1. Community
Organizing
Remix
21st
Century
Tools
for
Building
Relationships
and
Meaning
Lianna
Levine
Reisner,
Partner
for
Change
November
19,
2013

2. What’s
on
the
Agenda?
•
•
•
•
•
Understanding
different
types
of
organizing
Theories
of
power
What’s
in
an
organizer’s
toolkit?
Take-­‐home
action
steps
throughout
Q&A

3. What
is
Community
Organizing?
Community
organizing
conjures
different
images
• Through
chat,
share
the
first
image
or
phrase
you
think
of
when
you
hear
“community
organizing”

4. What
is
Organizing?
• Gathering
people
into
an
organization
(formal
or
informal)
to
seek
tangible
outcomes
together
• Different
kinds
of
organizing
for
different
outcomes:
Community
organizing:
Enhancing
welfare
of
disadvantaged
communities
through
collective
influence
Labor
organizing:
Building
trade
unions
for
industry
influence
Network
organizing:
Activating
relationships
to
foster
mutual
benefit
Political
organizing:
Developing
campaign
loyalty,
educating
on
issues
• Not
community
building:
developing
relationships
as
social
capital
• Not
activism:
getting
people
to
vote,
lobby,
promote
a
new
idea

5. Common
Denominators
Our
focus
today:
basic
organizing
principles
for
communities
• A
“remix”
across
organizing
disciplines,
with
a
focus
on
network
organizing
Common
across
all
forms
of
organizing:
• Participation
and
connection
at
the
“grassroots”
• A
set
of
shared
values
• Working
toward
some
specific
goal
(“how”
varies
widely)
• Creating
different
organizational
structures
Organizing
is
about
attention
to
process:
doing
business
differently
• How
we
run
our
meetings,
how
we
lead
or
delegate
Organizing
also
reveals
what
different
business
should
be
done
• Listening
and
conversation
as
a
starting
point

6. Introduction
to
Networks
• Intricate
web
of
relationships,
with
stronger
and
weaker
links
• Networks
facilitate
spreading
ideas,
giving
and
getting
information
and
resources
• Latent
potential
for
“activation”
• Often,
unexpected
or
spontaneous
benefits
Source:
Krebs
and
Holley,
2006
World Network
Figure 3 – Multi-Hub Small

7. What
is
Network
Organizing?
Network
organizing
is
about
network
activation
• Creating
strong
and
weak
links
among
diverse
people
who
are
bound
by
shared
values
 Mixture
of
connective
and
intensive
strategies
• Information
and
ideas
travel
freely
in
the
web
to
create
a
marketplace
of
exchange;
organizers
give
that
marketplace
inputs
to
keep
it
vibrant
• Supports
the
emergence
of
collaborative
self-­‐organizing
on
issues
of
shared
concern
or
passion
Different
underlying
assumptions
than
in
traditional
organizing
• Starts
from
a
place
of
abundance
and
opportunity,
rather
than
fear:
everyone
has
something
to
give,
and
everyone
can
take
as
needed
(reciprocity)
• Positional
boundaries
are
diminished:
reframes
roles
of
the
“volunteer”
and
“expert”

8. What
is
Network
Organizing?
Well-­‐developed
networks
foster:
• The
feeling
that
we
matter
• Positive,
collaborative
action
• “Third
options”
• Community
resilience
in
times
of
crisis

9. Differences
in
Organizing
Philosophy
Traditional
Organizing
Hierarchy
Change
Power
is
finite
and
can
be
taken
away.
Power
is
infinite
and
can
be
shared
and
expanded.
“How
can
I
help
people
with
less
power
work
together
to
have
more
power
as
a
collective?”
Power
Network
Organizing
“How
can
I
cultivate
power
in
individuals
so
that
their
power
is
magnified
and
activated
through
a
network
of
relationships?”
Goal
is
to
reduce
the
negative
impact
of
hierarchy
through
collective
influence
Goal
is
to
flatten
hierarchy
through
networked
relationships
Confrontation
and
struggle
are
Creativity
and
collaboration
drive
necessary
for
change.
change.

10. Personal
vs.
Positional
Power
Power
and
authority
are
not
the
same.
• Everyone
has
some
sort
of
personal
power.
Some
people
exercise
their
power
more
than
others.
Others
don’t
and
need
to
be
“empowered.”
 Personal
power
is
strengths,
talents,
intuitive
abilities,
the
types
of
work
or
subjects
that
energize
you
 If
we
use
our
personal
power
too
strongly,
we
can
crowd
out
others’
sources
of
power!
• Authority
is
given
to
people
who
have
specific
credentials
or
positions:
this
is
positional
power
that
can
be
taken
away,
as
it
is
artificial.
The
things
that
make
us
truly
powerful
cannot
be
taken
away.

11. Personal
vs.
Positional
Power
 Action
step:
Map
or
make
an
inventory
of
the
personal
power/talents
of
your
community
members.
If
this
is
hard
to
do,
develop
a
creative
process
for
learning
who
your
people
are.

12. Reckoning
with
Positional
Power
Talk
frankly
about
power
in
your
congregational
teams.
 Action
step:
Answer
the
following
questions
as
a
team:
• Where
does
positional
power
have
its
strongest
hold
in
your
congregation?
Is
it
held
by
clergy,
staff,
or
long-­‐time
members?
Is
it
built
into
your
governance
processes?
• In
what
aspects
of
congregational
life
do
your
congregants
and
staff
exercise
their
personal
power?
Where
are
people
showing
up
at
their
best?
Why?

13. Putting
Boundaries
on
Empowerment
You
can
and
should
say
“no,”
but
not
too
quickly.
 Action
step:
Develop
a
set
of
“operating
principles”
that
reference
your
boundaries:
“This
is
how
we
work
together,”
“Working
in
this
way
contributes
to
our
mission
and
values”
 Action
step:
Make
a
prioritized
wish-­‐list
based
on
what
you
hear
from
your
congregants
but
cannot
achieve
with
staff
resources:
“We
can’t
do
this,
but
we’d
love
for
others
to
step
up
and
make
it
happen
–
and
here’s
what
we
can
offer
to
support
you…”

14. Questions?

15. Organizer’s
Toolbox
1.
One-­‐on-­‐ones/“door-­‐knocks”:
listen
and
get
to
know
people
3.
Participatory
meetings:
voices
are
heard
2.
Small
group
gatherings:
house
meetings,
socials,
forums
for
exchange
4.
Story-­‐telling:
genuine
sharing
of
experiences

16. Organizer’s
Toolbox
(continued)
6.
People
working
to
facilitate
collaboration:
“technical
assistance
provider,”
“resource
partner,”
5.
People
working
as
relationship
builders:
“network
facilitator”
“network
weaver,”
“union
organizer”
8.
Seeking
partnerships
with
other
organizations
7.
Constant
eye
to
developing
leaders/personal
power

17. Using
the
Toolkit
 Action
step:
Analyze
whether
and
how
your
congregation
dedicates
attention
to
each
of
these
eight
practices.
Pick
one
area
you’d
like
to
improve
in
and
develop
a
project
around
it.
Examples
could
be:
• One-­‐on-­‐ones:
Deploy
your
team
to
conduct
one-­‐on-­‐ones
with
congregants:
ask
2
personal
questions
and
2
synagogue
questions,
but
mostly
just
listen
• Small
gatherings:
Host
small
“parties
with
a
purpose”
at
5
of
your
members’
homes,
using
the
same
open
format
for
conversation
and
connection.
Aim
for
an
action
step
from
each.
• Participatory
meetings:
Develop
3-­‐5
things
each
member
of
your
team
will
do
when
leading
meetings
to
make
them
more
participatory.
Experiment
first,
and
then
train
others
in
them.

18. Re-­‐envision
“Programs”
as
a
Network
Organizer
As
Jews,
we
need
to
do
more
to
move
from
cerebral
to
experiential,
from
talking
to
doing,
from
objective
to
subjective.
(Sometimes)
let
go
of
“curriculum”
with
adults
to
give
them
the
space
to
hash
out
topics
as
human
beings
• Bring
in
Jewish
wisdom
for
reference
or
guidance,
but
not
necessarily
as
the
leading
frame
 Action
step:
Instead
of
having
staff
or
a
lay
committee
design
all
your
“programs”
on
predetermined
content,
experiment
with
facilitating
open
formats
for
meetings
that
encourage
things
like:
• Lightly-­‐facilitated
conversation
on
a
topic
• Airing
and
acting
on
ideas
for
enhancing
the
congregation
and
the
community
• Exploration
of
health
or
family
needs

19. New
Skills
and
Roles
for
Organizing
• Brokering
connections
–
and
developing
new
awareness
to
see
connections
at
all
times
• Turning
complaints
into
opportunities
for
positive
change
• Facilitating
vs.
teaching/speaking
• Taking
more
time
to
promote
others’
participation:
do
less,
better
• Creating
interpersonal
atmospheres
and
physical
set-­‐ups
in
your
events/meetings
that
mirror
your
values
• Moving
a
group
back
and
forth
between
thinking
and
doing
• Putting
together
diverse
teams
• Leveraging
personal
power
for
the
community
• Downplaying
positional
power
as
the
source
of
authority
and
action

20. New
Skills
and
Roles
for
Organizing
 Action
step:
Rework
your
congregation’s
structure,
governance,
or
staff
roles
through
the
prism
of
these
organizing
skills.
Start
small
with
one
person’s
job
description,
or
with
one
committee’s
set
of
responsibilities.
 How
does
this
change
each
person’s
role
in
the
congregation?
 What
are
better
titles
for
staff
and
board
positions
and
committees
that
incorporate
organizing
philosophies?

21. Concluding
Thoughts
• This
is
culture
change:
Good
organizers
model
new
cultures
to
get
others
on
board.
• The
practice
of
organizing
doesn’t
need
to
feel
“Jewish,”
but
organizing
in
a
Jewish
context
can
be
rich
and
meaningful.
• We
can
often
learn
more
by
going
out
and
doing
something
we’ve
never
done
before.
Think
it
out,
then
take
a
risk.

22. Questions?

23. Further
Reading
On
Power:
• The
Nibble
Theory
and
the
Kernel
of
Power
by
Kaleel
Jamison
(Paulist
Press,
rev.
2004)
On
Networks:
• Intro
to
building
networks
by
Valdis
Krebs
and
June
Holley:
http://www.networkweaver.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2011/12/BuildingNetworks.pdf
On
Network
Organizing:
• Seminal
article
by
Bill
Traynor,
“Building
Community
in
Place”:
http://www.mainenetworkpartners.org/documents/building-­‐community-­‐in-­‐place.pdf
• Trusted
Space
Partners’
overview
to
Community
Network
Building
(especially
the
embedded
videos):
http://trustedspacepartners.com/community-­‐network-­‐building/
On
Community:
• The
Abundant
Community:
Awakening
the
Power
of
Families
and
Neighborhoods
by
John
McKnight
and
Peter
Block
(Berrett-­‐Koehler,
2010)

24. With
gratitude
to
IMPACT
Silver
Spring…
…whose
diverse
network
and
staff
–
especially
Frankie
Blackburn
and
Winta
Teferi
–
taught
me
tremendous
lessons
in
organizing
and
in
life,
including
some
of
the
concepts
and
examples
shared
today.

25. Let’s
Keep
up
the
Conversation
1. Look
for
responses
to
your
additional
questions
on
BaseCamp,
and
join
in
a
follow-­‐up
discussion.
2. Contact
Lianna
separately:
lianna@partnerforchange.net
or
804-­‐380-­‐5963