What is Faith in Action’s issue focus?
Faith in Action works on behalf of everyday people across the United States, aiming to showcase that justice is what faith looks like in public. Our member organizations work on a variety of local, state, and national issues impacting families in their communities. Faith in Action Network organizes its 50 member organizations to increase their power to impact national policies like immigration reform, mass incarceration, and dismantling systems of injustice that are fueled by hatred and racism.
What is something Faith in Action is currently prioritizing? Can you tell our readers a little about the goals of the campaign/project?
Faith in Action has a long history of fighting for comprehensive immigration reform. A top priority for the network right now is including a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 5 million undocumented essential workers in the currently debated federal budget resolution process.
Do you have an “Advocacy Tip” to share or “Lesson Learned” while organizing this or other campaigns? Do you have any general words of wisdom that you’d like to share with other staff engaged in advocacy?
As Faith in Action prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary of community organizing, we are clear about the importance of creating leader-led organizations. It is essential that organizations develop a strong local base of volunteer leaders and ensure that people who are directly impacted by the systems and policies that we are working to change lead the organizing work.
Many of our member organizations work with both our Bolder Advocacy initiative on c3/c4 advocacy rules and guidance, and our Justice programs on the importance of the courts and judicial nominations. How has either or both most helped you? How have you worked with either or both?
Several years ago, as Faith in Action’s work at the national level increased, Faith in Action was intentional about ensuring that its member federations had good systems in place for tracking and reporting lobbying expenses and had a thorough understanding of C3/C4 compliance. Bolder Advocacy is an essential resource to us. We have relied on the excellent training sessions, the advice hotline, and the many fact sheets made available to us.
Who inspires you?
The staff at Faith in Action Network are deeply inspired by the hundreds of volunteer leaders across the country who invest their time and resources into community organizing. In June of this year, dozens of volunteers traveled across the country to Washington, DC to participate in a 3-week “Fast for Freedom”. Their goal was to push elected officials to include a pathway to citizenship for essential workers in the budget reconciliation process. These leaders, and many of our staff at Faith in Action, who are directly impacted by unjust systems of immigration and mass incarceration inspire us!
All spotlights are written by AFJ members directly. Please reach out to membership@afj.org if you’d like to complete a member spotlight.