Energy crackled as 110 COPA leaders from 28 institutions, including Bishop Lucinda Ashby of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, filled the room for an honest, wide-ranging conversation with California Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas.

Maria Elena Manzo, Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) Leader, and Founder and Executive Director of Mujeres en Acción, was announced as this year’s recipient of the Siembra Latinos Fund’s Alfred Diaz-Infante Award.

Amid a growing climate of fear in Los Angeles, One LA-IAF launched its "Freedom School" strategy to respond to recent immigration raids and undermining of civil liberties that have terrorized communities throughout Los Angeles County. Hearkening back to the civil rights movement, 200 leaders spent July 4th reflecting on their faith traditions and American constitutional principles, while learning concrete organizing skills to safeguard their communities.

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed to drop undocumented immigrants from the state health insurance rolls, 120 California IAF leaders and allies traveled to the capitol by bus and persuaded legislators to restore access to the program.

“Immigrants pay taxes. They work in our communities with no safety nets," said COPA (Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action) Leader Mary Litel Walsh. “We came hundreds of miles from all over the state...took time off of work and away from our families to be here today. Why?

Because we need our legislators to fight for us.

Maria Elena Manzo (to the right of Pope Francis) with the Pontiff and the 2024 W/SW IAF Vatican delegation. Maria wrote this article.

[Originally published by Monterey County Now]

Last August, I had the opportunity to travel to Rome and visit Pope Francis. I joined a delegation of 18 leaders and organizers from across the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation, the organizing network to which Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) belongs. This was the third meeting our group had with Pope Francis between 2022 and 2024, each a 90-minute conversation at his residence at the Casa Santa Marta. At each encounter, he demonstrated humor and humility as he listened attentively to our organizing stories and engaged us in conversation.

[Excerpt]

This may look like an ordinary stop sign.

However, for residents of Southeast Fresno, it represents a hard-fought victory in making their community safer.

Before this week, the intersection along South Avenue—a busy road cutting through city and rural farmland—was only a two-way stop. It was a dangerous crossing, and last summer, Alex Burgos, a young parishioner from St. Anthony Mary Claret Catholic church, learned that firsthand when his car was T-boned by another vehicle.

“At first, I thought it was just bad luck,” Burgos said. “Then I started talking to other people in my church, and I realized I wasn’t the only one....”

In 2023, leaders from COPA congregations, schools, and nonprofits spoke with over 400 families, hearing dozens of stories about families that had paid thousands of dollars in unnecessary application fees just to apply to live in an apartment. Sometimes, families learned later that the apartments they had applied for didn’t even exist.

In response, COPA leaders reached out to member institutions, building a powerful constituency across Central California. Leaders at Holy Cross engaged leaders at Temple Beth El and Mujeres en Acción, who in turn reached out to other institutions as the team grew. All in all, 13 institutions joined the process and, together, built a relationship with Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin.

COPA leaders:

• researched the issue with state policy experts and attorneys - worked with Assemblywoman Pellerin to craft new legislation, 
• testified in both the Assembly and State Senate (in 3 different languages!) and 
• overcame vested opposition by crafting a compromise with power groups.

The Rev. Aaron Klinefelter, rector of St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, and Sharon Rowser, of Foothill Community Presbyterian church, served as co-chairs for the founding convention of Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good.

[Excerpt]

On the eve of a pivotal national election, nearly 600 leaders and community members from 17 founding organizations–including St. Jude’s Episcopal Church and Santa Maria Urban Ministry, both of the Diocese of El Camino Real–gathered to launch Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good (SVACG), the first broad-based community organization in the region affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation. The event marked a new era of collective commitment to building power and fighting for concrete change in one of America’s most influential—and most unequal—regions.

The convention centered on a shared vision of “common good” in a region known for extreme wealth disparities... 

[Photo Credit: Episcopal News Service]

Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good Launches, Pledging Community Solidarity Beyond Election Outcomes, Episcopal News Service [pdf]

The Central Valley IAF Sponsoring Committee made a significant stride as over 300 people from across Fresno County gathered for a bilingual community assembly—the largest action that local leaders have organized thus far. 

Conducted in both English and Spanish, the event drew residents, faith leaders, and local officials, reflecting the rich diversity of the area.

[Excerpt]

Ortencia Ramirez, a member of OneLA (a local IAF group) started organizing in her parish because “all my life, I saw the struggles in my community,” she says. One day at church, a man who was involved in organizing made an announcement that resonated with Ramirez: “He said, ‘I wanted to make a difference, I just didn’t know how. I knew in my faith that I should be doing more for our community, but I didn’t know where to start.’ ”

Ramirez has been organizing for close to 20 years. “What’s kept me interested after all these years in organizing is the difference that I see that it makes in our community in L.A. County. I see the fruits of our labor,” she says. “The leadership training has helped me listen to people and take their issues on. It’s made me more of a public person because I’m very shy. Without my faith, I wouldn’t be doing community organizing.”....

Community Organizing Is Synodality in Action, US Catholic [pdf]