“Organizing is intentionally growing relationships with community members to collectively build power and affect change to benefit the community.”

We asked members of our communities to share their definitions of organizing. Keep reading to hear their thoughts and feel free to share yours in the comments 💫

“Connecting with people and communities at a grassroots level in order to spread awareness and gain support for a particular issue/set of issues/political candidate” – Jamie Stewart-Aday, D.C.

“I think I would define organizing as building power and developing relationships within your community,” – Grace H, Ann Arbor MI

“Organizing is when a group of people who share common values and issues work together in their shared self-interest and change the world from how it is to how they would like it to be.”- Jesse, Chicago IL

“Ordinary people coming together, learning together (very important), embracing conflict, and using their resources to abolish oppressive (settler colonial, imperialist, capitalist, white supremacist) systems, all the while stretching our imaginations to build relationships, power and create joyful, liberated worlds! As the Combahee River Collective states, we are not all free until Black women are free – organizing is fighting for all of us to be free, leaving no one behind.” – Hoai An Pham, Ann Arbor MI 

“Educating and bringing people with a shared belief system together to amplify their voices and push for their ideals.”– Charlie, Brighton MI

“Building power collectively to make systemic change.”- Ryan Kelleher, Chicago IL

“Organizing is the process of bringing people together towards a common cause.”- anonymous

It is important to recognize that organizing is not new. Organizers today surely have access to new tools (texting, social media, databases, Révolutionnaire), but the basic principles of dialoguing with community members about what they care about, what they see as solutions to different issues, and strategizing to create collective action are the same.