In 2009, Social Justice Fund launched a new grantmaking initiative entitled Civic Action: Delivering on Change. The Civic Action Initiative focuses Social Justice Fund’s resources on nine progressive organizations in the Pacific and Mountain Northwest. We are supporting groups capable of translating the gains of both the state and federal elections into substantial policy change that benefits people on the ground, particularly in historically marginalized communities.
Idaho
Idaho Community Action Network – Boise, ID
The fundamental mission of ICAN is to provide a voice for Idahoans committed to progressive social change and to develop the power necessary to create those changes. ICAN was founded in 1999 and is a membership organization that provides members with the training and tools they need to participate and have a voice in the public arena where decisions are made that affect their lives. ICAN uses citizen participation, grassroots organizing, direct actions, and other strategies to impact the decision of powerful public and private bodies.
Oregon:
CAUSA is Oregon’s statewide, grassroots immigrant rights coalition that works to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies. CAUSA organizes, educations, and mobilizes to build power in the Latino immigrant community. CAUSA’s electoral and civic engagement work is focused on voter education and engagement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and in preparation for Oregon’s midterm elections in 2010.
Partnership for Safety and Justice – Portland, OR
The Partnership for Safety and Justice unites people convicted of crime, survivors of crime, and families of both to advance approaches that redirect policies away from an over-reliance on incarceration to effective strategies that reduce violence and increase safety. Following the successes of their recent ballot measure campaigns, the Partnership for Safety and Justice seeks to seize new opportunities to expand the scope and scale to their issue campaign work, increasing the viability of the criminal justice reform agenda.
Rural Organizing Project – Scappoose, OR
ROP is a statewide organization of locally-based groups that work to create communities accountable to a standard of human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice, and the right to self-determination. Their mission is to strengthen the skills, resources, and vision of primary leadership in local autonomous human dignity groups with a goal of keeping such groups a vibrant source for a just democracy.
Montana:
Montana Human Rights Network – Helena, MT
Montana Human Rights Network is a grassroots, membership-based organization with 1,400 members and seven local affiliate groups. Their mission is to promote democratic values such as pluralism, equality and justice: to challenge bigotry and intolerance, and to organize communities to speak out in support of democratic principles and institutions. A critical part of the Networks’ work is educating Montanans on social justice issues and then engaging them in the democratic process, whether that is in the form of initiative campaigns, or the public policy arena.
Montana Women Vote – Missoula, MT
Montana Women Vote is a coalition of nine state-level organizations sharing a common goal of educating and mobilizing low-income women, many of whom have never voted, to participate in the democratic process. MWV is committed to educating women on the connections between tissues of economic justice, reproductive rights, environmental health, violence against women and human rights and encouraging women to advocate for public policies that support women and families.
Washington:
Statewide Poverty Action Network – Seattle, WA
The Statewide Poverty Action Network (Poverty Action) builds grassroots power to end causes of poverty and to create opportunities for everyone to prosper. Poverty Action works on engaging, empowering and mobilizing people with low incomes to take meaningful civic action to influence policy decisions that address the root causes of poverty. They organize around electoral and legislative campaigns wand use the media to reframe the debate around poverty.
The Win/Win Network – Granger, WA
The Win/Win Network’s mission is to establish collection action around a common agenda amongst Washington’s civic engagement community that includes increasing civic participation in underrepresented communities, enhancing capacity of constituent-based organizations, and implementing long-term strategies for socially responsible policies. This grant will be made specifically for the Central Washington Progress project in the Yakima Valley.
Wyoming:
Equality State Policy Center – Casper, WY
The Equality State Policy Center is a broad-based coalition of Wyoming interests that works through research, public education and advocacy to hold Wyoming state and local governments accountable to the people they represent, and to encourage and assist state residents to participate effectively in public policy decision-making. Founded in 1993, ESPC has grown to a 32-member organization that includes conservation groups, labor unions, and civic and social justice organizations.