Listening Campaign Launch
Photo credits: David Choy
On Thursday night, September 18, 250 of us from ACT, AIM, and PATH gathered to publicly launch our listening campaign! Congratulations and thank you to everyone who made this inspiring action a success.
Together as the Maryland Just Power Alliance, we committed to listening to over 3,500 people over the next 3 months! Over 50 congregations, schools, unions, and other organizations made commitments to listen to specific numbers of people.
We had meaningful listening sessions with people from across the state and candidates and elected officials joining in to listen.
Reflections:
Tendai Ushe from AIM and Harvest Intercontinental Church, which hosted the action, reflected:
“I appreciated the meaningful discussion at our table. While there were common themes, I also learned a lot about the unique issues people from different communities are dealing with.”
Randee Gordon from PATH and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Howard County shared:
“Our listening session included a diverse group of people. We had educators, senior citizens and a religious leader, and they all felt comfortable sharing their concerns for both themselves, their families and their communities. Everyone agreed that sharing made them feel supported and less isolated.”
Why We’re Doing This Listening Campaign:
This listening will help us strengthen our base of people power and develop our “People’s Agenda” for the 2026 state and local elections.
Listening and action is how we create a stronger, more inclusive democracy where everyone’s voice is heard.
Importantly, listening sessions will help us identify new leaders in our communities and congregations who can organize people to win campaigns for justice.
What’s Next:
We will present the common themes from our listening sessions in January.
In 2026, every state and local office is up for election: the Governor, all our State Senators and Delegates, the County Executives of our three counties, and County Councilmembers.
In the spring and fall, we will engage candidates for local and state office and ask them to commit to supporting our people’s agenda if they are elected.
Before the June 2026 primary election, ACT, AIM, and PATH will each take action with their local candidates.
We will determine which issues need addressing at the state level, and in fall 2026, we will hold a statewide action with the Governor, Comptroller, and State Delegates and Senators.
This is to ensure the 2026 elections center around meaningful issues that impact people’s day-to-day lives.
What You Can Do:
Meet with your organizer and your core team to plan listening sessions in your congregation or community and work to meet the commitments you made!
Donate to support your organization:
Thank you for being part of our movement to strengthen our relational power and make our communities, counties, and state work for all of us!
