Community Change

Community Change is a U.S. progressive community-organizing and advocacy organization formerly known as the Center for Community Change, or CCC. It emerged in 1968 amid the civil-rights concerns of the period and was established in memory of Robert F. Kennedy. The organization works primarily with low-income people and communities of color, seeking to strengthen their ability to influence public policy, institutions, and local conditions. Rather than operating primarily as a conventional direct-service provider, Community Change supports resident-led organizing. Its work generally begins with issues identified by people living in low-income communities, who are organized into groups capable of conducting local, state, and national campaigns. The organization provides training, strategic assistance, communications resources, and other forms of support intended to help grassroots groups develop durable leadership and political capacity. Its training and development activities have covered community organizing, service learning, union organizing, electoral engagement, and youth and student organizing. Community Change has also offered campaign strategy, funding support, and social-media and communications guidance to partner organizations. These activities place it within the broader U.S. ecosystem of progressive civic organizations, labor-oriented organizing networks, immigrant-rights groups, and community-based policy advocates. Immigration reform has been one of its most visible areas of activity. In 2004, Community Change worked with immigrant organizations to create the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, commonly known as FIRM. The initiative was designed to give immigrants a stronger collective voice in debates over comprehensive immigration reform and to connect local immigrant-led organizations with national advocacy efforts. FIRM received support from philanthropic organizations including the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, according to referenced material. The organization has also been associated with efforts that contributed to the development or expansion of public programs and policy frameworks affecting low-income households, including the Community Reinvestment Act and food-stamp policy. These references describe Community Change as part of broader coalitions and movements rather than necessarily as the sole creator of those measures. Community Change has received support from a range of philanthropic, civic, and advocacy organizations. Referenced funders and partners include the Alliance for Early Success, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Democracy Alliance, Every Citizen Counts, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, New America, Planned Parenthood, the Tides Advocacy Fund, and The Voter Participation Center. The presence of a funder or collaborating organization does not by itself establish operational control or corporate ownership. The organization remains active under the Community Change name. Its work is centered on grassroots power-building, leadership development, economic and racial justice, immigrant participation, and policy advocacy in the United States. Publicly available reference material does not establish a complete current leadership roster, detailed financial profile, or a comprehensive list of formal programs, so those fields are left limited where verification is unavailable.

Community Change was established in 1968 as the Center for Community Change. Its creation reflected the civil-rights and social-policy debates of the 1960s and was also intended to honor Robert F. Kennedy. From its beginning, the organization was oriented toward communities facing economic disadvantage and toward developing forms of community power that could affect public policy and institutional behavior. The organization’s central approach has been resident-based organizing. Instead of treating low-income communities only as recipients of services, Community Change has worked to help residents identify shared concerns, form durable organizations, develop leaders, and conduct campaigns. Its target constituencies have included low-income people generally and, with particular emphasis, low-income people of color. This approach has connected local organizing with broader campaigns concerning economic opportunity, racial justice, access to public benefits, immigration, and civic participation. Over time, Community Change developed training and capacity-building activities for organizers and community groups. Referenced areas include community organizing, service learning, union organizing, electoral engagement, and youth and student organizing. It has also provided assistance involving campaign planning, fundraising or financial resources, communications, and social-media strategy. These functions have allowed it to operate as an intermediary and movement-building institution supporting organizations that may not possess comparable staff, technical capacity, or access to national networks. Community Change has been linked to advocacy surrounding programs and policies affecting low-income households. Reference material credits the organization with helping to create or advance measures such as the Community Reinvestment Act and the food-stamp program, although these developments involved wider coalitions, public institutions, and legislative processes. The organization’s contribution is therefore best understood as part of a broader history of community and policy advocacy rather than as sole authorship of those programs. Immigration became a particularly important area of activity in the early twenty-first century. In 2004, Community Change worked with immigrant groups to organize the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, or FIRM. The movement sought to empower immigrants to speak publicly and collectively in support of comprehensive immigration reform. FIRM connected immigrant-led organizations and advocacy efforts and received philanthropic support from the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, according to the cited reference material. The organization has operated within a network of progressive philanthropic and civic institutions. Listed supporters and collaborators include the Alliance for Early Success, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Democracy Alliance, Every Citizen Counts, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, New America, Planned Parenthood, the Tides Advocacy Fund, and The Voter Participation Center. These relationships indicate a broad funding and partnership environment, but the available sources do not provide sufficient information to characterize the exact terms or duration of each relationship. The organization later adopted the shorter name Community Change, while the former Center for Community Change name remains an important historical alias. It continues to describe its purpose in terms of building the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change the policies and institutions affecting their lives. Available reference material confirms ongoing U.S. activity but does not supply a verified current executive list, detailed headquarters information, or a full chronology of internal organizational changes.

• 2004

  Fair Immigration Reform Movement formed

  [1]Community Changeen.wikipedia.org

  Community Change collaborated with immigrant organizations to establish FIRM, a movement advocating comprehensive immigration reform and stronger immigrant participation.

• 1968

  Organization established as the Center for Community Change

  [1]Community Changeen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was founded in the context of 1960s civil-rights concerns and in memory of Robert F. Kennedy.

• Adoption of the Community Change name

  [1]Community Changeen.wikipedia.org

  The organization became known as Community Change after operating for many years under the Center for Community Change name. The source material does not specify the exact year of the name change.

A progressive U.S. movement-building organization that helps low-income people and communities of color develop collective power to influence policies and institutions.

• Organizing and training

  Community organizing and leadership development

  Community Change develops the organizing capacity of residents and grassroots groups, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color. Activities include organizer training, leadership development, campaign planning, and support for building resident-led organizations capable of pursuing local or broader policy goals.

• Immigrant-rights advocacy network · 2004

  Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM)

  FIRM was created in 2004 through collaboration between Community Change and immigrant organizations. It brought together immigrant-led advocacy efforts and sought to increase immigrants’ collective voice in campaigns for comprehensive immigration reform.

• Organizational support

  Grassroots campaign and communications support

  The organization provides or has provided grassroots groups with assistance in campaign strategy, resource development, communications, and social-media strategy. These services are intended to help community organizations conduct more effective public campaigns and sustain local organizing capacity.

• Civic engagement and training

  Electoral, youth, and student organizing programs

  Community Change’s training and organizing portfolio has included electoral engagement as well as youth and student organizing. The programs connect leadership development with civic participation and issue-based campaigns, although the available source does not provide a complete current program catalogue.

• 2004Fair Immigration Reform Movement

  United States

  Community Change worked with immigrant groups to create FIRM, a national immigration-reform movement designed to empower immigrants and coordinate advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform.

  Outcome. FIRM became an identified immigrant-rights advocacy initiative associated with Community Change. The available source does not provide a definitive account of its later organizational status or campaign outcomes.

  Source

• 2004

  Community Change launches the Fair Immigration Reform Movement[1]Community Changeen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign · Other

  Community Change collaborated with immigrant organizations to establish the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, an advocacy network intended to strengthen immigrant participation in campaigns for comprehensive immigration reform.

1. 1Community Changeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Community Change official websitecommunitychange.org