The Georgia Strategic Alliance for New Directions and Unified Policies (Georgia STAND-UP) is a left-of-center activist organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. The group promotes a wide variety of left-of-center causes, including voter registration and turnout initiatives, activist and organizer trainings, job training and placements, and community development projects to the benefit of traditionally left-of-center constituent groups. ¹ The group’s leadership has extensive ties to organized labor, particularly the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest organization of labor unions in the United States.

Georgia STAND-UP executive director Deborah Scott played a significant role in driving voter turnout that benefited Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden in Georgia during the 2020 election, along with the former Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, Stacey Abrams. ² In mid-November of 2020, the Washington Post profiled Scott and STAND-UP as part of a story on how progressive get-out-the-vote operations in the traditionally-Republican state helped former Vice President Biden win Georgia. ³

Initiatives

Georgia STAND-UP promotes left-of-center policies on healthcare, housing, and criminal justice. The group maintains partnerships with more than 30 other left-wing organizations across the state. ⁴ The group organizes STAND-UP & Vote!, an education program for maximizing voter engagement among traditionally left-of-center constituencies. ⁵ Georgia STAND-UP also runs a training program for left-of-center organizers in Atlanta called the Policy Institute for Civic Leadership. ⁶

Georgia STAND-UP’s education program, We Show Up, helps businesses to secure contracts and individuals to secure jobs in the entertainment industry. The program began in Clayton County with plans to expand elsewhere. ⁷ TRADE-UP is the group’s apprenticeship and workforce development initiative in the construction industry. The program primarily prepares students to work in broader industrial professions, specifically in environmentalist-aligned “green economies.” ⁸⁹

Leadership

Georgia STAND-UP does not list any leadership or staff on its website, only providing general contact information and an Atlanta office address. ¹⁰

Deborah Scott is the founding executive director of Georgia STAND-UP. ¹¹ Scott also sits on the board of the Partnership for Working Families, a coalition of left-wing groups funded by labor unions, and oversees the Atlanta affiliate of the Emerald Cities Collaborative, an advocacy group which promotes environmentalist policies. ¹² In 2012, former President Barack Obama named Scott a White House Champion of Change for her progressive urban planning and environmental advocacy. ¹³ She is married to long-time AFL-CIO national field representative Lorenzo Scott. ¹⁴

Melissa Conrad is the associate director of Georgia STAND-UP. ¹⁵ She was the 2012-2013 Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. Fellow at the American Planning Association, a leading urban planning professional organization. ¹⁶

Charles Flemming is the board president of Georgia STAND-UP. ¹⁷ He is also the president of the Georgia AFL-CIO chapter. ¹⁸

Financials

Georgia STAND-UP received $587,000 in contributions in 2015, $428,000 in 2016, $789,000 in 2017, and $576,000 in 2018. The group had significantly more funds on hand in 2017-2018 (over $300,000) than in 2015-2016 (below $170,000). ¹⁹²⁰ In 2017, the group also received a $200,000 grant from the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, a left-wing grantmaking organization. ²¹

1.              About Georgia STAND-UP, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/about-us
2. Anagha Srikanth, “Meet five women who helped get out the vote in Georgia with Stacey Abrams,” The Hill, November 6, 2020. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/524881-meet-five-women-who-helped-get-out-the-vote-in
3. Vanessa Williams and Reis Thebault, “In Georgia-get-out-the-vote operations that helped Biden win haven’t stopped,” The Washington Post, November 19, 2020. Accessed November 20, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-georgia-get-out-the-vote-operations-that-helped-biden-win-havent-stopped/2020/11/19/7c10ceac-2851-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html
4.            About Georgia STAND-UP, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/about-us
5.        STAND-UP & Vote!, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/blank
6.       Programs, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/our-ministries
7.         Programs, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/our-ministries
8.        Georgia TRADE-UP, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/we-build-up-trade-up
9.         TRADE-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020.http://www.gatradeup.org
10.        Connect With Us, Georgia STAND-UP. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.georgiastandup.org/visit-us
11.      Anagha Srikanth, “Meet five women who helped get out the vote in Georgia with Stacey Abrams,” The Hill, November 6, 2020. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/524881-meet-five-women-who-helped-get-out-the-vote-in
12.            Deborah Scott, Partnership for Working Families. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.forworkingfamilies.org/leadership/people/deborah-scott
13.          David Pendered, “Deborah Scott, Atlanta community advocate, honored by White House,” Saporta Report, April 26, 2012. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://saportareport.com/deborah-scott-atlanta-community-advocate-honored-by-white-house/
14. Lorenzo Scott, personal Facebook profile. Accessed November 20, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/lorenzo.scott.549
15.      Joshua Peltier, “Georgis [sic] Stand Up DOcumentary [sic],” YouTube, April 5, 2011. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UevQRYEWj8&feature=player_embedded
16.             Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. Fellowship, American Planning Association. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.planning.org/divisions/planningandlaw/fellowship/
17.      Georgia Stand Up, Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/200984437_201812_990_2020021317142045.pdf
18.             Georgia, AFL-CIO. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://aflcio.org/get-local/georgia
19.       Georgia Stand Up, Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/200984437_201812_990_2020021317142045.pdf
20.         Georgia Stand Up, Form 990, Internal Revenue Service, 2016. Accessed November 18, 2020.https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/200984437_201612_990_2017122115039879.pdf
21.    Georgia Strategic Alliance for New Directions & Unified Policies (Georgia STAND-UP), Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://www.mrbf.org/grants/georgia-strategic-alliance-new-directions-unified-policies-georgia-stand-1