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Helping people and communities develop the tools to shape their own futures has long been a focus of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The following edited transcript is from one of seven videos by Mott in which those working in the field of community organizing reflect on the lessons, opportunities and challenges for creating lasting social change.

Question: What does the future hold for the field of community organizing?

Keith Caldwell 
Urban EpiCenter
Nashville, Tennessee

For me, community organizing in its purest sense is a justice model, it helps folks prepare for self-determination. I see that becoming much more apparent in the field, because while direct services are fine, people also need a living wage. As we’re getting folks in a place to struggle for their own kind of self-determination, we’re going to see that continue to “float” and show up. Much like the power or freedom movement of the 1960s – that was a beautiful community organizing kind of style.

Nelson Carrasquillo 
El Comité de Apoyo a Trabajadores Agrícolas
Glassboro, New Jersey

As an organizer, I’m always looking for people who want to organize. We recruit at universities, in the communities, whenever we’re in contact with people. I feel it is a mandate for organizers to create space for others to emerge and come forth.

Maria Belén Seara 
PUEBLO
Santa Barbara, California

I believe there is a growing youth movement. I have seen more young people getting involved and that gives me hope that, if they do become organized, we will see significant change in the field.


Milan Kajo Zbořil 
Center for Community Organizing 
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

I see a lot of similarities between organizing in Slovakia and in the U.S. For example, similarities on the issues people are working on, like fighting for better education, better services, better roads. One of the positive signs in Slovakia is that more people and organizations are looking for new approaches and they see organizing as something that can help them to build their campaigns. Even though we are struggling with some difficulties, I see potential for future growth of organizing in Slovakia. People and organizations are more interested in it and we have results that show it works.

 

I was one of those who originally said, “I’m not really sure if the U.S. way of organizing can work in Slovakia.” But today we use the example that potatoes are from America and a lot of traditional Slovak food is made from potatoes. So we say that if we can use potatoes to cook our national food, we can use organizing to build our communities. And after 14 years, I can say that it is working.