Why the Missouri Organizing Collaborative?

The Missouri Organizing Collaborative is breaking new ground in Missouri by bridging diverse change constituencies to add up to serious independent political power. This emerging project brings together 9 Missouri organizations representative of 7 national grassroots organizing networks. We are building on the powerful political learning and alignment begun in 2010 and strengthened through a state ballot initiative platform in 2012 and joint organizing in support of Medicaid Expansion in 2013 & 2014, towards a long term “path to power” plan for Missouri.

Who We Are

The Missouri Organizing Collaborative defines itself as a non-partisan “organizing caucus” within the broader political and social justice environment of Missouri. As a collaborative, we are (1) first and foremost, grassroots organizations, meaning we answer to a grassroots membership base, are committed to base-building as a core strategy, and systematically develop leaders from within our base, (2) we are multi-issue organizations with economic dignity and economic justice at the heart of those issues we take on, and (3) we are non-partisan and engage in issue-driven campaigns as a way to build power for ordinary people. In short, civic engagement work is at the core of the Missouri Organizing Collaborative’s strategy.

What We Do Together

By weaving our voter engagement capacity building and issue agenda together long term, we aim to (1) increase the performance of grassroots organizing in voter engagement campaigns, (2) claim political space and resources for grassroots organizing as a central strategy in policy campaigns in Missouri, and (3) change the issue environment, over time, to win more progressive and transformational victories that will dramatically improve the lives of regular Missouri families.

Participating Organizations

Missouri Organizing Collaborative organizations include Communities Creating Opportunity – CCO (PICO), GRO – Grass Roots Organizing (National People’s Action), Jobs with Justice – Missouri (JwJ), Metropolitan Congregations United – MCU (Gamaliel), Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity – MORE2 (Gamaliel), Missouri Citizen Education Fund – MCEF (US Action), Missouri Faith Voices, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment – MORE (Center for Popular Democracy), Missouri Rural Crisis Center – MRCC (Family Farm Coalition). Within the MOC, our capacity is strengthened by 45 staff with organizational databases that can reach 71,000 people (some overlap) throughout Missouri.

The Collaborative works closely on planning and strategy with Progress Missouri and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). We are currently working on statewide long term planning with Wellstone Action. Our fiscal agent is Missouri Jobs with Justice. Generous start-up support from the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock has put a basic coordination infrastructure in place that has already leveraged almost a million additional dollars in the last three years into the campaign work of the Missouri Organizing Collaborative.

Contact

For more information on the collaborative you may reach out to the directors on any of the participating organizations, including:

  • Eva Creydt-Schulte of Communities Creating Opportunity – CCO, eva@cco.org
  • Robin Acree of GRO – Grass Roots Organizing, robin@gromo.org
  • Lara Granich of Jobs with Justice – Missouri, lara@mojwj.org
  • David Gerth of Metropolitan Congregations United – MCU, david@mcustl.com
  • Lora McDonald of Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity – MORE2, loramore2@yahoo.com
  • Matthew Patterson of Missouri Citizen Education Fund – MCEF, matthew@missouriprovote.org
  • Katie Jansen of Missouri Faith Voices, katie@missourifaithvoices.org
  • Jeff Ordower of Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment – MORE, jeff@organizemo.org

Click here to read Missouri Organizing Collaborative: Police Accountability and Movement Building.