The Power of Community Organizing

Показать описание

Americans enjoy freedom and opportunity “because community organizers fought for us,” says Hillary Do, MBA ’22.

Do says community organization is an essential mechanism within democracy that allows citizens to create the change they want to see. The problem, she says, is that this critical work is undervalued and often unnoticed. “Community Organizing is treated as volunteer work, but it shouldn't be,” she says.

Leaving a high-paying tech job in Silicon Valley, Do moved back to her native Philadelphia to join a national organization working to get out the vote. There, she learned how grueling this civic work can be, working shoulder-to-shoulder with people who, she says, are “fighting for their communities around the clock without pay and with little rest.”

Do notes that community organizers endure long hours and hard work because they understand the true meaning of community. “Living means being a part of the world you live in,” she says. “It means taking care of each other. It means standing up for each other, especially when no one else will.”

As Do says, the essential work of community organizers can no longer go unnoticed and undervalued. “It’s time we stopped taking community organizing for granted and pay it forward,” she says.

This video is from LOWkeynotes: Student presentations on ideas that change lives, organizations, and the world.