GET TO KNOW US
We have a powerful team of staff, facilitators, trainers and coaches who bring combined decades of experience organizing for, and winning, power. Our team has worked with groups at the forefront of the fights for housing, public education, healthcare, immigration, and mass liberation. Our team brings experience developing participatory, experiential trainings and can facilitate processes that support groups to make decisions and struggle well together. Take a look below for more details.
STAFF
Christi Clark, Executive Director
(she/her)
Christi brings over twenty years of community and labor organizing experience where she developed the leadership, organization and coalitions necessary to win. Prior to founding The Organizing Center she built strong unions, won policy changes that decriminalized black and brown high school youth, and led a campaign that won $100M for affordable housing in Philly. She believes people power is the only way to win and that another world is possible. When she is not nerding- out about organizing, she likes to hike in the woods, ride her bike and build Legos with her kids.
Shakiya Canty, Resilience and Movement Ecosystems Director
(she/her)
Shakiya is a 4th generation West Philadelphian who enjoys identifying innovative approaches and improved solutions to social movement and organizational challenges. Previously, she spent 5 years serving as an organizer in Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA, where she helped leaders and coalitions to win policy changes for housing, sanitation, and transportation. She has deep interests in healing justice, the intersection of spirituality and organizing, and economic alternatives and believes that Collective Power, Love, and Imagination are the tools necessary to create the world we wish to see.
Kristin Schwab, Workshop Director
(she/her)
Kristin is a dynamic leader and facilitator who supports political education, leadership development, and collective governance within organizations, cooperative businesses, and schools. Her involvement in intergenerational multi-racial cross-class food justice movements as a young person inspires her work today. Kristin loves supporting fellow white people to find their stake and role in our liberation movements and bringing people together around a love-filled meal. She is deeply committed to building a world where we are all free, sharing power, and living joyous lives.
Omi Masika, Program Administrator
(they/them)
Omi is an educator who started their community education practice in 2010. They come from a strong youth work and facilitation background, and their work spans many realms - working with groups such as the Trans Youth Support Network, the Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition, Neighborhood Bike Works, Training for Change, as well as in academic settings and with various organizing groups. Prior to joining The Organizing Center, they served as a coach for organizers and facilitators eager to increase their confidence and their skills, worked in health care as an EMT in a Critical Care setting from 2018-2021, and most recently served as the Director of Member Technology for the community sustained fishery (CSF), Fishadelphia. Additionally, they currently coach soccer with the Kensington Soccer Club. They balance their "doing the most" energy by spending time in nature, connecting to music, eating, and hanging with their pup.
ADVISORY BOARD
We are evaluating our current Advisory Board structure and recruiting new members to ensure that at least 60% of our Advisory Board is made up of people of color and gender-oppressed people. If you would like to serve on our Advisory Board, please see a description here and email us at info@theorganizingcenter.org
MORE INFO COMING SOON
TRAINERS & COACHES
Marisol Ocampo
she/her
Aurora Muñoz
she/her
Eboni Taggart
she/her
Cara Tratner
she/her
Lily Rorick
she/her
David Haiman
he/him
Diana Waters
she/her
Tierra Ragland
she/her
Clarise McCants
she/her
Roksana Mun
she/her
Hiram Rivera
he/him
Eleanor Liu
she/her
David Hunt
he/him
Andrew Willis Garcés
he/him
Jennine Miller
she/her
Estrella Diaz
she/they
MJ McClure
they/them
Sara Yukimoto-Saltman
she/they
SunyoungStrait
they/them
Marta Vizueta Bohórquez
she/her
Alexa Malishchak
she/her
Camilo Sol
he/him