Industrial Areas Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) is a national community organizing
network established in 1940 by Saul Alinsky
. IAF provides training and consultation, furnishes organizers, and develops national strategy for its affiliated broad-based community organizations. There are currently 57 IAF affiliates functioning in 21 states, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. It describes its chief purpose as power and its chief product as social change.
in California, and in 1949 agreed to back his plan to organize the Community Service Organization
in Mexican-American communities. Ross introduced house-meetings as an organizing technique, and built a network of 30 CSOs in California with energetic young organizers Cesar Chavez
and Dolores Huerta
.
In Chicago, Alinsky developed a team of organizers including journalist Nicholas von Hoffman
, ex-seminarian Edward T. Chambers
, and Tom Gaudette
, who developed such groups as the Organization for the Southwest Community (1959 – 1972), The Woodlawn Organization (1961–present), and the Northwest Community Organization (1962 – present). The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) received national attention through Charles Silberman's best-selling Crisis in Black and White in 1964, which traced the roots of oppression and violence in northern inner city areas. In his concluding chapter, "The Revolt Against Welfare Colonialism," Silberman portrayed TWO as an example of poor blacks reclaiming their dignity through self-organization. Alinsky's experience in Rochester, New York from 1965 to 1969 with the organization FIGHT and its battle with Eastman Kodak
company was more controversial and less successful.
In 1969 Alinsky was able to establish a formal IAF organizer training program, run by Chambers and Dick Harmon, with a grant from Gordon Sherman of Midas Muffler
company. Alinsky published a successful book, Rules for Radicals, in 1971, updating his earlier vision. Alinsky died unexpectedly of a heart attack in June 1972.
developed in San Antonio, Texas by Ernesto Cortes
, Jr. called Communities Organized for Public Service
(COPS). Cortes recruited lay leaders, including many women, from the Catholic parishes that were members of COPS. Relational meeting
s or "one-on-ones" became an important technique of exploring values, motivation, and self-interest of potential leaders. Chambers and Cortes emphasized a long-term relationship between IAF and such groups as COPS, in contrast to the "three years and out" that Alinsky had once imagined. As IAF began to expand to other cities in Texas, it moved to develop multi-racial, broad-based organizations spanning metropolitan areas, and including African American, Latino, and Anglo churches. Eventually its network of local groups in Texas linked together as Texas Interfaith to have an impact on state government. In 1979 Chambers moved the IAF headquarters to New York after the Archdiocese of Chicago cut its support for IAF. In 1996 IAF moved its national headquarters back to Chicago to develop a new affiliate in that metropolitan area and expand its work in the Midwest.
IAF developed successful projects along the East Coast
with East Brooklyn Congregations
, which pioneered the affordable housing project called Nehemiah Homes, and BUILD in Baltimore
which also developed Nehemiah housing for low-income people.
The "modern IAF" has been an influential model for other networks of broad-based community organizations, including PICO National Network
, Gamaliel Foundation
, and Direct Action and Research Training Center
(DART).
IAF claims responsibility for the success of the first living wage
law in Baltimore
in 1994, followed by New York City
in 1996.
and the late Monsignor John Joseph Egan
. IAF's first Board of Trustees included Catholic bishop Bernard James Sheil
, Kathryn Lewis (daughter of coal miners union leader John L. Lewis
), and philanthropist Marshall Field III
. Chambers retired as executive director in 2009, but remains on the board of directors. The senior regional organizers, including Cortes, Arnold Graf, Michael Gecan
, and Sr. Christine Stephens, presently act as a team of co-directors.
East
South
Midwest
Southwest
West
Northwest
International
Community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
network established in 1940 by Saul Alinsky
Saul Alinsky
Saul David Alinsky was a Jewish American community organizer and writer. He is generally considered to be the founder of modern community organizing, and has been compared in Playboy magazine to Thomas Paine as being "one of the great American leaders of the nonsocialist left." He is often noted...
. IAF provides training and consultation, furnishes organizers, and develops national strategy for its affiliated broad-based community organizations. There are currently 57 IAF affiliates functioning in 21 states, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. It describes its chief purpose as power and its chief product as social change.
History
Alinsky's first organizing project was the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, founded in 1939 as the Packinghouse Workers union was organizing Chicago's meatpacking industry. Based on his work with Back of the Yards, Alinsky laid out his vision for "People's Organizations" in his book Reveille for Radicals in 1946. After World War II Alinsky met Fred RossFred Ross
Fred Ross was an American community organizer. He founded the Community Service Organization in 1948, which, with the support of the Industrial Areas Foundation, organized Mexican Americans in California. The CSO in San Jose, CA gave a young Cesar Chavez his first training in organizing, which he...
in California, and in 1949 agreed to back his plan to organize the Community Service Organization
Community Service Organization
The Community Service Organization was an important California Latino civil rights organization, most famous for training Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta...
in Mexican-American communities. Ross introduced house-meetings as an organizing technique, and built a network of 30 CSOs in California with energetic young organizers Cesar Chavez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
and Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta
Dolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
.
In Chicago, Alinsky developed a team of organizers including journalist Nicholas von Hoffman
Nicholas von Hoffman
Nicholas von Hoffman is an American journalist and author. He wrote for the Washington Post. Later, TV audiences knew him as a "Point-Counterpoint" commentator for CBS's 60 Minutes, from which Don Hewitt fired him in 1974.-Biography:He is of German-Russian extraction, descendant of Melchior...
, ex-seminarian Edward T. Chambers
Edward T. Chambers
Edward T. Chambers has been the Executive Director of the Industrial Areas Foundation since 1972, a community organizing group founded by Saul Alinsky. He is the author of Roots for Radicals: Organizing for Power, Action, and Justice Edward T. Chambers has been the Executive Director of the...
, and Tom Gaudette
Tom Gaudette
Thomas A. "Tom" Gaudette was a community organizer who worked in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. Originally a businessman, Gaudette became interested in neighborhood organizing through his Catholic Church activism...
, who developed such groups as the Organization for the Southwest Community (1959 – 1972), The Woodlawn Organization (1961–present), and the Northwest Community Organization (1962 – present). The Woodlawn Organization (TWO) received national attention through Charles Silberman's best-selling Crisis in Black and White in 1964, which traced the roots of oppression and violence in northern inner city areas. In his concluding chapter, "The Revolt Against Welfare Colonialism," Silberman portrayed TWO as an example of poor blacks reclaiming their dignity through self-organization. Alinsky's experience in Rochester, New York from 1965 to 1969 with the organization FIGHT and its battle with Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak
Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquarted in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded by George Eastman in 1892....
company was more controversial and less successful.
In 1969 Alinsky was able to establish a formal IAF organizer training program, run by Chambers and Dick Harmon, with a grant from Gordon Sherman of Midas Muffler
Midas Muffler
Midas, Inc. is a chain of automotive service centers headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. In the main markets of the United States and Canada, Midas stores are company-owned or franchised...
company. Alinsky published a successful book, Rules for Radicals, in 1971, updating his earlier vision. Alinsky died unexpectedly of a heart attack in June 1972.
After Alinsky
After Alinsky's death, his long-time associate and designated successor Ed Chambers became executive director. Chambers began to place systematic training of organizers and local leaders at the center of IAF's work. He also began to shift the organizing model of "the modern IAF" toward the congregation-based community organizationCongregation-based Community Organizing
Community organizing describes a wide variety of efforts to empower residents in a local area to participate in civic life or governmental affairs. Most efforts that claim this label operate in low-income or middle-income areas, and have adopted at least some of the tactics and organizing...
developed in San Antonio, Texas by Ernesto Cortes
Ernesto Cortes
Ernesto Cortés, Jr. is the Industrial Areas Foundation co-chair and executive director of the West / Southwest regional network. The IAF provides leadership training and civics education to poor and moderate-income people across the US and UK...
, Jr. called Communities Organized for Public Service
Communities Organized for Public Service
Communities Organized for Public Service is a coalition of non-partisan, grassroots community pressure groups based in San Antonio, Texas. It is an affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation , a group dedicated to grassroots community organizing that was developed by Saul Alinsky in Chicago...
(COPS). Cortes recruited lay leaders, including many women, from the Catholic parishes that were members of COPS. Relational meeting
Relational meeting
The relational meeting is a primary organizing tool used by the Industrial Areas Foundation and other congregation-based community organizing groups including Gamaliel Foundation and PICO National Network – and also often in union organizing...
s or "one-on-ones" became an important technique of exploring values, motivation, and self-interest of potential leaders. Chambers and Cortes emphasized a long-term relationship between IAF and such groups as COPS, in contrast to the "three years and out" that Alinsky had once imagined. As IAF began to expand to other cities in Texas, it moved to develop multi-racial, broad-based organizations spanning metropolitan areas, and including African American, Latino, and Anglo churches. Eventually its network of local groups in Texas linked together as Texas Interfaith to have an impact on state government. In 1979 Chambers moved the IAF headquarters to New York after the Archdiocese of Chicago cut its support for IAF. In 1996 IAF moved its national headquarters back to Chicago to develop a new affiliate in that metropolitan area and expand its work in the Midwest.
IAF developed successful projects along the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
with East Brooklyn Congregations
East Brooklyn Congregations
East Brooklyn Congregations is an example of congregation-based community organizing serving several neighborhoods in New York City. Formed in 1980, it is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation and headed by Michael Gecan. EBC is best known for founding Nehemiah Homes and building 2,100...
, which pioneered the affordable housing project called Nehemiah Homes, and BUILD in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
which also developed Nehemiah housing for low-income people.
The "modern IAF" has been an influential model for other networks of broad-based community organizations, including PICO National Network
PICO National Network
PICO National Network provides training and consultation and develops national strategy for its affiliated congregation-based community organizations. As of 2007 PICO had 53 local and regional affiliates, representing 150 cities in 17 states, with 1000 member institutions claiming to represent a...
, Gamaliel Foundation
Gamaliel Foundation
Gamaliel Foundation provides training and consultation and develops national strategy for its affiliated congregation-based community organizations. As of 2008, Gamaliel has 60 affiliates in 21 U.S...
, and Direct Action and Research Training Center
Direct Action and Research Training Center
The Direct Action and Research Training Center provides training and consultation for its 18 affiliated congregation-based community organizations. Founded in 1982, DART is headquartered in Miami, Florida. As of 2011, DART has 18 affiliated organizations in five states. John Calkins is the...
(DART).
IAF claims responsibility for the success of the first living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
law in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
in 1994, followed by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1996.
Governance
IAF's legal authority rests in a Board of Trustees, which functions more as an advisory body, recently including such notables as Jean Bethke ElshtainJean Bethke Elshtain
-Biography:She is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and is a contributing editor for The New Republic. She is, in addition, newly the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Chair in the Foundations of American Freedom at...
and the late Monsignor John Joseph Egan
John Joseph Egan
Monsignor John Joseph Egan was an American Roman Catholic priest and social activist. After initially studying business at DePaul University, he transferred to Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, completing his studies under the visionary rector Msgr. Reynold Henry Hillenbrand at the...
. IAF's first Board of Trustees included Catholic bishop Bernard James Sheil
Bernard James Sheil
Bernard James Sheil was an Auxiliary Roman Catholic Bishop of Chicago.-Biography:Born and raised in Chicago, Sheil was ordained a priest on May 3, 1910. He was named auxiliary Bishop of Chicago in 1928, a post he held for over forty years. As bishop he was give the titular see of Pegae...
, Kathryn Lewis (daughter of coal miners union leader John L. Lewis
John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...
), and philanthropist Marshall Field III
Marshall Field III
Marshall Field III was an American investment banker, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune and a leading financial supporter and founding board member of Saul Alinsky's community organizing network Industrial Areas Foundation.Born...
. Chambers retired as executive director in 2009, but remains on the board of directors. The senior regional organizers, including Cortes, Arnold Graf, Michael Gecan
Michael Gecan
Michael Gecan is a community organizer in New York affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation. He was trained in part by Saul Alinsky. He is lead organizer for East Brooklyn Congregations and other New York based organizations. He is the executive director of United Power for Action and...
, and Sr. Christine Stephens, presently act as a team of co-directors.
Training
The national IAF conducts an intensive 8-day leadership training program annually, alternating the venue between Chicago and Los Angeles, and also has a 90-day organizer internship program. IAF's "iron rule of organizing" ("Never do for others what they can do for themselves") emphasizes developing new leaders from within local organizations.Affiliates
IAF affiliates with web pages are listed below.East
- Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) – Boston, Massachusetts
- Interfaith Community Organization (ICO) – Hoboken, New JerseyHoboken, New JerseyHoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
- Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) – Washington, DC
- Action in Montgomery (AIM) – Silver Spring, MarylandSilver Spring, MarylandSilver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
- Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development (BUILD) – Baltimore, Maryland
- People Acting Together in Howard (PATH) – Columbia, MarylandColumbia, MarylandColumbia is a planned community that consists of ten self-contained villages, located in Howard County, Maryland, United States. It began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Creator and developer James W. Rouse saw the new community in terms of human values, not...
South
- Durham Congregations, Associations, and Neighborhoods (Durham CAN) – Durham, North CarolinaDurham, North CarolinaDurham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
- Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain EmpowermentCommunities Helping All Neighbors Gain EmpowermentCommunities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment, or CHANGE, is a Winston-Salem, North Carolina based non-profit organization founded in 2002 that encourages civic participation among local residents...
(CHANGE) – Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to... - Orange County Justice United in Community Effort (Orange JUICE or JUSTICE UNITED) – Chapel Hill, North CarolinaChapel Hill, North CarolinaChapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
Midwest
- DuPage United – Glen Ellyn, IllinoisGlen Ellyn, IllinoisGlen Ellyn is an affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the village population was 26,999.-Geography:...
- Lake County United – Libertyville, IllinoisLibertyville, IllinoisLibertyville is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2000 census population was 20,742; the 2005 estimate was 21,760...
- United Power for Action and Justice – Chicago, Illinois
- Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) – Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
- Dane County United – Madison, WisconsinMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
- Southeastern Wisconsin Common Ground – Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
Southwest
- The Jeremiah Group – New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
- Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) – Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
- Allied Communities of Tarrant (ACT) – Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
- The Metropolitan Organization (TMO) – Houston, TexasHouston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
- Arizona Interfaith Organization – Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
West
- One LA – IAF – Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
- Bay Area Industrial Areas Foundation – San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
- Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action – Monterey Bay, California
Northwest
- Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good (MACG) – Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
- Sound Alliance – Tukwila, WashingtonTukwila, WashingtonTukwila is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The northern edge of Tukwila borders the city of Seattle. The population was 19,107 at the 2010 census.-History:...
- Spokane Alliance – Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, WashingtonSpokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
International
- Greater Edmonton Alliance – Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- Citizen Organizing Foundation (COF) – London, England, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...