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Dear John,
This month, PowerSwitch Action is preparing to bid a bittersweet farewell to our incredible Deputy Director, Felicia Griffin. Felicia is following her calling to serve as a coach for social justice leaders across our movements. We’ll deeply miss having her wisdom and passion on our team, but we look forward to finding ourselves next to Felicia in the next phase of her work, as she guides, mentors, loves, leads, and connects an even broader community of joyful warriors for freedom.
As the Executive Director at United for a New Economy and here at PowerSwitch Action, Felicia has always been someone who shows us that we are at our most powerful when we bring both our heads and our hearts to this work. She is one of the best partners, mentors, and advisors a person can have. She is bold and intelligent and generous. She is never too busy to lend an ear to anyone who needs to be heard, held, and reassured. Her approach to the work always reminds us that we are deeply loved and convinces us that we are infinitely capable.
Felicia is a leader who celebrates the wisdom of the heart, and has taught so many of us to listen to what our hearts are trying to tell us. The heart is a warrior — and Felicia has been a warrior for justice, dedicated to building power with people who our current systems oppress because they are poor, because of their gender, because of their race. We are so grateful to have worked with her, and wish her all the best as she continues to lend her talents and her wisdom to the movement. You would be so lucky to have her advise your team!
With much love and admiration ,
Lauren Jacobs
Executive Director
PowerSwitch Action
Dr. Kyra Greene
Board Chair
PowerSwitch Action
Spotlight On: Public Banking in Philadelphia!
POWER's Vanessa Lowe and Peter Winslow spoke with Climate Action Lead Dieynabou Barry about strengthening communities and creating a more equitable financial system by establishing public banks [[link removed]] .
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Dieynabou: Vanessa and Peter, thanks so much for giving us a sneak peak into POWER’s work with the Philadelphia Public Banking Coalition! Let’s start with the basics: What are public banks, how are they different from private banks, and how do they serve the public good?
Peter: The biggest difference is who the bank serves. Instead of being owned by private individuals, a public bank owned by the people. With a private bank, the purpose of the bank is to deliver profit to the shareholders. With a public bank, the purpose of the bank is to support the overall wellbeing of the community.
Vanessa: When you look at the kind of projects that private banks are funding, and what they’re doing with their money, and the way they treat people, it’s clear that they don’t think of us as their customers. What they fund is often contrary to what the residents of the city need. So to be able to take that control back — the billions of taxpayer dollars that we’re sending them to just hold and do with what they will, and the millions of dollars we’re paying annually on things like bonds — that’s powerful.
To read the full conversation visit us on Medium! [[link removed]]
Network In Action
Creating Good Jobs for All in Tennessee
The Music City Construction Careers, a program that Stand Up Nashville produces in partnership with the Central Labor Council of Nashville & Middle Tennessee, graduated its largest-ever class in June. The program prepares a diverse group of individuals for a career in the building trades.
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Funding for Workers Rights in the California Budget!
Funding for our California Coalition for Worker Power budget asks was included in California’s joint Senate/Assembly budget plan, just released by the legislature. This includes: $14 million for Retaliation Complaint Investigation staffing, double the current funding, $50 million for continuing California COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project for two years, and $10 million for an unpaid wages worker hardship fund. PowerSwitch is a co-founder and anchor for the California Coalition for Worker Power [[link removed]] — a program and coalition that started under COVID and is bringing workers together to organize for safe workplaces, for protection against retaliation from employers, and for their rights.
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A Win for Affordable Housing in Los Angeles!
LAANE is celebrating a victory in the fight for short term rental regulation. After they helped pass a groundbreaking law regulating short term rentals in 2019, two new ordinances were immediately introduced to undermine it. The recent defeat of those proposals allows the city and advocates to focus on enforcing current law.
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Protecting Coloradans Against Exploitative Towing Companies
The Car Owners Bill of Rights has been signed into law in Colorado! For too long, laws in Colorado have favored towing companies rather than families. United for a New Economy has advocated on this issue for years and has worked to pass The Car Owner’s Bill of Rights — which will give more power to the Public Utilities Commission to rein in towing companies’ abuse of car owners.
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Expanding Democracy in San José
Together with partners like Silicon Valley Rising Action and the South Bay Labor Council, our affiliate Working Partnerships USA led the campaign for Yes on Measure B [[link removed]] and won! Measure B will move San José’s mayoral election to presidential years, when more people — especially young voters, women, and people of color — cast a ballot.
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In Case You Missed It
Rising Up for Reparations in Pennsylvania
POWER co-sponsored Rise Up for Reparations [[link removed]] , a Juneteenth event in Philadelphia. Watch Bishop Dwayne Royster’s powerful speech on YouTube [[link removed]] :
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Rallying for a Safety Net for All in California
The Warehouse Workers Resource Center joined the rest of the Safety Net for All Coalition for its biggest action yet — which took place on June 2nd at the California State Capital [[link removed]] . They called upon Governor Gavin Newsom to include Assembly Bill 2847 — which would grant immigrant and excluded workers unemployment benefits— in the state budget proposal.
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Staff Updates
Welcome Catherine!
[[link removed]] We're excited to announce that Catherine Foley is PowerSwitch Action's new Communications Manager! Prior to joining our team, Catherine worked at the Building Movement Project, a national nonprofit focused on strengthening the sector and individual organizations to advance social change. While at the Building Movement Project, she conducted interviews for a report titled On the Frontlines: Nonprofits Led by People of Color Confront COVID-19 and Structural Racism [[link removed]] . She also co-developed and hosted an Instagram Live series called 10 Social Change Roles, Explained [[link removed]] and presented during program sessions of the Solidarity Semester [[link removed]] . Catherine graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature. Outside of work, Catherine enjoys reading, playing board games (the more intricate, the better), running, tending to her plant babies, trying new foods, and spending time with her nephew.
Join Our Team!
We’re Hiring!
We are seeking experienced individuals to join our team! If you know anyone who would be a great fit, please send them our way. The ideal candidates will have a deep commitment to social, racial, gender, economic and environmental justice.
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Chief
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State
Interference
Campaign
Director
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Campaign
Manager,
Worker
Power
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Accountability
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Finance
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Coordinator
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Creative
Lead
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And be on the lookout for the following job opportunities later this year:
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Research
Director
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Housing
Base
Building
Lead
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PowerSwitch Action
1305 Franklin St.
Suite 501
Oakland, CA 94612
United States
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