About Us
(4) The Grassroots Organizer
The wisdom of grassroots organizing can be distilled into a single sentence: Relationships are what make things happen.
Creative partnerships with diverse partners have opened up countless opportunities for our programs to take root and grow. Through sustained relationships with the Prince George's County Schools, the Food Stamp Nutrition Education program, the Maryland Multicultural Youth Center, Words, Beats & Life, Off- Campus Student Involvement, Terp Poets, College Park Scholars, the Maryland Master Gardeners Program, CIRCLE, and many other individual and organizational partners, on and off campus, the Engaged University has been able to increase its capacity and effectiveness many times over.
We base our work in forging a creative and cohesive, mutually respectful partnerships between the campus and the community on the following principles of community organizing:
- Establish Effective Relationships
- Ensure Inclusiveness
- Create a Culture of Participation
- Maintain a Broad Mission and Vision
- Assume a Critical Perspective
- Challenge Traditional Authorities
- Find Strategic Points of Intervention
- Impact Failed Public Systems
- Build Clout
- Shift the Balance of Power
- Affect Public Policies
- Secure Public/Private Resources
- Celebrate Accomplishments.