The leaders and organizers of the Industrial Areas Foundation build organizations whose primary purpose is power - the ability to act - and whose chief product is equitable social change.  The IAF is non-ideological and strictly nonpartisan, but proudly, publicly and persistently political.  Through local affiliates, the IAF builds a political base among voluntary institutions that include religious congregations, labor local, education locals, civic organizations and others. Our leaders use that base to compete at times, to confront at times and to cooperate at times with decision-makers in the government and market sectors.

Victories

Spokane Alliance

• Negotiated with Spokane Transit Authority to maintain the .3% sales tax that funds essential transit services with no requirement to re-vote again in four years; to preserve the public accountability measures that the Alliance won in 2004; and to aggressively pursue the purchase of hybrid fuel buses.
  

• Secured commitments from Spokane Public Schools to implement Green Building standards; provide apprenticeship opportunities to district graduates (15 percent apprentice utilization); and use the project as training ground for green technologies. This served as a model for a Green Building state legislative package.
  
• Lead Eastern Washington lobbying efforts that resulted in passage of bills on mental health parity, prescription drug purchasing consortium, apprentice utilization and green building standards.

  Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good

• Launched a Primary Care Pilot Project between St. Andrew Catholic Church and Providence Health Clinics that matches parishioners with the greatest need to designated places in the North Portland Family and Community Medicine Clinic. This effort has opened the door for other innovative partnerships between mediating institutions and the private sector in health care delivery.

• Secured $75 million in additional funding for affordable housing units in the City of Portland and commitments from the City Council to increase the city's 10-year production goal by 3,350 units for households at or below 50 percent of median family income.
  

  Greater Edmonton Alliance (Alberta, Canada)

• Secured 450 affordable housing units in the Strathearn Heights redevelopment through negotiations with Habitat for Humanity Edmonton and the City of Edmonton. This model of collaboration is now being replicated in other developments.

• Launched Shake the Hand That Feeds You campaign to connect local congregations to local farmers in order to increase demand for and access to locally grown food. Through building relationships, "organized eaters" have pledged to purchase 250 food orders directly from area producers.

Joe Chrastil
IAF NW Lead Organizer
649 Strander Blvd, Suite B
P: (206) 575-2252
F: (206) 575-2262