Gamaliel Foundation facts for kids

The Gamaliel Foundation is an organization that helps communities. It trains people and offers advice to groups that work to improve their neighborhoods. These groups are often based in churches or other faith communities. As of 2013, Gamaliel worked with 45 groups in 17 U.S. states, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. They said they represented over a million people.

What is the Gamaliel Foundation?

The Gamaliel Foundation helps people learn how to make changes in their communities. They teach leaders how to organize and work together. Their main goal is to help local leaders create strong, independent groups. These groups then have the power to influence important decisions. These decisions can be about politics or money, and they affect cities and regions.

How Did Gamaliel Foundation Start?

The Gamaliel Foundation began in Chicago in 1968. It first helped a group called the Contract Buyers League. This group worked to help African-American families buy homes in Chicago's West Side.

In 1986, Gregory Galluzzo became the executive director. He changed Gamaliel's focus to "community organizing." This means helping people in a community work together to solve problems. Gamaliel's name comes from Gamaliel, a wise teacher from the Bible. He taught St. Paul. Saul Alinsky, a famous community organizer, thought Gamaliel was the first great community organizer.

Gamaliel Foundation follows the ideas of Saul Alinsky. He started his work in Chicago in 1939. After Alinsky passed away in 1972, his organization focused on training leaders. Gamaliel has done something similar under Gregory Galluzzo. He learned about community organizing in Chicago in the 1970s. Barack Obama also worked as a consultant and trainer for the Gamaliel Foundation from 1985 to 1988. He was a community organizer in Chicago at that time.

How is Gamaliel Foundation Run?

A group of 15 people called the board of directors leads Gamaliel. They make the main decisions and oversee how the organization is managed. Other groups, like the National Clergy Caucus, also give advice.

Gamaliel has a small staff, about 20 people in 2008. They also work with interns and consultants. The foundation has five regional directors across the United States. These directors cover different areas like the Eastern, Midwestern, and Southern parts of the country. The groups that work with Gamaliel are separate. They raise their own money and hire their own organizers. Ana Garcia Ashley became the executive director of Gamaliel in January 2011.

What Does Gamaliel Foundation Do Now?

Gamaliel has changed its focus from just helping neighborhoods. Now, it works with larger groups that can influence bigger areas, like entire cities or regions. Gamaliel is creating plans to impact national policies. These policies cover important issues such as:

• Helping people who have immigrated.
• Making sure everyone has health care.
• Creating more jobs and full employment.
• Making sure there is affordable housing.
• Ensuring fair access to public transportation systems.

The Transportation Equity Network (TEN) is one of Gamaliel's projects. Gamaliel has mainly focused on big cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit, and Minneapolis. Their long-term goal is to build a strong organization in every major city in the United States. They plan to do this over the next ten years. This includes raising money and hiring 200 professional organizers.

How Does Gamaliel Foundation Train People?

Gamaliel offers different training programs:

• They hold one-week national leadership trainings three times a year in the United States.
• They also have one national training each year in South Africa.
• There is a three-day advanced training for leaders who have completed the longer national training.
• A special three-day training is offered for church pastors.
• Every December, Gamaliel holds a three-day training for all the organizers in its network.
• They also offer shorter trainings (half-day, full-day, or weekend) for local communities.
• Ntosake is a year-long program for women. It helps them develop leadership skills and feel more powerful.

Gamaliel's trainings cover many topics. These include understanding how the world is and how it should be. They also teach about:

• Getting involved in public life.
• How to organize communities based in faith groups.
• Understanding power and self-interest.
• The importance of "one-on-one" meetings to build relationships.
• How to encourage action.
• Organizing across large metropolitan areas.
• How to build and keep an organization strong.

See also

• Transportation Equity Network