Marisa Franco

Marisa Franco

Marisa Franco ... is associated with Freedom Road Socialist Organization. She is a lead organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, has organized multi-racial constituencies across community and labor. Before joining the staff at NDLON, Marisa was the lead organizer for the Right to the City Alliance. Prior to working at the national level, Marisa organized with People Organized to Win Employment Rights in San Francisco, CA and Domestic Workers United in New York City. She has worked on a variety of social justice issues, including prison rights, rights of people who are homeless, welfare reform, gentrification and migrant rights.

Marisa Franco has been a community organizer ever since she graduated from Arizona State University. She is currently Director for the #Not1More Deportation Campaign of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights.

She is the partner of Caitlin Breedlove.

Background

Marisa Franco was born in Guadalupe, Arizona, with family coming from Sonora, Mexico. She grew up identifying as a Chicana amongst a strong and rich Mexican/ Chicano community. She has a long history of organizing and being involved in activism. One of the first forms of speaking out against immigration policy was when she was in high school and she heard about proposition 187, a state-wide legislation that would have significantly cut off access to public services, including schools, for undocumented migrants.

Growing up she continued to be vocal about injustices, and tried various types of approaches to social change, including service, advocacy, student activism, and feeling like she was hitting the ceiling. Then she took a trip to Cuba, where she appreciated the self-determination of people, with all its contradictions, but it inspired her to become an organizer. She has worked on a variety of social justice issues, including prison rights, rights of people who are homeless, welfare reform, gentrification and migrant rights. When Arizona’s SB 1070 began being discussed, she went to her home state, Arizona, to organize for the first time there, and feels like she found her purpose.

This Is Not A Drill

Organizing Upgrade March 19 2020.

In case you missed last night's episode of This Is Not A Drill Live on Organizing Upgrade, you can watch the video here. The guests were SO powerful and insightful. We talked about the impact of the pandemic on the primaries, organizing for Black-Brown unity, lessons we've learned about building an independent political organization, and the path ahead. So much love to Maurice Moe Mitchell (from Working Families Party), Marisa Franco (from Mijente), Rachel Gilmer (from Dream Defenders) and Natalia Salgado (from CPD Action). Big ups also to our hosts, Rishi Awatramani and Adam Gold. And thanks to our partners at The Real News Network.

POWER

Circa 2005 Catalyst Project in San Francisco held a lecture"Towards Land, Work, and Power", a study with organizers from POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights) on their new book, Towards Land, Work, & Power, looking at the political economy of the Bay Area and building an anti-imperialist movement based in working class communities of color. Presenters included Jason Negron-Gonzales, Marisa Franco and J Browne.

POWER Leaders

From Steve Williams: Over the years hundreds of people who have served on POWER’s staff, membership, leadership bodies, and Board of Directors. They are too many to mention by name, but I do want to extend special appreciations to Alicia Garza, Jaron Browne, Jason Negron-Gonzales, Marisa Franco, Aspen Dominguez, Cindy Wiesner, Ilana Berger, Nora Calderon, Larry Lattimore, Emma Harris, Gloria Esteva, Manuela Esteva, Donaji Lona, Juana Tello, Ernest Stokes, Beatriz Herrera, Karen Gibson, Lorren Dangerfield, Jesse Tello, Regina Douglas, Garth Ferguson, Brian Russell, Patty Snitzler, Thabiti Hayes, Khalil Abdul Samad, Jane Martin.

Left Forum 2008

A Labor Movement For the 21st Century:

What kind of labor movement is needed to deal with 21st century conditions of globalization, labor migration, widespread unemployment and a huge but largely unorganized service sector; and how do womenís rights and workersí rights, workplace issues and community issues, come together to build this kind of movement?

• Willie Baptist, Union Theological Seminary Poverty Initiative, "Organizing the Poor"
• Marisa Franco, Domestic Workers United, "Unionizing Domestic Workers"
• Katie Quan, University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center, "Women, Work, and Globalization"
• Moderator: Carol Barton, "Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice, "Economic Rights"

Left Forum 2009

Left Strategy from the Grassroots:

• Harmony Goldberg, (Chair) - CUNY Graduate Center
• Steve Williams, POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
• Ai-jen Poo, Domestic Workers United
• Marisa Franco, Right to the City alliance
• Willie Baptist, Union Theological Seminary Poverty Initiative
• Gihan Perera, Miami Workers Center, Right to the City alliance

Movement Generation delegation to Klimateforum09

Thursday December 17, 2009, 12 noon, Copenhagen time Movement Generation delegation members to the Klimateforum09 in Copenhagen gathered at the American Embassy, Copenhagen.

North American indigenous Delegation, Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project, and the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, along with other grassroots groups from the United States will deliver a letter to President Barack Obama demanding that the United States take real, rights-based approaches to climate change and ecological debt.

Speakers scheduled were:

• Diana Lopez- (Southwest Workers Union San Antonio, TX)
• Michele Roberts – (Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, LA/DC)
• Representatives from indigenous communities from the United States and Canada
• Moderator: Kalila Barnett (Alternatives for Communities and Environment, Boston, MA)

Other Resource people from many other organizations were also present, including: Gopal Dayaneni, Movement Generation; Alicia Garza, People Organized to Win Employment Rights (San Francisco, Right to the City, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance); Mari Rose Taruc, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (Movement Generation Bay Area network, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Richmond); Marisa Franco, Right to the City (NY); Roxana Aguilar, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (Right to the City, Los Angeles); Jill Johnston, Southwest Workers Union (Grassroots Global Justice Alliance); Diana Lopez, Southwest Workers Union (Grassroots Global Justice Alliance); Jose Bravo, Just Transition Alliance (Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, San Diego); Cecil Corbin-Mark, West Harlem Environmental Actiobn (Environmental Justice Leadership Forum, New York); Jacqui Patterson, Women of Color United (GA); and Diana Pei Wu, Movement Strategy Center (CA).

US Social Forum National Planning Committee

Contact Sheet for the National Planning Committee of the U.S. Social Forum, Detroit 2010. Original April 09, 2009, Updated February 23, 2010.

• Right to the City Alliance (National) - Marisa Franco.

Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program

Marisa Franco is an alumni of the Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program.

Right to the City staff

The Right to the City national staff went through some changes in 2011, and has come out strong. The Alliance was very fortunate to hire an experienced and dynamic organizer, Rachel LaForest, as its new Director of Organizing, while it said farewell to its dedicated Lead Organizer, Marisa Franco. Lisette Le joined RTTC as the new Regional Organizer for Boston. Avi Rosenthal is came on board as the New York City Regional Coordinator and we said goodbye to New York City Organizer Shannon Barber. RTTC bade a fond farewell to Carl Lipscombe, and welcomed Mark Swier as the new Operations Coordinator. Claire Tran remains as our now-veteran RTTC staffer, leading the way as National Organizer for Civic Engagement.

Study & Struggle

Catalyst Project "Study & Struggle" sessions range from small, intimate, study series, to public panel discussions and presentations. Past sessions have included:

Towards Land, Work, and Power: A study with organizers from POWER People Organized to Win Employment Rights on their new book, Towards Land, Work, & Power, looking at the political economy of the Bay Area and building an anti-imperialist movement based in working class communities of color. Presenters included Jason Negron-Gonzales, Marisa Franco, and Jaron Browne

#Not1More

National Day Laborer Organizing Network January 31, 2014.

For those who get Al Jazeera America, special 30 minute feature on the #Not1More campaign debuts tonight!

Look out for familiar faces from Congress of Day Laborers/Congreso de Jornaleros , GLAHR, Southerners on New Ground, and Project South. — with Elizabeth Gorman Shaw, Ponciano Ugalde, Marisa Franco, Tomas Martinez LA Voz, Sandra C. Solis, Carlos Garcia, Caitlin Breedlove, Reyna Njr, Ade Nicholls, Jacinta Gonzalez G., Paul Boulos, Paulina Helm-Hernandez, Stephanie Guilloud, Cesar Maxit, Josh Rushing and Sharon Lungo.

Ear to the Ground Project

Ear to the Ground Project;

We would like to express our deep respect and appreciation for everyone who took the time to talk with us, and the organizations that generously hosted us during our travels. Interviews were confidential, but the following people have agreed to have their names listed for this publication:

Most of those listed were connected to Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Marisa Franco was among those on the list.

Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity Advisory Board/2015

• Ron Chisom, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond
• Gihan Perera, New Florida Majority
• Richard Healey, Grassroots Policy Project
• Kalpana Krishnamurthy, RACE Program, Western States Center
• Marisa Franco, Director and Co-Creator Not1More Deportation Campaign; Mijente
• John A. Powell, Haas Diversity Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley
• Julie Quiroz-Martínez, Movement Strategy Center
• Rinku Sen, Applied Research Center/ColorLines Magazine
• Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project
• Keith Lawrence, Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change
• Kien Lee, Community Science
• Martha McCoy, The Paul J. Aicher Foundation/Everyday Democracy
• Denise Perry, Director, Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
• Glenn Harris, President Center for Social Inclusion
• Maria Poblet, Executive Director Causa Justa/Just Cause

"Languague justice"

August 24, 2016, Cazembe Jackson, National Organizer of Freedom Road Socialist Organization sent a Spanish version of Freedom Road's 20016 election strategy on Facebook to several "language justice" activists, including Rosa Ponce, Hermalinda Cortes, Xochitl Bervera, Tristan Call, Salem Acuna, Maria Poblet, Marisa Franco, and Brenda Perez.

Facing Race conference

The Facing Race conference participants gathered just days after the conclusion of the most contentious election season in decades, November 10-12, 2016 — Atlanta, Georgia.

Both major parties exposed their deep splinters, Trumpism became the new normal and many politicians were forced to deal with issues that communities of color raised to national prominence. In Facing Race's closing plenary on November 12, racial justice leaders speak to the challenges of governance before us, and how the movement can position itself to make the most of the next four years.

These are the activists and thought leaders featured in "Where Do We Go From Here?" listed in alphabetical order:

• Kara Denise Brewer Boyd, director, American Indian Farmers
• Marisa Franco, director and co-founder, Mijente
• Glenn Harris, president, Center for Social Inclusion
• Pramila Jayapal, U.S. congresswoman-elect for Washington's 7th Congressional district; founder, OneAmerica; co-director, We Belong Together campaign
• Van Jones, author and co-founder, Rebuild the Dream
• Linda Sarsour, advocacy and divic engagement coordinator, National Network for Arab American Communities
• Rinku Sen, president, Race Forward

Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward

Now What? Defying Trump and the Left's Way Forward was a phone in webinar organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization in the wake of the 2016 election.

Now what? We’re all asking ourselves that question in the wake of Trump’s victory. We’ve got urgent strategizing and work to do, together. Join Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson of the Movement for Black Lives and Freedom Road, Calvin Cheung-Miaw, Jodeen Olguin-Taylor of Mijente and WFP, Joe Schwartz of the Democratic Socialists of America, and Sendolo Diaminah of Freedom Road for a discussion of what happened, and what we should be doing to build mass defiance. And above all, how do we build the Left in this, which we know is the only solution to the crises we face?

This event will take place Tuesday November 15, 2016 at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central/6pm Pacific.

Those invited, on Facebook included Marisa Franco.

Organizing Upgrade Bloggers

As of December 23, 2017, Bloggers on the Organizing Upgrade website were;

• Kamau Franklin
• Maria Poblet
• Malkia Cyril
• Bill Fletcher, Jr.
• Subhash Kateel
• Marisa Franco
• B. Loewe
• Leftist at Work
• Rachel Parsons
• Eric Mann

Bazta Arpaio

In 2016 Marisa Franco's Mijente joined forces with local community and labor organizations under the banner of ‘Bazta Arpaio.’

Marisa Franco, November 8, 2016 near Phoenix, AZ. ·

1. baztaarpaio — with B. Loewe, Tania Unzueta, Carlos Garcia, Bob LaVenture, Neidi Dominguez, Lucia Raiz, Maria Castro, Caitlin Elly Breedlove, Ken Chapman, Francisco Luna, Nora Rasman and Randy Parraz.

People's Summit 2017

Becky Bond, Zack Malitz, Larry Stafford, Jr., Melanie Garunay, Digital Organizing Director, ACLU Marisa Franco, Director and Co-Founder of Mijente

Comrades

Eddy Morales October 11, 2017 ·

Going home for three hours. What a great trip to Phoenix! Got to spend time with some of the best organizers, friends, and family. Excited about the possibilities! This is David Garcia and he is running for Governor of Arizona! — traveling to PDX with Lew Granofsky, Brendan Walsh, Caitlin Elly Breedlove, Tomas E. Robles, Jr., Marisa Franco, Marco Garcia, Judy Davila, John Loredo, Ian Danley, Roy Herrera and Sarah Michelsen from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Movement Voter Project Advisory Board

Movement Voter Project Advisory Board members, as of January 24, 2018 included Marisa Franco.

External links

• Center for Third World Organizing website
• Movement Activist Apprenticeship Program website