ABOUT US
For over twenty years, we've been committed to the same core values and mission.
To Organize
“Community organizing is the process of building power through involving a constituency in identifying problems they share and the solutions to those problems that they desire”
- David Beckwith
Our Mission
To advance and encourage community organizing as a strategy for progressive change in Ohio. Organize! Ohio strives to build a system of support for community organizing efforts across the state by bringing together individual groups and organizations.
Our Vision
We see community organizing as a powerful yet overlooked tool for bringing about social change. In a hostile political climate where legislators in Washington or Columbus often seem distant and unresponsive, we must turn to a strong community voice as the source for meaningful change. Thus, at Organize! Ohio, we are working to enhance communication and education on current and impactive issues.
Our vision is to broaden that impact by working together, as a network of community groups, and to identify and meet the training and resource developments of every member group. We are committed to support NOBLE, the Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, and the Shaker Square Alliance, in our common mission to advance general equity and to generate progressive change.
Our History
In 1997, organizers from around Ohio began to discuss the need for a broader, statewide approach to their organizing efforts. Their own organizations were not adequate to effect wide-ranging systemic change. The January 1998 report, Community Organizing in Ohio: A Need for Networking Assistance and Support, found that only 7% of community-based organizations were involved in some kind of community organizing with a state or national organizing network. The vast majority were working in isolation with limited access to information, resources and skills they needed to organize more effectively. In response to overwhelming interest, the organizations and institutions that had collaborated to initiate the survey decided to establish Organize! Ohio.
Organize! Ohio began in 1998 with leadership and assistance from the Grassroots Leadership Development Program of Lorain, Ohio, which provided organizational support and served as its fiscal agent. In November 2001, Organize! Ohio received its federal 501 (C) (3) status.
Protesters gather for one of the first NOBLE rallies at the
Ohio Statehouse.
