Steering Committee
KFTC Steering Committee retreat
Steering Committee members will spend time evaluating KFTC's work in 2019 and firming up plans for 2020.
KFTC leaders confront results of racial justice assessment
“Solidarity is not a matter of altruism. Solidarity comes from the inability to tolerate the affront to our own integrity of passive or active collaboration in the oppression of others, and from the deep recognition of our most expansive self-interest. From the recognition that, like it or not, our liberation is bound up with that of every other being on the planet, and that politically, spiritually, in our heart of hearts we know anything else is unaffordable”
— Aurora Levins Morales
As a part of KFTC’s commitment to racial justice, the Steering Committee made the decision last year to commit to a racial justice organizational assessment and visioning process.
During the weekend of October 5-6, members of the Executive Committee, Steering Committee, Racial Justice Team and People of Color Caucus, as well as several staff, gathered to discuss the results of the Racial Justice Assessment that was conducted by Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned consulting firm that was hired to conduct an independent third-party analysis of KFTC’s culture, obstacles and goals regarding race equity work.
KFTC Steering Committee discusses organizing for racial justice
Racial justice and organizing for the 2019 and 2020 elections were the focus for KFTC Steering Committee members and guests as they met in Berea on February 2.
Steering Committee members discuss 2018 election work
KFTC Steering Committee members found a lot of positives to lift up as they evaluated KFTC’s electoral work in 2018, even as they recognized the need for bigger and better efforts in the coming years.
New Steering Committee convenes and centers visionary organizing
On September 22, the newly elected Steering Committee met in Berea for the first time since being elected to represent KFTC’s statewide leadership. Each year following the KFTC Annual Membership Meeting, the Steering Committee meets to review KFTC’s work and hold an orientation for incoming Steering Committee members.
However, the most valuable aspect of this meeting was Steering Committee representatives and alternates taking the opportunity to get to know each other and build community among grassroots leaders across the state. Steering Committee members lifted up that community building is critical for grassroots organizing that is rooted in a vision for the state.
During the orientation, members noted that the present political context requires more than organizing. It requires organizing and actions that are grounded in a vision that shapes the new kind of power KFTC members are working to build. As members reflected on KFTC’s vision statement, many drew direct connections between the vision and collective action.
Joy Fitzgerald of Shelby County noted that KFTC’s vision is “the foundation of our working democracy.”
Conner Allen of Jefferson County noted that KFTC’s vision is why folks across the state are inspired to join: “It’s a values statement and values are why we are here.”
Ezra Dike of Rowan County said KFTC’s vision is “a sales pitch and a unifying rallying cry.”
Other items the Steering Committee discussed included Racial Justice organizing, building an inclusive culture for KFTC youth leadership, KFTC’s fall fundraising campaign and the Sustaining Giver program, as well as hiring and staffing for 2019.
Page
