advocate for change. ences a poem by Antonio Machado in We find people – committed people, the context of philanthropy. The poem committed organizations, commit- implies that the most important work ted leaders in neighborhoods – and is done collectively and, sometimes, we say, “Okay, we like what you spontaneously. do for families. You are building a base. We invite you to be part of our “Traditionally, a grantee’s relation- roots.” It’s like when the poet Anto- ship with a foundation is passive, in nio Machado talks about building a that foundations give financial sup- road. We’re building the road togeth- port to organizations to work on a er – we invite you to walk with us. To specific issue and evaluate their work me that is the image. You bring lots based on a predetermined set of out- of different people to this road, to comes,” Vega-Marquis has observed. make this road better for families. “The Equal Voice for America’s Fami- lies campaign demanded that the foundation and grantees move away

[Luz Vega-Marquis] spoke about people getting up and doing “something, not accepting the status quo and really working hard to make change for our communities. And she said that if we were committed to doing it, she was committed to helping. Rev. Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins Executive Director” TARGET Area Development Corporation

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Equal Voice in Context: Movement Building as a Philanthropic Strategy for the 21st Century

If you expect to see the final results of your work, you simply have not asked a big enough question. – I.F. Stone

The relationship between philanthro- – may be the most famous, and contro- as voter registration, the NAACP, and py and movements for social change versial, example. In 1952, Ford Foun- public interest law centers – develop- has a complex and sometimes fraught dation established the Fund for the ments that led Ford heir Henry Ford history. As the participants in Equal Republic, endowing it with a million II to step down from the board in Voice Coalition continue to move dollars to “support activities directed 1976, leaving the foundation with no the family agenda forward, it is worth toward the elimination of restrictions family member involvement. considering where Equal Voice falls in on freedom of thought, inquiry and the tradition of philanthropic engage- expression in the United States, and The Ford example is instructive ment with issues of social justice, what the development of policies and pro- because it illustrates some of the ten- it has in common with past efforts and cedures best adapted to protect these sions and challenges, both internal where Marguerite Casey Foundation rights” – a direct response to assaults and external, that can arise when a and Equal Voice Coalition are striving on those freedoms from the political foundation attempts to leverage its to break new ground. right. financial and human resources to support social change. Equal Voice While early philanthropists may have In the years that followed, not only the National Planning Committee Mem- contented themselves in good part Ford Foundation but also the Carn- ber Joe Brooks, now the vice presi- with putting their family name on egie and Rockefeller philanthropies dent for civic engagement at Poli- libraries and hospitals, by the mid drew the ire of communist-hunting cyLink in Oakland, Calif., spent years 20th century, a handful of pioneering Senator Joe McCarthy. Although this in the trenches of philanthropy, as a foundations aimed for a more pro- pressure played a part in leading Ford program officer at the San Francisco found impact by engaging with – and Foundation into a period of invest- Foundation, as national co-chair of sometimes directly underwriting – ment in colleges and hospitals, in the the Neighborhood Funders Group the social movements of their times. early 1960s, under the leadership of and as vice chairman of the Associa- Ford Foundation – which made McGeorge Bundy, Ford shifted course tion of Black Foundation Executives. its first forays into philanthropy by again and began making grants to sup- He recalls leaving the field of philan- underwriting hospitals and museums port activities and organizations such thropy feeling that, despite his best efforts, he had not fully succeeded in in the United States, looking for clues encouraging the field to embrace the from those that had been most suc- ideal of supporting advocacy and poli- cessful. The conservative movement cy-based work at a grassroots level. stood out as the most successful on a strategic level, said Vega-Marquis. Before entering foundation work, Brooks, an economist by training but Research exists to support that conclu- an organizer at heart, spent 13 years in sion. For example, a report from the the South helping African Americans National Committee for Responsive maintain their land holdings, and then Philanthropy found that conservative went on to head the city’s anti-poverty foundations are more likely to offer program in Berkeley, Calif. Brooks general operating support, which gives immediately saw Equal Voice as an grantees flexibility to respond to poli- opportunity to pursue supporting cy windows. The report stated that the advocacy and policy work at a grass- conservative foundations organized roots level in alliance with others. The the nonprofit organizations they fund Equal Voice campaign, he said, “was into a political movement much more an organizing opportunity within phi- effectively than have more progressive lanthropy that made a lot of sense, and funders14. On the other hand, the poli- that was to raise the capacity in real cies advanced by progressive founda- time of neighborhoods and residents tions are more likely to come from a and community-based organizations demand-side approach – that is, they to build power and active voice.” are grounded in the aspirations of their grantees’ constituents – whereas Such opportunities, while they are conservative foundations, although increasing, are still few. The Nation- perhaps successful in their own terms, al Network of Grantmakers defines “have helped create a supply-side ver- social-change grantmaking as “reach- sion of American politics in which pol- 44 ing those who are in greatest need of icy ideas with enough money behind help by giving them the power and them will find their niche in the politi- opportunity to solve their own prob- cal marketplace regardless of existing lems.” Social-change grantmaking tar- citizen demand.15” gets root causes and supports empowerment of those most marginalized or In a 2002 commentary in The Ameri- oppressed to tackle those root causes, can16 Prospect, Robert Kuttner – a founder of the magazine and a senior We have to change the rules of the game. And that takes distinguished fellow at the think tank Demos – underscored Vega-Marquis’ organizing. That takes a movement. observations about the conserva- - Joe Brooks tive movement and its philanthropic arm. Kuttner described what he had whereas traditional philanthropy more witnessed and overheard when he often focuses on responding directly was invited to participate in a debate to human need12. Although a num- at a convening of major conservative ber of social-change foundations have foundations: sprung up in recent decades, a study by The Philanthropy Roundtable, the National Network of Grantmakers which sponsored the conference, estimates that less than 3 percent of also likes to include a few token all private grantmaking in the United liberals. One observed that lib- States goes toward support for social eral funders would never speak a change; the balance is used to support language of movement building. direct services.13 “We promote policies piecemeal,” he said, “but we don’t think of it According to Luz Vega-Marquis, cen- as building a progressive move- tral to the planning process that led to ment.” Marguerite Casey Foundation’s grantmaking strategy was a board meeting What was impressively revealed in July 2002, the goal of which was to here was precisely the right’s develop a strategic frame for the foun- movement consciousness. When I dation’s work. Those in attendance was young, the people who spoke examined recent social movements of “the movement” and who used

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy “radical” as an affirmative word were progressive. The movement, at first, referred to the civil-rights movement; by the mid-1960s, it referred to a generalized movement for social justice. Move- ment people boycotted nonunion grapes, worked on voter registration, opposed the war in Vietnam.

Today, one hears the phrase “movement conservatism.” The right’s think tanks and philanthropists alike understand that the enterprise is – above all – political. IRS rules for foundations and research institutes don’t allow them to be partisan or primarily legislative, but don’t mind if they are ideological or politically strategic….

By contrast, mainstream foundations have a tradition of emphasiz- ing research and reform. Often, the Raising families’ capacity to advocate vention and the release of the national social-change goals are impeccably for themselves is crucial to answer- family platform, Joe Brooks noted: “The liberal – empower the poor, clean ing that question, just as it is crucial blueprint itself is indicative of the con- up the environment, improve the to the foundation’s philosophy. Echo- stituent voices that produced it being welfare of children – but the politi- ing Vega-Marquis, Joe Brooks under- ready and equipped to do something cal dimension leaves many senior scored the core belief that “You can’t about what they produced. So, we have 45 foundation executives uneasy. My ‘service’ people out of poverty”: the blueprint for the house. Now where tablemate was right: You would Land use patterns, the dispari- is the nail and the hammer, and how are never hear senior officers of big ties in education and jobs – those we going to buy the lot?” mainstream foundations talking things have to be addressed. Early about building a movement. The childhood development issues – Brooks’s questions must be answered enterprise is rather understood as the chances that are missed at birth by those, to continue Brooks’s meta- philanthropic. If you research and in low-income families – those are phor, who developed the blueprint: model good policy, social change policy- and rule-changing activi- America’s low-income families, speak- will somehow occur. This tradition ties and imperatives, not just get- ing and acting in their own behalf. But harkens back to the Progressive ting somebody who can’t find a job when it comes to rounding up hammers Era conceit that social problems a safety-net grant. That’s not going and nails, not to mention making a have technical solutions. By some to change their circumstance. We down payment on the lot, that is where alchemy, the research findings will have to change the rules of the allies in philanthropy and the nonprofit lead to policy reforms through a game. And that takes organizing. world have an important partnership messy political process whose igni- That takes a movement. role to play. tion is somebody else’s affair. In that context, Marguerite Casey Foun- The three-legged stool has been used For Vega-Marquis, however, “alchemy” dation’s commitment to fund organiza- in many contexts to represent stabil- wasn’t good enough. Conservatives, tions working toward social change and ity based on balance and equality. The she observed, were placing people on also, through Equal Voice, its commit- metaphor of the three-legged stool school boards and in mayoral offic- ment to take a more active and public is particularly apt when it comes to es, and right-wing foundations were role as convener and, in some instanc- describing the strength and balance of making general support grants: “They es, instigator of dialogue, may one day the partnership that drove the Equal look for big ideas. They provide long- be viewed as historic, in the same way Voice campaign: collaboration among term support to grantees. And they Ford Foundation’s engagement with the families, grantee organizations and understand that communication and civil rights movement is now perceived Marguerite Casey Foundation. The research are important to capturing as a moment when a foundation did legs of the stool may, at times, have not play it safe at a crucial moment in been uneven if measured in terms of the hearts and minds of American peo- American history. the resources or cultural currency each ple. That is what we’re trying to do, and entity had going in, and the cultural trying to do well. And how do we do Summing up where matters stood after landscape in which the voices of poor that better?” the September 2008 Equal Voice con- and working families are rarely heard

Lift Every Voice directly and not always welcomed, was sustain it? Answering those ques- certainly rocky. tions is far from simple. Doing so will require, more than anything, the test of Yet, the three-legged stool that consti- time. But finding answers will also call tutes Equal Voice has held up, ultimate- for deciding on a common definition ly supporting the dreams and aspira- of “movement,” reflecting on historic tions of tens of thousands across the social-change movements, and taking country, its stability coming from the into account what Equal Voice has in near-perfect balance the three partners common with those movements as developed through the rigorous prac- well as how they differ. tice of re-examining and righting long- standing power differentials so that The defining difference may be those whose voices might traditionally the refusal to limit the Equal Voice have been loudest (for example, the campaign or the alliances that grew leaders of the community-based orga- out of it to a single issue, a decision nizations and the foundation itself) that stemmed from the understanding stepped back, as necessary, so that that poverty – the central challenge those historically silenced (the family the campaign chose to take on – is members) could be heard more clearly multifaceted, crosses race and and take the reins of a movement that ethnicity, and permeates virtually can move forward by no other means. every aspect of the lives of those For Kathleen Baca, Director of Com- affected. America’s most successful movements for social change, however, have typically targeted a specific issue Equal Voice symbolizes the goals and hopes of the or been driven by a specific group. families and those working to improve the economic well-being of families. Equal Voice lit a path that Marguerite Casey Foundation’s philosophy regarding movement build- 46 families, grantees and the foundation can walk together. ing as a philanthropic strategy reflects - Kathleen Baca the scope of the foundation’s ambition and the humility of its process: munication, the key to the movement’s We believe that movement build- success lay in the partnership of the ing is the long-term investment in families, the community-based orga- nurturing the conditions for low- nizations, and the funder rather than income families, their allies and the actions of any single one. “Equal communities to become engaged Voice symbolizes the goals and hopes in public policy and to advocate of the families and those who have and act for greater equity. Move- been working to improve the econom- ment building must be nurtured ic well-being of families. Equal Voice at the individual, organizational, lit a path that families, grantees and and community levels through the the foundation can walk together. It’s a allocation of necessary and vital collaborative model that puts families resources… first and uses the support and resources of philanthropy and community- Through its investments, the based organizations to nurture a Foundation hopes to nurture a family-led movement.” larger vision of movement building that is rooted in the direct Today, less than three years after the experience of low-income fami- first Equal Voice town hall meeting lies. This is the vision of the Foun- took place, there is no question that dation’s philosophy of “ask, listen, Equal Voice has, as Baca put it, lit a act”… path – its route mapped clearly by the national family platform – and We believe that the “Next Great no question that growing numbers of Movement” will occur and be people across the country are commit- driven by low-income families ted to traveling it. who have developed durable mechanisms through which to Does this mean, then, that Equal Voice connect and become positive has become a genuine social move- and effective change agents for ment – and if so, what will it take to themselves, their communities

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy and our society. The result of the “Next Great Movement” is change, a shift in power that undermines the root causes of social and economic injustice, and results in a more equitable society for all.17

In Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail, movement scholar Frances Fox Piven argues that “For a protest movement to arise out of these traumas of daily life, people have to perceive the deprivation and disorganization they experience as both wrong, and subject to redress. The social arrangements that are ordi- narily perceived as just and immutable must come to seem both unjust and mutable.”18

Testimony offered at town hall meetings across the country indicates that the Equal Voice constituency is in consensus that the conditions that keep their families from achieving to be considered an expansion of current economic crisis has been dev- the goals laid out in the platform are political opportunities. astating. Foundations, too, have been not a result of their own failures but hit hard, and some have responded by a matter of social injustice. And the B) By organizing the campaign turning to a “day to day” funding phi- spirit that infused those same gather- through a network of community- losophy as well, believing, understand- 47 ings was clearly one of “¡Sì se puede!” based organizations engaged in social- ably, that when basic human needs are – what Piven might call a sense that change work and grounded in and so great, simply meeting them should unjust social conditions were, if faced trusted in their respective communi- be the immediate priority. collectively, mutable and subject to ties, the foundation and its grantees redress. have engaged existing social-move- In this social and economic context, ment structures. the future of movement building Patricia Van Pelt–Watkins, after a remains an open question. But if the thorough review of the literature, C) The national family platform, Equal Voice experience has made one offers the following as the context in drawn directly from the experience thing clear, it is that philanthropic sup- which a movement can be built and and input of the tens of thousands who port for movement building is and will sustained: participated in town hall meetings be key to creating the kind of social across the country, reflects collective change that will ensure, as the families Based on the four components interpretation and attribution. of Equal Voice have demanded, that of contemporary social move- their basic human needs – food, hous- ment theory, insurgencies arise D) Finally, via its investment in Equal ing, health care, and education – are and progress under certain condi- Voice, Marguerite Casey Founda- met immediately, on a humanitarian tions including (a) the expansion tion engaged hundreds of community basis, and in the long term, as a matter of political opportunities, (b) the activists and tens of thousands of fami- of social justice. engagement of extant social move- ly members across the country, reflect- ment structures, (c) the presence ing a mobilization of resources that Is “rebuilding a totally disintegrated of collective interpretation and is perhaps unprecedented for a single safety net” – a goal Luz Vega-Mar- attribution, and (d) the mobiliza- 19 investment to spark and sustain social quis articulated in Washington, D.C., tion of resources . change. at the unveiling of the national family platform – possible, along with Using the framework above to Today, with a self-described commu- achieving the comprehensive slate assess Equal Voice, its context and nity organizer in the White House, the of agenda items iterated in the plat- its achievements, the elements for a nation is in a different place than it was form? If so, what kind of movement genuine social movement appear to be when the campaign was first imagined. will meeting those goals demand, and in place: At the same time, for many or most of what will be required of each of the the families who were part of the cam- partners identified by Equal Voice A) The change in presidential paign – and the many more whose – philanthropy, community-based administrations is significant enough concerns Equal Voice represents – the organizations and America’s families?

Lift Every Voice Forces in their own right, those three of a low-income Latino family is inti- allies have proved themselves infi- mately connected to the fate and des- nitely more powerful together. And tiny of an African-American family, of as Equal Voice has evolved, each ally a Muslim family, of a Native American has changed the others in profound family. We are truly in this together, ways: the way families see themselves and we either win or lose together.” in relation to social-movement work; the way the grantees see themselves in A “win” for Equal Voice, Vega-Mar- relationship to their constituents and quis elaborated, will not represent an the foundation; and the way the foun- overturning of the existing order, but, dation views its relationship with the rather, an expansion of that order to grantees and families who made Equal include all families in the long-cher- Voice campaign possible and are tak- ished American Dream. ing Equal Voice forward. “I am not some wild-eyed radical,” “Clearly, we could not have gone she said, clarifying her aims in nurtur- through Equal Voice and remained ing a nationwide movement of and the same,” Vega-Marquis noted, citing for American families. “We are mid- changes in everything from the foun- dle-of-the-road all-American. These dation’s emphasis on communication are American families. Just because to the way it structures its partnerships you are poor doesn’t mean you don’t and evaluates its portfolio. The Equal belong. We need a population that is Voice experience, to her, offers pro- well educated, well trained. We should found “corroboration from the ground not be putting our people in jail as bud- that what we are doing makes sense. gets collapse, but finding ways to help When we started out, we didn’t know. everyone become productive citizens. That notion that, ‘You build it, they will come?’ Well, they have come. Not “We want – the families want – what 48 only have they come; they have taken everyone else gets. That’s all. That’s it.” it over! The thing that has changed the foundation the most is that our ideals have been taken to a whole different level.” “One of the most critical messages [from the Equal Voice experience] is that our well-being is fundamentally and integrally interrelated,” notedRami Nashashibi of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. “We need to begin to understand that. There is no such thing as winning alone. The fate and destiny

One of the most critical messages [from the Equal Voice experience] is that our well-being is fundamentally and integrally interrelated.. there is no such “ thing as winning alone ... We are truly in this together Rami Nashashibi Director of Programs” and Evaluation Inner-City Muslim Action Network

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Board of Directors

Freeman A. Hrabowski III Patricia Schroeder David Villa Douglas X. Patiño Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary

William C. Bell Joan Poliak William H. Foege America Bracho Lynn Huntley, ESQ

Staff Members 49 Luz Vega-Marquis President & CEO Herb Williams Executive Assistant to the President & CEO/ Board of Directors Liaison Kathleen Baca Director of Communications Cynthia Renfro Director of Programs & Evaluation Stephen Sage Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Gianni-Haubry Finance Manager Cheryl Milloy Evaluation & Research Officer Claudia Rowe Public Information Officer Peter Bloch Garcia Program Officer Alice Ito Program Officer Chad Jones Program Officer Ericka Smith Cox Program Officer Vanessa Tanner Graphic Designer & Web Manager Kathleen Roe Grants Administrator Piilani Pang Administrative Specialist Nathan Sorseth Human Resources Assistant Sunny Hong Administrative Assistant Karen Urlie Administrative Assistant

Lift Every Voice Equal Voice for America’s Families A Snapshot

The Equal Voice for America’s Families National Family Platform is a blueprint for change as heard from more than 15,000 families at 65 town hall meetings held across the country in 2007 and 2008, and ratified by 15,000 families at a three-city convention in Birmingham, Chicago and Los Angeles in 2008.

Through the Equal Voice Coalition, communities across the country are working to advance the policy recommendations in the national family platform at the local, state and federal levels.

Our Vision for America

We envision a nation in which America’s promise of prosperity, security and opportunity is enjoyed by all families, a nation in which all families are nurtured, supported and celebrated, and a nation in which families work together to build a better future for themselves, their communities and their country. We envision an America where equal opportunity translates into equal outcomes.

We envision a future where all families have decent jobs, health care, education opportunities, affordable housing, child care, 50 and safe neighborhoods. We hope for a future where no family has to struggle to meet basic needs such as food and health care.

We Believe Our Commitment No family should live in poverty. We will work for change. Prosperity and security begin with every person’s We will work collectively in support of right to work in a well-paid job, to be healthy and families. educated and to live in a safe community. We will protect the rights and opportunities Equal opportunity should lead to equality of of all families. achievement. We will be involved in our communities. Public policies should promote everyone’s ability to reach their fullest potential and advance the common We will teach our children values and good. character. Families should have an equal voice in shaping We will support our youth. policies and the future of their communities. We will inform others of the issues we face Society should support family unity, encourage the and what we need to do about them. healthy development of children and youth and We will hold our elected officials accountable foster respect for all people. to the common good. Strong families make Americawww.equalvoiceforfamilies.org stronger.

Movement Building as a 21st-Century Philanthropic Strategy Notes

1. A Case Study of the Marguerite Casey Foundation 2. Ibid., p. 2 3. The Role and Responsibilities of a Marguerite Casey Foundation Program Officer 4. Does Theory Matter in Social Movement Practice in the Midwest: A Descriptive Study, By Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins, A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy, Capella University, September 2009. 5. Ibid, p. 5 6. In Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005, p. 183. "http://www.answers.com/topic/the-ford/ foundation"www.answers.com/topic/the-ford/foundation accessed on Aug. 8, 2009 7. Van Pelt-Watkins, p. 122 - 124 8. Van Pelt-Watkins. 9. Ibid. 51 10. Ibid, pp. 1-2 11. The Role and Responsibilities of a Marguerite Casey Foundation Program Officer 12. Shaw et al, 1998; Bothwell, 2003; and Goldberg, 2002, in A Case Study of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, op cit. 13. Goldberg, 2002, in ibid. 14. National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Axis of Ideology: Conservative Foundations and Public Policy, in A Case Study of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. 15. Sally Covington, 19997, in ibid. 16. Comment: Philanthropy and Movements, Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect, July 15, 2002, accessed at http://www.prospect.org/cs/ articles?article=philanthropy_and_movements 17. Marguerite Casey Foundation: Building the Infrastructure for Movement 18. Piven, p. 12. 19. Van Pelt-Watkins, p. 124.

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Lift Every Voice Marguerite Casey Foundation · 1300 Dexter Avenue North, Suite 115 · Seattle, WA 98109 www.caseygrants.org · Phone: (206) 691-3134 · Fax: (206) 286-2725 · TYY: (206)273-7395