One Love Global is a left-of-center nonprofit that focuses on racial equity, building power, and youth organizing. One Love Global has called for reparations for Black people, defunding the police, ending bail requirements, automatic voter registration, fighting global warming, supporting labor unions, and a social justice-equity agenda. One Love Global has ties to Black Lives Matter.

History

One Love Global was formed in 2004 in Detroit, Michigan as One Love Detroit. ¹ One Love Detroit was formed as the charitable division of founder Angela Waters Austin’s communications and equity consulting firm DiverseCity Inc. that provided fundraising and grant writing services. ²

In 2008, One Love Detroit moved to Lansing, Michigan and re-formed as One Love Global. ³ Angela Waters Austin is the president and CEO of One Love Global. ⁴

Issues

One Love Global focuses on racial equity, youth organizing, and building power. ⁵ One Love Global has called for global liberation and reparations for Black people. ⁶ The Liberation Policy Action Center, a political action committee affiliated with One Love Global, was founded and is run by Angela Waters Austin. ⁷

The Liberation Policy Action Center and One Love Global advocate for the Michigan BREATHE Act that would decrease police budgets, increase social workers responding to police calls, prevent funding of new prisons, ban no-knock warrants, end bail requirements, and stop police surveillance. ⁸ The Liberation Policy Action Center and One Love Global also claim that cutting police budgets will curb gun violence. ⁹ In 2021, One Love Global’s Waters Austin called for the mayor of Lansing, Michigan to resign stating he did not know enough about racial equity. ¹⁰

One Love Michigan has called for expanded voting access including automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, increased early voting, and expanded voting by mail. ¹¹

One Love Global runs three main youth initiatives: ¹² The Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice (PPM) is for youth ages 12 through high school focusing on social justice in communities. ¹³ PPM has two chapters in Lansing and Detroit. ¹⁴ PPM Lansing seeks to build a coalition throughout Michigan for social justice and equity and has participated in the 2021 Black Lives Matter (BLM) Lansing candidate forum, conducted get out the vote activities, passed out refreshments for striking auto workers, and spoke at a 2020 BLM rally in Michigan. ¹⁵ PPM Detroit is organized under the priorities of education justice, environmental justice, and community safety and ending violence. ¹⁶ Students in PPM have participated in One Love Global’s annual youth summit on racial justice, education, community safety, arts, culture, and healing. ¹⁷

Under the umbrella of building power, One Love Global is the Michigan and Lansing local representative for the Movement for Black Lives, Election 20XX, Lansing People’s Assembly, and Freedom Summer Youth Organizing School. ¹⁸ One Love Global’s Election 20XX program states it is a non-partisan political education campaign to provide information on candidates, votes of elected officials, and promoting justice and equitable outcomes in the “war on black people” while transforming the criminal justice system. ¹⁹ One Love Global’s Lansing People’s Assembly addresses issues with priorities focusing on defunding the police and moving the money to community organizations, ensuring livable wages, and diverting existing funds to community programs and mental health programs. ²⁰

Partners and Grants

In 2023, One Love Global partnered with the Firecracker Foundation, Michigan League for Public Policy, Ingham County Health Department, and the City of East Lansing in a program “Healing Through Policy: Creating Pathways to Racial Justice.” ²¹

In 2020, East Lansing and Ingham County passed resolutions calling racism a public health crisis. ²² The initiative was sponsored by the left-of-center American Public Health Association, National Collaborative for Health Equity, and Results for America. ²³ The goal of the program is to advance racial justice and address perceived racism in public health. ²⁴

In 2023, One Love Global received a $150,000 grant from the Frontline Resource Institute, a left-leaning environmental organization. ²⁵ The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has provided matching money of up to $250,000 for the Beloved Community Fund associated with One Love Global for racial equity efforts. ²⁶ In 2023, One Love Global received a grant from Michael Jordan’s Community Grants Fund. ²⁷

Financials

In 2022, One Love Global reported net assets of $81,017. ²⁸According to the organization’s tax returns, in 2022, One Love Global recorded $691,081 in revenue and $590,081 in expenses. ²⁹ In 2021, One Love Global raised $1,156,118 in revenue and $1,156,118 in expenses. ³⁰

Leadership

Angela Waters Austin is founder, president and CEO of One Love Global. ³¹ Waters Austin is also the founder of the political action committee Liberation Policy Action Center, a partnership between One Love Global and Black Lives Matter Michigan that advocates for reparations, cutting police budgets, canceling student loan debt, fighting global warming, national voting rights legislation, and advocated that equity should be at the core of coming out of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. ³²

Since 1998, Waters Austin has been founder, president, and CEO of DiverseCity a racial equity, communications, and management consulting group. ³³ Water Austin organized Michigan’s My Brother and Sister’s Keeper Network to take on President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge. ³⁴ Waters Austin is the co-host of the weekly radio program “Transform Michigan” (formerly named “Equality Equals”) on the Michigan Business Network. ³⁵

1. “Beginnings.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/beginnings.
2.  “Beginnings.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/beginnings.
3. “Beginnings.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/beginnings.
4. “Angela Waters Austin.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaoneloveglobal/.
5. “Welcome!” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org.
6. “Michigan for Black Lives.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/mi4bl.
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9. “Invest in Community Safety.” Liberation Political Action Center. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://liberationpac.quorum.us/issue/46438/
10. “BLM Community Leader Stands By Call for Lansing Mayor to Resign, Demands More Transparency.” WKAR. February 1, 2021. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.wkar.org/news/2021-02-01/blm-community-leader-stands-by-call-for-lansing-mayor-to-resign-demands-more-transparency#stream/0.
11. “Encourage the Senate to Pass the ‘For the People Act.’ ASAP.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://liberationpac.quorum.us/campaign/32534/.
12. “Youth Organizing.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/youthorganizing.
13. “Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppm.
14. “Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppm.
15. “Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppm.
16. “PPM Detroit.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppmdetroit.
17. “Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppm; “Homage to Heritage Youth Summit.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/heritage.
18. “Building Power.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/buildingpower.
19. “From the Block Club to the White House.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/election-20xx.
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26. ^[1] “Building A Beloved Community.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/action-center. “Building the Community of Our Dreams, Characterized By Love and Shared Humanity.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/belovedcommunityfund.
27. “One Love Global Awarded Community Grant Through Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand’s Community Commitment.” One Love Global. February 17, 2023. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/post/one-love-global-community-grant-michael-jordan-and-jordan-brands-bcc.
28. One Love Global, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2022.
29. One Love Global, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2022.
30.  One Love Global, Return of a Nonprofit Corporation (Form 990), 2022.
31. “Angela Waters Austin.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaoneloveglobal/; “Angela Waters Austin.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/angela-waters-austin.
32. “Angela Waters Austin.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaoneloveglobal/; “Liberation PAC.” Liberation Policy Action Center. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.liberationpac.org; “Act for Racial Equity!” Liberation Policy Action Center. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://liberationpac.quorum.us.
33. “Angela Waters Austin.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaoneloveglobal/; “Angela Waters Austin.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/angela-waters-austin.
34. “Angela Waters Austin.” One Love Global. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/angela-waters-austin.
35.  ^[1] “Transform Michigan. Michigan Business Network. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.michiganbusinessnetwork.com/blog/author/transform-michigan