Support CAGJ: Fund the Collective!

Dear CAGJ Community,

As the outgoing Executive Director of Community Alliance for Global Justice, I am grateful to our community for continuing to believe that this organization has an important role to play in promoting food sovereignty and food justice both locally and transnationally. I am crossing the threshold, leaving behind what has been much more than a job; it’s an emotional time for me. I believe we still have work to do together, including webs of relationships that matter.  l invite you to support CAGJ so we may keep strengthening movements for global justice!

Fund the Collective

Throughout our history, CAGJ has always relied on our members to volunteer your time and funds. Coming out of the WTO protests, our first volunteer collective was based in an alliance of environmentalists, unions and global justice organizations. We later evolved from our trade focus to grassroots organizing to strengthen local economies everywhere, especially strong food systems. Right now volunteers are stepping up to lead CAGJ, who will forge a new path. We are in conversation with potential board members, and both longtime activists and new folks are joining our organizing meeting on January 21st to form the latest iteration of CAGJ’s Volunteer Collective.

Please donate generously: Solidarity is Vital

CAGJ’s costs are decreasing, however we continue to rely on our members to ensure our continued communications and organizing support. As we all feel deeply, the need for organizing in solidarity with workers on the frontlines of our food system is increasing in intensity with the new administration coming to power this January.

Your donations will also ensure that CAGJ can continue to fund Sara Lavenhar’s position – our Operations Coordinator, who is the backbone of CAGJ and will provide critical institutional knowledge throughout the transition. With sufficient support, CAGJ will have the option to hire a future organizer as well.

We collectively made a difference in 2024, and the work continues in 2025!

Solidarity with our African partners:

• We collaborated with organizations across the US and Africa to develop joint research and actions, culminating in the now annual press conference and publicity campaign in September to protest AGRA’s corporate agriculture conference.
• For the first time, a Southern African faith-based organization, SAFCEI, called for reparations from the harm caused by the Gates Foundation and AGRA (formerly known as Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa). AGRA Watch volunteers are dedicated to continuing our campaign in solidarity with the African food sovereignty movement.

Solidarity with our local partners:

• On May Day we marched through the tulip fields with our Farmworker allies, and I was honored to be invited to hear Farmworker testimony as a judge at the 11th annual Farmworker Tribunal organized by Familias Unidas por la Justicia and Community to Community Development. Join us January 21, 2025 in Olympia for the next Tribunal!
• In solidarity with UFCW 3000, we continued to raise awareness of the dangers of the proposed grocery merger between Kroger and Albertsons. In September we rallied as Attorney General (now Governor-elect) Bob Ferguson spoke before entering the court to bring new charges to stop the merger. The struggle isn’t over.
• Movement building was strengthened by our participation in the first gathering of NADAWG, the North American Digital Agriculture Working Group, which will see new campaigns arising in 2025.

Political education and outreach:

• We continued to offer opportunities to engage in political education and action by co-hosting the new program, “Embracing LOVE in the Food System” in Olympia, which we hope to offer again in 2025!
• We were invited to host a booth in the Kuleana Corridor, a new initiative of Northwest Folklife to connect food sovereignty with folk culture. We focused on raising awareness about the African Food Sovereignty movement’s concerns with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, located just across the street.
• We are helping to host multiple events to mark the 25th anniversary of the WTO protests, working with MOHAI as they launch their retrospective exhibit this month!

Looking forward

We’re all reeling from the devastating election results and global environmental catastrophes; what we all need is a sense of safety in community, and spaces where we can transform our grief into action. I hope CAGJ can continue to offer those spaces of healing and connection. In that spirit, I invite you to join me in 2025 for monthly dinners – potlucks and restaurant explorations; stay tuned!

I hope you will consider donating in my honor this holiday season! As I wrote in my farewell letter, many people have told me, “CAGJ is Heather Day!”, but of course it would not exist without YOU, and all of the hard-working, generous and brilliant people who have collaborated, in community, to struggle for global justice.

I am so grateful to each and everyone of you for creating this wonderful community of caring people, committed to justice and liberation. While I look for my next role in the universe, I will always stay connected to CAGJ!

 

With love & solidarity,

Heather Day ([email protected])

Fund the Collective! Make Your Voice Heard

All gifts are tax-deductible: Click here

tinyurl.com/FundCAGJ

• Monthly Sustainers give by automatic deduction once per month, and help us concentrate more energy on organizing. Give $5, $10, $20 or $100 per month!
• One time donations will help us reach our goal of raising $10,000 by December 31
• Matching gifts are greatly appreciated! Do you work for a company that provides matching funds? Let us know how we can connect!
• Can’t donate, but want to become a Member or renew? Just fill out our online Membership form: tinyurl.com/joinCAGJ – Thank you!