Grassroots Action
Education, Facilitation, and Coaching
As grassroots organizers try to juggle all our life responsibilities, make it to meetings, work on campaigns, do outreach, and work tirelessly to bring justice to our communities, we can get to a point where we need outside support. It easy to keep our heads to the ground working hard for justice and forget to take the time to give regular facilitators a break, maintain our organizations in sustainable ways, assess the work we’re doing, work through tension and conflict, create strategic plans, and even create a vision and goals to work toward.
Sometimes, without an outside perspective, we get stuck, bumping up against the same problems over and over. Conflict, tension, and disagreement between co-organizers can get in the way, making it difficult to problem solve and move forward. An outside facilitator can help a group creatively problem solve and work through tension and disagreement because they are less wrapped up and emotionally involved in the organization.
For these reason, I’m offering my skills as an educator, facilitator, and experienced grassroots organizer to help groups reach their goals in sustainable, healthy, effective ways.
ABOUT
About me!
My name is Christine and I’ve been a grassroots organizer for almost a decade. I was born in the Hudson Valley in New York and lived there until age 14, when I was moved to Southern Maine. Since then I've lived all around the state, and finally landed in the Lewiston/Auburn area three years ago. I am from a working class, apolitical/moderate immigrant family. My father was the third child of five, and he was the first-born in the United States. His family is from Sicily. My father had different entry level jobs before becoming an LPN when I was in second grade, and my mother has been a factory worker since before I was born. I am white, cis-gender, and queer, and am currently in a hetro relationship. As an adult I have been poor/working class, I didn't go to college, and I've survived financially by living cheap, waiting tables, doing warehouse/factory work, farm labor, nude modeling, figuring out how to get paid for my organizing, and mostly living really, really cheap.
I became politically conscience in high school when my best friend introduced me to Adbusters magazine. Before that I was apolitical for the most part, patriotic, didn’t see anything wrong with capitalism, and ignorant to systems of oppression. After Adbusters I found punk rock music, which led me to anarchism and activism, which eventually transformed me into an organizer.
For the last 10 years I have been active in climate justice, racial justice, indigenous solidarity, and queer/feminist/trans liberation organizing and activism. I have also helped to provide resources, support, and education to statewide organizers and activists, with an emphasis on supporting youth.
Some projects I have worked on/been a part of are: Resources for Organizing and Social Change, Pine Tree Youth Organizing, The Beehive Design Collective, Blood Orange Infoshop, Occupy Wall Street (NYC), The Trans and/or Women’s Action Camp (Florida and Maine), Stop Fracked Oil by Rail in Maine, Maine Students for Climate Justice, The Annual Youth Activism Gathering, Outright L/A, and Showing up for Racial Justice (Central Maine and statewide movement building).
I have a particular skill for facilitation, direct action, organizational development, popular education, consensus decision-making, centering directly affected community members, and organizing with accountability.
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When I'm not organizing I'm homesteading, making herbal medicines, hanging with kids, working a million jobs to save up money for land, walking in the woods, listening to Beyonce, or sitting around dreaming big dreams.