Organizing Black (OB)
Organizing Black (OB), formerly Black Leaders Organizing for Change, is a member-led advocacy group that works alongside the Black Liberation movement. The group seeks to defund the police, invest in Black communities, and establish a new emergency service as an alternative to the police in Baltimore, Maryland. 1
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OB members have previously worked with the Alliance for Educational Justice (AEJ), a left-wing coalition of 30 youth-led education groups, advocating for the Obama administration’s policies opposing “zero tolerance” discipline practices in schools. 2
Founding and History
Organizing Black, then known as Black Leaders Organizing for Change, was founded in 2016 by Michaela Brown, Ralikh Hayes, and Tre Murphy. 3
Michaela Brown is the executive director of OB. She has previously worked for the Baltimore Algebra Project and the Baltimore Worker Center. 3
Ralikh Haye is the deputy director of OB. She also works at the Baltimore Algebra Project while aiding the Alliance for Educational Justice, Baltimore United for Change, and the Movement for Black Lives .3
Advocacy
Organizing Black aims to defund the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), dismantle the 911 emergency-dispatch system, and establish a new community assistance system. The organization also seeks to repeal the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights to create a new conflict resolution framework. 4
In 2020, OB called for cuts to the BPD budget, arguing that the city had one of the highest police spending levels in the country. OB executive director Michaela Brown proposed cutting half the police budget and reallocating it to infrastructure, education, and social services. 5
Funding
The NAACP Legal Defense And Educational Fund, a public-interest law firm and civil rights organization, has received substantial donations from the philanthropic network of left-of-center billionaire George Soros, including $1 million in donations announced in 2013. 6 The NAACP Legal Defense And Educational Fund made a grant of $65,000 to Organizing Black in 2022. 7
B’more Invested, which is a project of the Open Society Foundations, is a group focused on helping and promoting small communities.8 In 2021, BI awarded OB a grant of $150,000. 9
Financial Statistics
Total Assets
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
Revenue Detail
Expenses Detail
Employee Compensation
- Number of Employees: 6
Grant Activity
All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:
- Total Grant Value: $1,177,234
- Number of Grants: 15
- Number of Funders: 8
Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years: