Mission

A multicultural membership-based group organizing residents of the Mission district of San Francisco to work on solutions to issues facing low income communities and communities of color, PODER works to confront the San Francisco Mission district's environmental and economic injustices.

Issues

Toxics, Lead, Housing, Community Organizing, Land Use, Zoning and Open Space

Activities

Grassroots Advocacy, Organizing, Education, Direct Action

Programs/
Projects

PODER is currently focusing its efforts on: 1) ensuring the adoption of The People's Plan for Mission District re-zoning ­ a community based land use plan that would ensure that future development addresses the needs of the neighborhood's predominately low and moderate-income, majority Latino and other people of color, population; 2) building a core of youth leadership in the community through its Common Roots: Youth Organizer Program, dedicated to sharpening the leadership, organizing and critical thinking skill of 14 Latina/o youth from the Mission District; 3) Implementing an environmental justice curriculum at two local schools, involving at least 100 children; 4) strengthening PODER's organizational capacity to more effectively conduct membership recruitment and leadership development; and 5) maintaining and expanding movement building through participating in the State Alliance Exploration Process (facilitated by Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education, SCOPE), working with the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (a bi-national network comprised of over 70 grassroots, community-based, student, native and labor organizations), and exploring the formation of a regional anti-displacement network in the Bay Area.

Constitutency

Mission District Latino immigrant families, especially youth

Geographical Focus

Neighborhood

Staff

4

Volunteers

10

Membership Base

Multi-ethnic, Latino/Hispanic

Publications

Together We Are PODER-Juntos Somos PODER, quarterly newsletter

Annuual Budget

$100,000 - $500,000

Year Founded

1991