Dear John,

I invite you to join us as we celebrate 35 years of successful organizing at our 4th Biennial Race and Power in America Summit in Baltimore, November 30 through December 3. Throughout the Summit we will be lifting up stories and people who have had a role in shaping the Gamaliel Network. On Friday evening, December 2, we will be hosting a reception to celebrate Gamaliel@35 and the launch of the Race and Power Institute, the next phase of our work. Tickets for the reception will go on sale next Thursday on the Race and Power website. [Race and Power] The cost is $100 per ticket.

Most of you know the basics of our history . . . that Gamaliel was founded in 1968 to support the Contract Buyers League, an organization that fought to protect African-American home-owners in Chicago against discrimination by banks and savings and loan institutions. In 1986, Gamaliel was restructured as a community organizing leadership institute that trained community leaders to build and maintain powerful organizations in low-income communities. (Technically, we completed 35 years in 2021, but the pandemic forced us to move the celebration and the Summit to 2022.)

From my perspective one of the most significant moments in our 35-year history came when the Gamaliel Organizers of Color table encouraged and supported the selection of Ana Garcia-Ashley as the next Executive Director of Gamaliel. The Organizers of Color table had been moving the Network for several years to transform its internal structures and decision-making processes to ensure they were aligned with our stated values of diversity, inclusion, and democracy. Ana was installed as Executive Director in 2011—the first woman of color and immigrant to head a faith-based organizing network.

If you have not registered for the Race and Power Summit yet, do it now! I look forward to seeing you there.