October 2023
Dear Class Action family,
We are writing, with heavy hearts, to share with you the news that, after almost twenty years of anti-classist work, Class Action (CA) needs to close down. For all of its existence, Class Action has been supported through individual donors, many of them long-term, decades-long contributors. But, as donors have sunsetted their giving or transitioned to support other work, current levels of support do not meet our basic costs.
We have made a number of efforts to reach out to new groups of donors and to attract the institutional support that could make Class Action’s work more sustainable. But, that effort takes time, and unfortunately, we no longer have enough resources to operate.
The current plan is to lay off staff at the end of December, but we are currently working to raise enough funds to extend that timeline for one or two more closing months of work.
In these months, our goal would be to “close Class Action well”. This would would include the following pieces:
- Finalize a report about how to work with people at the intersection of race and class, which represents the “lessons learned” and reflections from the participants in Class Action’s Trainers’ Circle; Class Action has been convening the TC for the last two years. This past summer, we interviewed the racial justice and anti-classist trainers and facilitators who have been able to participate more regularly. This report will share the results of those conversations.
- Gather the core pieces of Class Action’s curricula and put them together in a kind of trainers’ manual, so they can be a resource for further work to build awareness of class and class identity, help build relationships across class, and work to end classism.
- Find a home for Class Action’s materials, so that they are readily available to others who wish to bring class into their anti-oppression work;
- Help Staffing the Mission (StM), the First Gen Summit (FGS) and the Trainers’ Circle (TC) to find new homes from which to continue their important work.
In order to support our new capacity to accomplish these important steps in Class Action’s shutdown process, we are asking those who are interested int his work and able to support us to use the link below to help us raise the funds needed to accomplish these goals.
I have felt privileged to be the Executive Director of Class Action for the last three years. I believe that the platform that has been created through almost twenty years of work around class is an important one and that there is still much good and important work that can be done. Our hope is that we have created a foundation for this work which will enable others to continue to carry it out in other forms.
All of us at Class Action – the board, the staff, our team of diverse and committed consultants, our trainers, our First Gen leaders, our interns – want to express our gratitude to all of you for your many, many years of support. All of Class Action’s work is a reflection of that support. We look forward to continuing to work with you for a world dedicated to dignity, justice, and equity for all.
With gratitude,
Ann Philbin
Executive Director, Class Action
