plawless | Community Organizer Genealogy Project

Patty Lawless

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Work History

Start Year	End Year	Organization	Position
2001		Metro Organizations for People	Organizer

Organizer Profile

What brought you into the work?:

Desire to support the development of local leadership, people speaking for themselves, rather than I, as an advicate/activist, speaking for them. To be part of work that would result in real concrete change in people's lives.

Share 3 lessons you have learned through your work in organizing.:

1-All organizing is reorganizing. People move on, self-interest changes. When anchored in an institution--church or school--the opportunity is there to constantly be identifying and nurturing new leaders.

Who has inspired you in your organizing?:

Archbishop Romero and the people of El Salvador--incredible history, rich skills

Mike Kromrey, my mentor at Metro Organizations for People (MOP)

What movements or political moments have most influenced your organizing career?:

Anti-US Intervention in Central America--early 80s--how I ended up in El Salvador in the late 80s

Share an accomplishment or list accomplishments from your career in organizing.:

My accomplishments have been alongside my leaders at MOP. We have had significant impact in the areas of Education Reform in Denver Public Schools and at the state level, public safety--creating systems for stronger communication between the police and the community, and health care--a 3-year campaign created the Aurora Health Access Task Force, bringing together key stakeholders to address the needs of the uninsured in Aurora. We also continua a 6-year campaign to ensure that students from Cole Middle School, closed by the state of Colorado in 2005 for chronic underperformance, are able to attend college, including undocumented students.
In El Salvador, I have supported the development of Microlending Projects in 19 rural communities, supported PICO Central America in the development of PICO affiliates in El Salvador, and supported a network of community-based artisan collectives.

Are you still in organizing? If not, in what other fields have you worked? What are you doing now?:

I am still in organizing.

Genealogy

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Patty Lawless's Trainers

Who developed and/or trained you as an organizer?

Person	Organization
Kromrey, Mike	Metro Organizations for People

Patty Lawless's Coaches

Who has mentored, coached, or consulted with you in your organizing career?

Patty Lawless's Peers

Which of your peers influenced your development as an organizer?

Patty Lawless's Trainees

Whom have you developed or trained as an organizer? (Please list people who have stayed in the field or a related field for at least three years.)

Patty Lawless's Coachees

Who did you mentor, coach, or consult with you in your organizing career? (Please list people who have stayed in the field or a related field for at least 3 years.)