Holy Cross Conference to Address Future of Community Organizing

Leaders in the field of community organizing, including Harvard sociologist Mark Warren and Marshall Ganz, nationally-renowned field organizer and trainer, will speak at a two-day conference at the College of the Holy Cross, April 1-2, 2011.

“‘Let Justice Roll Down’: A Conference on the Practice and Pedagogy of Organizing in the 21st Century,” will examine community organizing as a strategy to address poverty and inequality in the United States. Leading scholars and practitioners will consider how community leadership development can impact local and national policy, and what pedagogical tools are best suited to train a new generation of organizers. The schedule and registration are online at www.holycross.edu/crec.

Mark Warren is associate professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. His research focus is on the revitalization of institutions that anchor inner city communities—churches, schools, and other community-based organizations — and how to build community alliances across race and social class. He is the author of Fire in the Heart: How White Activists Embrace Racial Justice (Oxford University Press, 2010) and Dry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2001).

Warren will deliver the keynote address in lieu of Peter Dreier, who had to cancel due to unforeseen personal matters.

Ganz, who will present “Current Practices in Teaching and Training Young Organizers,” is a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and a principal of Harvard’s Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. He worked on the staff of the United Farm Workers for 16 years before becoming a trainer and organizer for political campaigns, unions and nonprofit groups. He is credited with devising the successful grassroots organizing model and training for Barack Obama’s winning 2008 presidential campaign. His community organizing curriculum is used at several colleges and universities, including Holy Cross.

The conference is organized by Margaret A. Post, director of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning at the College of the Holy Cross; Susan Crawford Sullivan, assistant professor, Sociology and Anthropology; and the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture. Other speakers will include Vincent Rougeau, professor of law at the University of Notre Dame; Rev. Arrington Chambliss, director of Life Together: Diomass Intern Program; Mary Keefe, director of the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center; Rev. Dr. Sarai Rivera, Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad, Worcester; Lisa Vinikoor, lead organizer of the Merrimack Valley Project; Carl Nilsson, Massachusetts director of Organizing for America; Rudy Lopez, director of politics for the Center for Community Change; and Frank Kartheiser, lead organizer for Worcester Interfaith; as well as student organizers. Worcester Mayor Joe O’Brien will give a welcome address on Friday.

For more information, visit www.holycross.edu/crec or call 508-793-3869.