Our Mission is the Common Good
The Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) is a broad-based organization which works to coalesce, train, and organize the communities of Greater Edmonton across religious, labour, ethnic, class and neighborhood lines for the common good. Our primary goal is to develop local leadership and organized power to fight for social justice. We strive to hold both public and private power holders accountable for their public responsibilities, as well as to initiate actions and programs of our own to solve community, economic and ecological problems.
We are multi-issue. The issues we work on come from within our institutions, from the concerns of the people. We cross neighborhood, labour, ethnic and religious lines to find common ground and act on our faith and democratic values.
GEA is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) and is directly part of the IAF Northwest Region with Portland, Seattle, Central Washington and Spokane.
Our Current Issues
Tenant Organizing
For more Affordable Housing in Greater Edmonton |
Organized Food Buyers of GEA
Working to fight climate change in how we buy and transport our food |
JUST Work
Organizing with immigrant communities to make workplaces fairer and safer |
Seniors and Long Term Care
For seniors (community) housing, quality long-term care facilities & coordinated transportation |
How we organize
- Telling our stories
- Building relationships within and outside of our institutions
- Analyzing self-interest, power and context in our lives and society
- Listening processes that expand our base and build relational power
- Leadership development to prepare people for participation in public life
- Action that is focused on research and negotiation as well as building new public relationships
- Creating a culture of evaluation and learning
- GEA is ORGANIZED PEOPLE and ORGANIZED MONEY. We operate primarily on money from dues and fees of member institutions.
- GEA also raises private donor and foundation money
How and why we act
(Criteria for Action- Action is in the reaction)
- Identification and development of new leaders for our members institutions
- Bringing people into relationship with one another
- Expanding the base- connecting to new institutions
Key Questions
- How many members in the base is this issue relevant to?
- Is it specific and winnable?
- Are we analyzing and reorganizing power?
- Can we tell our stories in action?
- Can it create new social imagination and possibilities?