April is Celebrate Diversity Month! Keeping with the theme of our 2023 Annual Convening, Philanthropy in Formation, we are highlighting our partners who are doing substantive work in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana to advance diversity, promote racial equity, and foster democracy through philanthropic action.
Step Up Louisiana engages its multiracial, multigenerational membership in campaigns and strategies to fight structural racism in the South and advocate for educational and economic justice. Their work is focused on “long-term base-building” to win elections and hold public officials accountable. Organizing across generations and constituencies to disrupt the interlocking systems of oppression, Step Up Louisiana empowers its members “through voter education, advocacy, and action.”
An action-oriented organization, Step Up Louisiana is lauded for its many accomplishments over the years including a job fair that also provided free health screenings, help with medical debt, free food, and voter registration. They’ve hosted a candidate forum for members to meet 22 candidates running for office; held an “Unleash Local” for constituents to discuss Louisiana House Bill 422, to lift the ban on local paid leave and minimum wage policies; and fought for school buses for students at Einstein Charter School – a fight they won.
In 2021, Step Up Louisiana released a three-year strategic vision to engage its members and stakeholder in progressive action and grow the organization around the “compounding crises” of Covid-19, the movement for Black Lives in the wake of multiple murders of unarmed Black Americans, and climate disasters in the gulf coast that have had a significant impact on the lives of Louisiana’s residents. They also revised their approach to leadership in order to meet this moment.
Step Up Louisiana’s vision for political participation and its solid civic engagement strategy aligns with our work at FCCP and that is why we have selected them as a partner for our 2023 Convening Book Drive. For more information on Step Up Louisiana, visit their website.
Everyone is welcome to participate in FCCP’s 2023 Annual Convening Book Drive, attendance at the Convening is not required. Check out our website for details on how to donate books to support literacy in New Orleans.