Each fall, as we pause to celebrate our unstoppable network of activists, we shout out some special people and organizations who embody the qualities that drive our work. The 2021 GameChanger Awards will herald a brilliant group of champions. Join us on November 18 to meet them yourself! Here’s a glimpse of why we’ve selected them.
This year’s Policy Champion is Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Seattle, chosen for her outstanding work as the head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). Thanks to Rep. Jayapal, the CPC continues to hold the line on paid family and medical leave. “Her leadership has been key to putting the care economy and the needs of caregivers at the center of national debate,” said Marilyn Watkins, policy director at the Economic Opportunity Institute. “She and the other members of the Progressive Caucus made clear that we could not build back better without paid leave and childcare.”
April Verrett, President of SEIU Local 2015 in California, will receive the Labor Champion award for her incredible efforts educating the community and federal lawmakers about paid leave and affordable child care. SEIU Local 2015 is California’s largest local union and the nation’s largest long-term care union, representing more than 400,000 care providers in both nursing homes and private homes. “Our movement for dignity for long-term care providers was built alongside the disability and elder rights movements,” April says. Whether fighting for caregivers to have livable wages, benefits, and safe working conditions or organizing community resources, April has given power to the Care Can’t Wait National Coalition she helps lead.
Culture and narrative change are key components of the organizing we do. This year’s Culture Champion is The Opportunity Agenda. Several people from our network are part of their fellows’ program, where rising leaders can develop a broad range of communication skills. The Opportunity Agenda also helps shape public dialogue on key social justice issues through constant engagement with artists, creatives, and culture makers to shift public discourse and create compelling narratives and messages.
Our network is proud of the partners who broaden our reach. This year, we’re recognizing Training Regional Advocates to Impact Legislation (TRAIL) as our Community Partner. The TRAIL Project is a new virtual training program that supports advocates with disabilities to learn strategies for systemic change. A program of the Women and Girls Foundation, TRAIL helps members of the disability community learn about the history of disability rights, methods of advocating, working with legislators, and the Pennsylvania Family Care Act. “A large number of policies and legislation may impact the lives of people with disabilities more than the general population, and yet our voices are rarely at the table,” said Dr. Josie Badger, TRAIL project director.
The 2021 Worker Activist is Arlo Hennessey, the director of The Work with Dignity Program at the Southern Maine Workers’ Center. Arlo has built a powerful base of low-wage and marginalized workers who have been able to use advocacy, know-your-rights education, and leadership development to respond to the COVID-19 crisis and ongoing political opportunities. The Work with Dignity Program manages both the Worker Support Hotline & legal clinic and has won state and local campaigns for workers’ rights and human rights. Through the pandemic, Arlo has led fights alongside their community to ensure the rights of the people of Maine.
The final award this year goes to GA GA Group Family Daycare, LLC, and ECE (Early Childcare Educators) on the Move. GA GA Daycare is a New York-based, in-home childcare center owned and operated by Gladys Jones. Gladys, along with her colleague Doris Irizarry, founded ECE because they were tired of the lack of respect and representation they were seeing in politics and policies that affected their industry. The group is now more than 600 members strong.
Rounding out the program are keynote speaker Sonya Renee Taylor, artist, activist, and the founder and Radical Executive Officer of The Body is Not An Apology, and three spectacular performers: Maya Rogers will share her amazing music. Dasha Kelly Hamilton, concurrently the Poet Laureate for the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin, will perform an original work, and Be Steadwell will return with some of her most recent music.
