During our 25th anniversary celebration, we focused on the importance of building power so all families can thrive. We know that Forward Together would not be sustainable without the work and support of colleagues from around the country to push for the policy changes and culture shift we need to see. Our Strong Families Initiative, a network of over 120 organizations and thousands of individuals, has bound together to tackle the lack of affordable childcare and afterschool programs, immigration policy, marriage equality, voting access, police accountability and many issues that will make our communities stronger and safer.
A few of our Strong Families friends shared their reflections with us on our 25th anniversary, what Forward Together has contributed to their important work and how we can continue building strong families for the next 25 years and beyond.
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Edith Sargon, Principal, Movement Building; Wellstone:
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?
I knew Forward Together when it was Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ). I was working at a youth led reproductive rights organization and they were leading the conversation on the importance for intersectionality and the Reproductive Justice framework. I read their white paper, which I still use when I work with individuals and organizations who are working all of this out, and made sure our students and youth got access to it, made curricula from it and led discussions from that incredible tool. I continued to work with them as they transitioned from ACRJ to Forward Together. In that transition I saw them become this amazing unifying force in the reproductive rights/reproductive health/reproductive justice movements. They were bringing so many of us together, helping organizations and leaders see the potential for power we have when we work together, painting a real vision for what collaboration and collective power looks like, all while making it so doable and realistic and not asking anyone to be something they aren’t. I haven’t really seen that model of collaboration before. I haven’t seen that ability to bring so many different kinds of groups together and yield the best possible work from everyone. Where everyone has their time and place and can bring their unique strengths. It was inspiring. I didn’t want to walk away from that when I left my job, and that’s how I became a board member. Forward Stance was a big part of that work and that collaboration. It was and still is so powerful.
How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
Eveline and Moira are incredible leaders and I feel like I learn from them every time I’m around them. They model really thoughtful, strategic, nimble and intentional leadership. I think that’s part of what draws so many organizations to want to work with them. Working with Forward Together has given me a vision of what reproductive justice in motion looks like. It has also given me hope that we aren’t just a movement that calls people out and names all that’s wrong in the world, but that stands for things that will make real differences in people’s lives.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
This is a big question! My vision is that we will move from defense and play offense. That communities of color and poor people will be leading on this offensive game and that they will be prioritized. And that looks like winning local, state and national fights – elections, ballot measures, and legislation.
Zach Norris, Executive Director, The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights:
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is proud to be a leader in Forward Together's Strong Families Network. We have partnered with Forward Together on Towards a Caring Economy, a national participatory research project to capture and uplift the voices and experiences of families most impacted by incarceration and our nation's punishment economy. We are working together with organizations and families across the country to develop public safety solutions that invest in communities so that we can thrive. This partnership has brought together groups that work on gender justice, economic justice, racial justice and criminal justice reform to build up a family led movement against mass incarceration. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship and collaboration with Forward Together.
How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
I couldn't think of a better organization to partner with. Alicia and Eveline bring a high level of energy and expertise to our work and are a joy to work with. We have enjoyed the opportunity to work together to reframe what makes a strong family through media education and campaign work connected to Mama's Day and Papa's Day. Our work together in conjunction with Justice for Families has helped shift the perception of families of incarcerated youth from pariahs to partners i.e. toward families being recognized as central partners in the success in their of children and loved ones. Personally, I always look forward to sending out the beautiful Mama's and Papa's day cards each year. Professionally, I love being able refer other organizations who work with families to Forward Together/Strong Families and know that they will find a powerful and supportive staff and network there.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
We can be powerful together over the next 25 years by continuing to support each other as we build our movement for strong families and communities!
Chip in $5 to support our work in 2016 and beyond >>
Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Advocates for Youth
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?
I first met Eveline as part of the Women’s Health Leadership Network organized by the Center for American Progress. I had heard of and known of Eveline for years but never been in space with her. Being in that network together allowed us to learn more about each other and each other’s work (I was at Pro-Choice Pubic Education Project at the time) and build a strong friendship over the years. That beginning gave us the grounding to begin collaborating together first through EMERJ and then through Strong Families.
How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
Oh wow! Where do I begin? Professionally, everything changed for me when Forward Together (then ACRJ) released “A New Vision” in 2005. I was at a reproductive health, rights and justice conference at Smith College at the time the paper was released. The paper caused such a stir, that the conference ran out of copies! Every day another FedEx box arrived and within minutes, all the copies were snatched up. I hold on to that moment because I witnessed how the thought leadership of Forward Together could change the movement seemingly overnight. The power of that analysis holds true to this day. When I introduce activists to Reproductive Justice, I always go back to that paper as a cornerstone of the movement, not because FT originated the framework or even the movement itself (which they would never claim they did), but because they captured the work of women of color and Indigenous women in fighting reproductive oppression in a more holistic way.
Now, I had to read “A New Vision” 5 or 6 times to really understand the differences between reproductive health, rights and justice, and the importance of the relationship between the three sectors. But that analysis and the relationships I developed with Forward Together staff (at the time) including, Eveline, Dana, Aparna and Maria, changed my work and life forever. The articulation of Reproductive Justice resonated so deeply with me that it shifted the way I did the work, the direction of the organization I ran at the time, and how I identify my activism. Forward Together used that particular movement moment to bring people together to strategize how best to build power and movement for our communities (EMERJ). And it was the years spent building trust, strength and power that laid the foundation for what is now Strong Families.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
We cannot build power in isolation from each other. We have to continue to build relationships across individuals, communities, issues and movements and use those relationships to learn from each other and explore new ideas for building power. To move forward, we also have to center young people in our movement work and lift up their voices, ideas and leadership. Achieving reproductive justice will take all of our skills, dedication and talents, and it’s critical that we continue to develop future generations of movement leaders. by continuing to support each other as we build our movement for strong families and communities!
Chip in $5 to support our work in 2016 and beyond >>
Edith Sargon, Principal, Movement Building; Wellstone:
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?
How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
Eveline and Moira are incredible leaders and I feel like I learn from them every time I’m around them. They model really thoughtful, strategic, nimble and intentional leadership. I think that’s part of what draws so many organizations to want to work with them. Working with Forward Together has given me a vision of what reproductive justice in motion looks like. It has also given me hope that we aren’t just a movement that calls people out and names all that’s wrong in the world, but that stands for things that will make real differences in people’s lives.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
This is a big question! My vision is that we will move from defense and play offense. That communities of color and poor people will be leading on this offensive game and that they will be prioritized. And that looks like winning local, state and national fights – elections, ballot measures, and legislation.
Zach Norris, Executive Director, The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights:
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?
The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is proud to be a leader in Forward Together's Strong Families Network. We have partnered with Forward Together on Towards a Caring Economy, a national participatory research project to capture and uplift the voices and experiences of families most impacted by incarceration and our nation's punishment economy. We are working together with organizations and families across the country to develop public safety solutions that invest in communities so that we can thrive. This partnership has brought together groups that work on gender justice, economic justice, racial justice and criminal justice reform to build up a family led movement against mass incarceration. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship and collaboration with Forward Together.How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
I couldn't think of a better organization to partner with. Alicia and Eveline bring a high level of energy and expertise to our work and are a joy to work with. We have enjoyed the opportunity to work together to reframe what makes a strong family through media education and campaign work connected to Mama's Day and Papa's Day. Our work together in conjunction with Justice for Families has helped shift the perception of families of incarcerated youth from pariahs to partners i.e. toward families being recognized as central partners in the success in their of children and loved ones. Personally, I always look forward to sending out the beautiful Mama's and Papa's day cards each year. Professionally, I love being able refer other organizations who work with families to Forward Together/Strong Families and know that they will find a powerful and supportive staff and network there.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
We can be powerful together over the next 25 years by continuing to support each other as we build our movement for strong families and communities!
Chip in $5 to support our work in 2016 and beyond >>
How did you start collaborating with Forward Together?I first met Eveline as part of the Women’s Health Leadership Network organized by the Center for American Progress. I had heard of and known of Eveline for years but never been in space with her. Being in that network together allowed us to learn more about each other and each other’s work (I was at Pro-Choice Pubic Education Project at the time) and build a strong friendship over the years. That beginning gave us the grounding to begin collaborating together first through EMERJ and then through Strong Families.
How has this collaboration impacted you personally and professionally?
Oh wow! Where do I begin? Professionally, everything changed for me when Forward Together (then ACRJ) released “A New Vision” in 2005. I was at a reproductive health, rights and justice conference at Smith College at the time the paper was released. The paper caused such a stir, that the conference ran out of copies! Every day another FedEx box arrived and within minutes, all the copies were snatched up. I hold on to that moment because I witnessed how the thought leadership of Forward Together could change the movement seemingly overnight. The power of that analysis holds true to this day. When I introduce activists to Reproductive Justice, I always go back to that paper as a cornerstone of the movement, not because FT originated the framework or even the movement itself (which they would never claim they did), but because they captured the work of women of color and Indigenous women in fighting reproductive oppression in a more holistic way.
Now, I had to read “A New Vision” 5 or 6 times to really understand the differences between reproductive health, rights and justice, and the importance of the relationship between the three sectors. But that analysis and the relationships I developed with Forward Together staff (at the time) including, Eveline, Dana, Aparna and Maria, changed my work and life forever. The articulation of Reproductive Justice resonated so deeply with me that it shifted the way I did the work, the direction of the organization I ran at the time, and how I identify my activism. Forward Together used that particular movement moment to bring people together to strategize how best to build power and movement for our communities (EMERJ). And it was the years spent building trust, strength and power that laid the foundation for what is now Strong Families.
What is your vision of how we can build power together for next 25 years?
We cannot build power in isolation from each other. We have to continue to build relationships across individuals, communities, issues and movements and use those relationships to learn from each other and explore new ideas for building power. To move forward, we also have to center young people in our movement work and lift up their voices, ideas and leadership. Achieving reproductive justice will take all of our skills, dedication and talents, and it’s critical that we continue to develop future generations of movement leaders. by continuing to support each other as we build our movement for strong families and communities!
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Blog posts represent the opinion of the author, not necessarily Forward Together or Strong Families.