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For-profit

Imagine Us

Website:

www.imagineus.co/
Type:

Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Formation:

2020

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Imagine Us is a management consultancy that assists nonprofit, private sector, and governmental organizations in developing and implementing human resource functions and management mechanisms based on left-wing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social justice principles. 1 It operates the Beyond Neutrality project, which advocates that nonprofit leaders encourage the unionization of their workforces. 2

Background

Imagine Us LLC is a for-profit management consultancy created in 2020 by Joe Alvarez, Ja Young Ahn, Michele Berry, Kimberly Freeman Brown, Allison Porter, and Tony Richard. 3 Alvarez and Porter had previously held leadership positions in the AFL-CIO’s training institutes. 4 5

It provides what it describes as “equity-based consulting,” encouraging leaders to manage using a left-wing social justice diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) model. 6 It says that its consultants “explicitly approach organizational change work by unearthing and addressing systems of oppression.” 7

Imagine Us’ client list includes the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Chicago Teachers Union, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), Earthjustice, the Ford Foundation, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Jobs With Justice (JWJ), SEIU Local 1, MoveOn Civic Action (MoveOn.org), the National Education Association (NEA), the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), North Carolina State AFL-CIO, 32BJ SEIU, SEIU Local 521, SEIU Minnesota, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (UHE), and United Working Families. 8

In FY22, the government of Montgomery County, Maryland retained Imagine Us for a $100,000 “racial equity training and inclusion initiative.” 9

In 2022, SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana (SEIU HCII) spent $14,996 on services from Imagine Us. 10

In 2023, the Illinois Federation of Teachers spent $45,334 with Imagine Us. 11

Initiatives

Beyond Neutrality

Imagine Us operates Beyond Neutrality, an initiative that encourages nonprofit organizations to go beyond neutrality toward union organizing efforts and instead to welcome and encourage unionization of their workforces. 12

In 2023, the Ford Foundation commissioned a report on nonprofit unionization from authors at Imagine Us that promoted the practice as part of a $900,000 grant to support the Beyond Neutrality project. 13 14 15

Ignite the South

In 2024, Imagine Us launched “Ignite the South,” a leadership development program for left-of-center leaders and activists in the southern United States. 16

Startup funding for Ignite the South came from Open Horizon, a foundation created by insurance marketing executive Hershel Kleinberg and his wife, Lisa Cohen. 17 The Ford Foundation also provided an $80,000 grant. 18

References

  1. “Our Clients.” imagine Us. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/our-clients.
  2. “Be·yond Neu·tral·i·ty.” Beyond Neutrality. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.beyondneutrality.org/about-us.
  3. About Us.” imagine Us. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/about-us
  4. “Joe Alvarez.” Imagine Us. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/joe-alvarez.
  5. “Allison Porter.” imagine us. Accessed September 6, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/allison-porter.
  6. “Our Work.” imagine us. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/our-work.
  7. “Our Work.” imagine us. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/our-work.
  8. “Our Clients.” imagine Us. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.imagineus.co/our-clients.
  9. Elrich, Marc, ed. “Record of Procurements Fiscal Year 2022 July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 .” Montgomery County Office of Procurement, 2022.
  10. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT.” United States Department of Labor, 2023. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=864565&rptForm=LM2Form.
  11. “FORM LM-2 LABOR ORGANIZATION ANNUAL REPORT.” United States Department of Labor, 2024. https://olmsapps.dol.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=888292&rptForm=LM2Form.
  12. “Be·yond Neu·tral·i·ty.” Beyond Neutrality. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.beyondneutrality.org/about-us.
  13. “146931 – Imagine Us, LLC.” Ford Foundation, June 10, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/imagine-us-llc-146931/.
  14. Smoucha, Amy, Allison Porter, Kimberly Freeman Brown, and Deborah Axt. “BEYOND NEUTRALITY: NAVIGATING CHALLENGES AND LEVERAGING OPPORTUNITIES OF STAFF UNIONIZATION IN SOCIAL CHANGE NONPROFITS.” Imagine Us, 2023. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f37143b38fc86328cbf45b9/t/641624ed6325da3a32d73f26/1679172850752/Beyond+Neutrality+_+Report+_+2023.pdf.
  15. Tadepalli, Sravya. “Unionizing Small Nonprofits Brings Unique Challenges and Benefits.” Prism, January 10, 2024. https://prismreports.org/2024/01/10/unionizing-small-nonprofits-brings-unique-challenges-and-benefits/.
  16. “Ignite the South!” Ignite The South! Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.ignitethesouth.com/.
  17. Cohen, Lisa. “Latest News.” Open Horizon, November 1, 2024. https://open-horizon.org/a-new-chapter-begins/.
  18. “149279 – Possibility Labs.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/possibility-labs-149279/
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