V.O.I.C.E. of Northern Virginia

an Industrial Areas Foundation Affiliate

About VOICE and IAF

en espanol:  VOICE (VOZ) y IAF

At the VOICE Founding Action on October 5, 2008, VOICE leaders presented their organizing theme: A New Dominion for Justice and Political Participation along with VOICE's action agenda to 27 elected NOVA political, corporate and civic leaders. Key officials from each NOVA political jurisdiction and from the Commonwealth agreed to work with VOICE to address this action agenda:
 
Affordable Housing & Homelessness:  Increase dedicated local funds for affordable housing, reduce home foreclosures and identify public land on which to build affordable housing.

Immigration:  Decrease the Federal backlog in processing citizenship applications and increase local and state support for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services.

Health Care/Dental Care:  Increase support for Dental Care Services for low-income persons in NOVA

VOICE is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF)—the oldest and largest citizens’ organizing network in the United States. IAF has several organizations in the Washington/Baltimore Metro. Area: Washington Interfaith Network (DC), Action In Montgomery (MD), Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development, People Acting Together in Howard (MD).  These organizations passed the first living wage law in the United States (Baltimore), won a $45 million dedicated annual fund for affordable housing in Montgomery County, MD, and secured $1 billion for neighborhood investment in Washington, DC.  These organizations have also trained thousands of leaders for public action at the local, state, and national level.  Today, IAF has affiliates in sixty cities/counties in the US, England, Canada, and Germany.  For more information on the IAF, visit www.industrialareasfoundation.org.
 
"Broad-based" organizing is organizing that brings together a broad base of institutions for power, understood by IAF leaders as the ability to act. These institutions are schools, congregations, labor unions, business associations, neighborhood associations, civic and non-profits organizations. IAF organizations teach the "Iron Rule" of organizing, which is: "Never do for somebody what they can do for themselves." IAF organizers do not "do" democracy for the institutions of the network, but rather teach the skills and practices necessary for public life so that leaders within those institutions act together and develop and mentor new leaders. IAF, therefore, does not bring an agenda of issues to new institutions, but rather invites those institutions to participate in a process of determining their own agenda of issues.

“One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites.  Love is identified with the resignation of power and power with a denial of love… What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.  Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice.  Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”  - Martin Luther King
 
“But being without a power structure means being without a center of action.  It means an agglomeration of individuals without united power of being and without a uniting form of justice.”  Paul Tillich, Love, Power, and Justice

Martin Paul Trimble has been the IAF Lead Organizer working with V.O.I.C.E.since 2004. He also is the lead organizer of Washington Interfaith Network, IAF’s affiliate in Washington, DC.  Mr. Trimble has organized with the Industrial Areas Foundation for 14 years in Philadelphia, PA, Wilmington, DE, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia.  Mr. Trimble works for VOICE 2-3 days per week concentrating his time in southern Fairfax County, Alexandria City, and Prince William County as well as working with VOICE’s key leaders on region-wide issues.  You can contact Martin Trimble at (202) 518-0815 or mptrimble@mac.com.

Kathleen O’Toole has been Senior Organizer with VOICE since September 2008.  Ms. O’Toole organized with IAF in the 1990’s and served as lead organizer for Baltimoreans United for Leadership Development (BUILD) for 8 years.  Prior to joining IAF, Ms. O’Toole organized in Philadelphia, Camden, and Wilmington for 20 years.  Most recently, she was national church outreach director for Bread for the World—a post that she held for 7 years.  Ms. O’Toole works with VOICE congregations in Fairfax and Arlington.  You can contact Kathleen by email at kathleenotiaf@gmail.com

Bruna Genovese, has been an associate organizer with VOICE since September 2008.  Ms. Genovese speaks fluent Spanish and works primarily with VOICE congregations that have large immigrant memberships.  Ms. Genovese is a former leader in the IAF affiliate Washington Interfaith Network. She is a former high school teacher.  She has worked and studied in South and Central America.  You can contact Bruna by email at brunagenovese@gmail.com