Organizing Resilience is an effort within the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, an ideologically motivated donor-advised fund provider associated with Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution associated with the Service Employees International Union’s Workers United division, that coordinates national and local networks to allow left-of-center organizations, government officials, and philanthropists to change the way in which they respond to humanitarian and political crises following natural disasters. ^{1 2}

The network focuses its efforts on the American South, ³ supports left-of-center political and structural change, ⁴ and works to advance these policies in post-disaster situations. ^{5 6}

Organizing Resilience has received at least $2,100,000 from the left-of-center Ford Foundation since 2021 through grants to Amalgamated Charitable Foundation. ^{7 8 9} Its core partners include liberal financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Social and Economic Justice Leaders Planning Group, the Canary Coalition, Grove Foundation, and Way to Rise. ¹⁰

History and Leadership

Organizing Resilience was launched in 2021 by the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, an ideologically motivated donor-advised fund provider associated with Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution associated with the Service Employees International Union’s Workers United division. ^{11 12}

Jacquelin Burton is the managing director of Organizing Resilience. Previously she worked at the Ford Foundation, the United Nations Human Settlements Program, and Teach for America. ¹³

Ginny Goldman is Organizing Resilience’s lead strategist. ¹⁴ Previously, Goldman worked for left-of-center political donor George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Community Building Strategies, U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) unsuccessful 2018 campaign for U.S. Senate, Way to Win, and the Texas Organizing Project. ¹⁵ She is also the board treasurer of Women’s March Win. ¹⁶

Organizing Resilience’s strategy team includes representatives from the Maria Fund, New Jersey Organizing Project, New Jersey Resource Project, Florida Rising, Home Coalition, Taller Salud, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Workers Defense Project, and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. ¹⁷

Activities and Funding

Organizing Resilience is an effort within the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation that coordinates national and local expertise to develop tools, talent, and networks to allow left-of-center organizations, government leaders, and the philanthropic community to change the way in which they respond to humanitarian and political crises following natural disasters. ^{18 19} Amalgamated Charitable Foundation is an ideologically motivated donor-advised fund provider associated with Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution associated with the Service Employees International Union’s Workers United division. ²⁰

Organizing Resilience’s core partners include liberal financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Social and Economic Justice Leaders Planning Group, the Canary Coalition, Grove Foundation, Way to Rise, and the consulting firm HR&A Advisors. ²¹

The network focuses its efforts on the American South, ²² supports left-of-center political structural change and policy support, ²³ and works to advance these policies in post-disaster situations, which it calls high-stakes battlegrounds of concentrated influence over public policy. The organization networks with government leaders to address political threats and opportunities that arise during and after these disasters, ²⁴ with a focus on climate change, disaster relief, environmentalism, and sustainability policy. ²⁵

The network also does pre-disaster planning ²⁶ to connect resources to on-the-ground leaders, increase the efficiency of direct relief efforts, control post-disaster narratives, and protect dedicated capacity for policy campaigns. ²⁷ When the Organizing Resilience launched in 2021, it used its network to leverage over $500,000 in support of disaster responses in Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York. ²⁸

Organizing Resilience supports four Louisiana-based initiatives to support disaster recovery in pursuit of the left-wing concept of an equitable rebuilding. Organizing Resilience’s projects focus on critical race theory-influenced racial, economic, and climate justice programs in Louisiana with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Foundation for Louisiana, Gulf South for a Green New Deal, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. The network also supports the New Jersey Ida Just Recovery Fund. ²⁹

Funding

Organizing Resilience is a project of the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation and is funded by grants. In 2023, Organizing Resilience received $350,000 from the left-of-center Ford Foundation through a grant to the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation. ³⁰

Organizing resilience also received $1,250,000 from the Ford Foundation for hurricane response in 2022 ³¹ and $500,000 from the Ford Foundation in 2021. ³²

1. James, Danielle. “12 organizations directly helping Black, brown victims of Hurricane Ida.” Yahoo! News. September 2, 2021. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://news.yahoo.com/12-organizations-directly-helping-black-195152591.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE56yDOK0AZ54R3qQN-oxzlcNSQgJZ5LvsrDENBQjmeujkATeZ_0_obCrdNVCz6pksm7c8G0BfEYu6L5b1lzqQFH0qUJ7oxtGtUqqqXoKhV3El3teU2wTR1etmfiuavoQSEXUCRb7byOujFyEg0FqF35NIquWegnN5K3ByAi9_Vv.
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20. Stilson, Robert, and Hayden Ludwig. “Amalgamated Bank: How Did We Get Here?” Capital Research Center, May 25, 2022. https://capitalresearch.org/article/amalgamated-bank-part-1/.
21. “Strategy Team.” Organizing Resilience. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.organizingresilience.org/our-team.
22. “Core support for Organizing Resilience to support US South-based organizing advocacy organizations to develop a permanent capacity to rapidly respond to climate and other disasters.” Ford Foundation. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/amalgamated-charitable-foundation-inc-145890/.
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26. “Get Involved.” Organizing Resilience. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.organizingresilience.org/get-involved
27. “Organizing Resilience.” Idealist. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/b9f0514928be48efae249d5e29d6abb9-organizing-resilience-washington.
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29.  “Hurricane Ida Community-Led Recovery Fund.” Organizing Resilience Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.organizingresilience.org/hurricane-ida-fund.
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31. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. September 2022. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/amalgamated-charitable-foundation-inc-144284/.
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