Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC)
The Albany Park Neighborhood Council is a membership based community organization comprised of 27 member institutions including religious institutions, schools, service agencies, and universities. APNC’s mission is to create a safer community, improve the quality of education, provide a voice for youth, preserve affordable housing, increase access to affordable health care, and sustain a mixed socioeconomic and ethnically diverse community in Albany Park. In the past year, APNC has convened 10 cohorts of 75 6th through 9th grade teachers during Chicago Public Schools’ professional development time to collaboratively brainstorm and plan around easing middle to high school transitions through the Greater Albany Park Education Coalition. Organized over 2,000 residents to take part in a public meeting around immigration reform with Congressman Rahm Emanuel and took over 50 Albany Park residents to Washington D.C. to educate elected officials around the importance of a comprehensive immigration reform policy.
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC)
The Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC) is a community-based, nonprofit organization serving a low-income working class neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side. BPNC’s mission is to create safer communities, improve the learning environment at public schools, preserve affordable housing, provide a voice for youth, protect immigrants’ rights, promote gender equity, and fight all forms of violence. Founded in 1997, BPNC unites individuals and neighborhood institutions to develop organizing campaigns aimed at winning essential resources for one of Chicago’s most underserved communities, improving public policy and addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality.
Kenwood Oakland Community Organization
The Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) has been an instrument of grassroots democracy in the North Kenwood and Oakland communities for 44 years. Through the sustained engagement of low-income and working families, KOCO develops multi-generational leaders who impact the decision-making process and public policies, improving the quality of life in our local communities. Founded by community and religious leaders in the 1960’s, KOCO’s organizing work has resulted in campaigns that addressed the affordable housing, education and youth development needs of neighborhood families. By building democracy at the grassroots level, KOCO works to ensure that neighborhood families are actively affecting the decision making and public policy processes in North Kenwood and Oakland. KOCO is a multi-issue, membership based organization, comprised of low-income and working families that guide and inform its organizational agenda. KOCO continues to fulfill its commitment to grassroots leadership development by engaging residents in identifying its organizational priorities. KOCO currently organizes to address the following issue areas: affordable housing, youth leadership, education and the 2016 Olympics.
Students United/ Sunflower Community Action
Students United has chosen to take a grass roots approach in bringing about long lasting change and holding public officials and institutions accountable. The grass roots approach will be accomplished through the power of youth coming together in an organized manner with a planned strategy to address their issues. In our society there are too many messages about getting ahead and putting ourselves first instead of helping people, taking care of our neighborhoods, and working for justices in our communities. Youth organizing is built on a radical idea: That youth have the ability, talent, and right to be present whenever decisions are made that affect their lives. We DEMAND to be taken seriously by elected officials. Organize, take action, and always remember “what’s age got to do with it?!”
