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In a New Yorker piece by Samuel Freedman, Industrial Areas Foundation co-chair Ernesto Cortes and Sr. Christine Stephens reflect on the life and spirit of Edward Chambers, the long-time executive director of the IAF that led it to to become the premier community organizing network in the US and around the world.

"Ed believed in the mission of the church, and I don't just mean the Roman Catholic Church," Sister Christine Stephens, a member of Chambers's leadership team in the I.A.F., said. "That mission involved dealing with people who are on the margins, people who don't have power."

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Change Makers - The Texas Observer Celebrates 60 Years, Texas Observer

"....This wave of activism reflects the difference between what community organizer Ernie Cortes calls hot anger and cold anger. With hot anger we act irrationally and misdirect it toward the wrong people. With cold anger we focus on what we can do to change oppression, exploitation and injustice...."

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For over 30 years, Sr. Christine Stephens and co-director Ernie Cortes have trained lead organizers for organizations like Austin Interfaith, "an eclectic mix of 40 dues-paying partner organizations that include labor unions, churches, mosques, synagogues and non-profits.... The mission of her organization...is to identify and train people like Malone to solve problems for themselves.

'You find people who . . . if put into relationship with one another and taught how to organize, can do just incredible things,' she explains."

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Industrial Areas Foundation Co-Director Ernesto Cortes, Jr. articulates and models the fundamentals of relational meetings, the core practice of broad based organizing.

This video, designed to showcase the craft of experienced organizer practitioners, was shot during a 3-Day IAF Training in Las Vegas, Nevada. Click on photo at right, or click here, to view clip.