Grassroots Efforts Across the Nation
Posted by Bridge Alliance Education Fund on October 11, 2019 at 2:14 PM
Featured Blog Post: Here’s Your Reminder That Immigrants Really Do Improve Our Lives
Visit The Fulcrum for nonpartisan news coverage of the democracy reform movement!
The Bridge Alliance approaches reform with a 10,000 foot perspective -- i.e. a nationwide, all-systems approach. However, that doesn’t mean that we ignore grassroots efforts. After all, most Bridge Alliance member organizations have some type of grassroots component, which take place at locales throughout the nation.
For instance, from 2015-2018, Cities of Service’s “Love Your Block” provided technical assistance, funding, and volunteer services to six cities from coast to coast. The cities used these resources to revitalize lower income neighborhoods, with an emphasis on rejuvenating abandoned properties that had turned into hubs of illegal activities. Importantly, Americorps VISTA volunteers in each city reached out to underrepresented members of the community to ensure their voices were heard during planning and implementation. Cities of Service has been running this program since 2009 and has already chosen cities for its program through 2020.
Generation Citizen (GC) provides another example, having recently interviewed 29 young people from historically marginalized neighborhoods across the country. The goal was to better understand how growing up in underserved communities shaped their development as civic actors. GC then took the information gathered from those interviews and worked with an additional set of youth to produce a toolkit for supporting youth civic development in those communities. GC also produced a study of practices that encourage civic engagement.
In other news:
- The House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress continues to be an example of bipartisanship can still thrive on the Hill when given the chance.
- American Sustainable Business Council is hosting an informative webinar on how business shaped the American economy. That event is on October 17th @ 1 PM ET.
- The Center for the Study of Liberty is welcoming the hosts of Pantsuit Politics for “A Better Way to Talk Politics.” They will discuss how to keep things “nuanced” when discussing difficult topics.
As always, thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Garson, Bridge Alliance Education Fund
http://www.bridgealliance.us/
Think we missed a big news story involving a Bridge Alliance member? Email us at [email protected] and we'll make sure to get the story out on social media.
Bridge Alliance Members in the News:
Issue One - MarketWatch - Meet the committee on Capitol Hill that's trying to make Congress great again
FairVote - NBC Bay Area - SF Rolls Out New Voting System to Give Voters More Options This November
92nd Street Y - Bloomberg - Justice Ginsburg Explains the Origin of 'The Notorious R.B.G.'