People, Power, Change – with Marshall Ganz
How to combat the illiberal forces in a world where progressive values seem to decline? The answer of Marshall Ganz: get involved and organise.
The radical right has officially entered into positions of power throughout Europe and the US finds itself in a constitutional crisis. For progressive leaning individuals, the feeling of helplessness can feel overwhelming. How do we change the political climate? With experienced activists and young organizers we will discuss what strategies work, the power of community and the obligation to hope.
About the speakers:
Marshall Ganz (1943) is one of the world’s leading authorities on democratic organizing. Throughout his career Ganz has organised to strengthen collective action. He started out in the Civil Rights Movement and was the brain behind the grassroots campaigns that got President Obama elected. Now a professor at Harvard University, he studies what strategies work to create real and lasting change.
Jerry King Luther Afriyie is a poet and human rights activist. Born in Bechem, Ghana, Jerry Afriyie has lived in the Netherlands since the age of 11 and in the Bijlmer for almost 30 years. He co-founded the movement Nederland Wordt Beter and the Soul Rebel Movement foundation. In 2011, together with other artists, he launched the awareness campaign Zwarte Piet is Racisme and is co-founder of Kick Out Zwarte Piet and het Zwart Manifest.
Dieuwertje Wallaart, 23, is the chairperson of De Jonge Klimaatbeweging, a youth organisation that represents the voice of young people in the climate debate. In that role, she tries to build a bridge between young people and climate-related politics. In 2022, she took Marshall Ganz’ classes at the Harvard Kennedy School, which inspired her to get active on climate issues and build a movement with her peers.
Sandra Ball is Head of Education and Training at the Lowlander Project, an Dutch training institute for organizing. Born in the United States, Sandra moved to the Netherlands to take part in the peace movement in the 1980s and never went home. A trainer, coach, interim director, and organizer, Sandra has spent her carrier training others to take up leadership. Before she founded Lowlander, she was head of movement development at Friends of the Earth Netherlands where she and her team followed the Marshall Ganz’s organizing training. Sandra loves teaching all aspects of organizing, but you make her the most happy if you want to learn storytelling.
