About Us

MACG is an alliance of faith, labor, health education and community organizations dedicated to building a base of everyday civic leaders to effectively stand for change they want to see in their communities.


We organize people power to create a better Tri-County region for all.  

You’ll find us working for change from the bottom up: door-to-door and in living rooms, in congregations, union halls, classrooms and community centers, in front of City Councils and at the State Capitol.

We work to hold both public and private power holders accountable for their public responsibilities. We don’t expect others to do for us - we initiate actions of our own to address community and economic problems.

 

MACG is a multi-issue organization. 

The issues we work on change from year to year, arising directly from the concerns of the people in our member organizations, lifted up through shared stories.

We cross economic, faith and neighborhood lines to find common ground and act on our values.

For over fifteen years, MACG's civic leaders have worked to make neighborhoods safer, promote accessible and affordable health care and housing, and increase job opportunities and family wages, among other issues.  

 

While collective action is a critical part of what we do, MACG’s primary work is leadership development to equip members to be effective, active, civic leaders.  We have trained over 2000 people since our founding in 2002.

 

MACG is non-partisan and non-profit, supported by the dues of our member organizations, individual donors, and foundation grants.  

Goals

We organize to build strong and connected civic organizations, develop well-trained civic leaders, and cultivate thriving communities.

We reach these goals by training everyday people to become effective community organizers. Together, our member organizations move through a disciplined cycle of:
  • Listening & Relationship Building to discover shared pressures.
  • Collective Learning to look upstream at systemic root causes and identify power holders.
  • Collaborative Action to execute strategic plans.
  • Reflection & Evaluation to develop long-term leadership.

 

Affiliations

MACG is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation(IAF), the oldest and largest network of community organizing alliances in the world.  We are also part of the IAF Pacific, a region that includes affiliates in Oregon, Washington, Montana, New Zealand, and Australia.

Through these affiliations, our members gain access to an organizing philosophy and practices developed and tested over the last 75 years. They have the opportunity to further their community leadership skills and mix with other civic leaders from around the region and country by participating in regional and national intensive trainings.

 

 



Watch this powerful video about everyday people becoming exceptional leaders through MACG's organizing practices.