Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Schools & Youth
The Network for Social Justice’s Schools & Youth Committee seeks to broaden acceptance for diversity and equity in Winchester Public Schools by building a strong base of teachers, parents, and students in an effort to generate a culture change towards inclusion in schools and the town as a whole. The S&Y Committee supports the enrichment of social justice curriculum in schools, empowers parents to better guide their children around social and racial justice issues, builds relationships with parents’ associations, school committees and other nonprofits to share best practices, and supports all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies by providing resources and programming to local organizations, schools and community members that build knowledge around LGBTQIA+ issues.
Community Education & Engagement
The Community Education & Engagement Committee focuses on advancing dialogue and learning through annual programs and trainings designed to build community capacity to advance racial and social justice work and facilitate ongoing conversations around difficult topics.
Response & Advocacy
The Response & Advocacy Committee facilitates confidential conversations and provides support for people who feel they have been targets of, or witnesses to, harassment, bullying, hate crimes, or discrimination. The Committee also conducts responsive advocacy designed to address institutional policies or practices that have resulted in discrimination or exclusion.
Immigrant Justice
The Immigrant Justice Committee advocates for policies to promote the safety and inclusion of all residents, workers, and visitors to Winchester. Specifically, the Committee's goal is to establish the Safe Communities Act (Bill S. 1401; H.3573) in Winchester
Indigenous People's Advocacy
The Indigenous Peoples' Advocacy Committee promotes critical understanding and analysis of historical representations and contemporary challenges facing Indigenous Peoples, including those who lived on the lands now recognized as Winchester. The Committee also advocates with other grassroots groups for the rights of Indigenous People at the town and state level
Where we work
Awards
Leadership award to Sandy Thompson, one of the Network Founders, for "ordinary people doing extraordinary work against racism" in Greater Boston 2011
Community Change, Inc.
In recognition of the 20th. Anniversary of the Multicultural Network and the organization's work promoting the recognition, undersdtanding, and appreciation of diversity 2011
Massachusetts State Legislature
In honor of the 20th. Anniversary of the Multicultural Network and the many contributions the Network has made to the Winchester community 2011
Winchester Board of Selectmen
External reviews

Photos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Network for Social Justice seeks to advance a suburban movement which promotes structural changes to advance equity and inclusion in suburban communities, working within Winchester and reaching communities beyond it.
Specifically, our aims include:
-Serving as a resource for individuals and groups that feel they are the victims of discrimination, racism, exclusion, etc.
-Serving as a resource for schools, institutions, and individuals who wish to deepen their knowledge of social justice issues and, particularly, incorporate racial and social justice approaches into their own work
-Building the organizing capacity of activists as facilitators, speakers and convenors knowledgeable about social and racial justice issues in order to target issues of human and civic rights relevant to Winchester that also have regional and global applications
-Increasing the size and diversity of the Network by growing connections and engagement among and between community members in Winchester and activists in organizations across the suburbs (working on analogous or parallel issues)
-Creating local change through targeted campaigns to address structural discrimination, racism and exclusion in Winchester
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Network for Social Justice utilizes three interlinked strategies for advancing our work: Teaching through community education, serving through community engagement, and leading through community activation. In line with our theory of change rooted in transformative organizing, we implement this strategy through focusing on the individual, interpersonal and structural/institutional levels.
Educational Strategy Through teaching, we focus on promoting dialogue and learning opportunities to raise personal awareness and deepen collective understanding of historical and current injustices and privilege. Our community education is designed to reach community members in three ways: workshops to assist individuals to understand themselves, their positionality and biases as part of larger systems of oppression; trainings to help build capacity of activists to work in collaboration as agents of change (e.g. facilitated dialogue training); and events and public presentations aimed to educate the community to tackle structural inequities related to vulnerable groups or populations (film screenings, panels and individual speakers).
Engagement Strategy We serve by focusing on building a welcoming and inclusive community through events that generate widespread civic participation and appreciation of the power of diverse backgrounds and perspectives. Our engagement strategy is built around: holding social justice themed community-wide events around annual holidays/dates of community celebration, including our MLK Day of Service, our upcoming Pride initiative, and our annual Black History Month program; and building strategic partnerships with local nonprofits and groups who align with our message in order to hold regular outreach events (such as partnering with the Winchester Farmers Market, tabling at Town Days, outdoor concerts, etc).
Activation Strategy We lead through work on the individual and institutional level. We take the lead on a case by case basis by supporting individuals to address incidents of harassment, bullying, discrimination, or civil rights violations as they arise, while conducting and supporting broad-based grassroots advocacy for institutional and systemic change on the town, state and/or national level. We utilize three methods: running a small intake center for those who feel they have been a victim of or bystander to discrimination, hearing those claims, and responding either with consultation or mediation. The second approach is via targeted campaigns that have developed in relation to ad hoc committees we run on immigrant justice and indigenous people’s rights. These campaigns encompass education and community engagement and are designed to be both holistic and sustainable. The third strategy constitutes ‘responsive advocacy,’ incidents where the Network will be approached by another organization and utilize our members and resources towards a time-sensitive campaign in line with our social and racial justice principles.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Contributing to our organization’s capacity to accomplish our goals are our external communications mechanisms, internal personnel, and efforts to increase our reach via coalition building.
Communication avenues include a web site, social media presences on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and a weekly electronic newsletter that provides Network, community, and regional happenings in the social justice space.
Internally, our resources include a full-time Executive Director with a background in nonprofit management and academic and practical expertise in social justice education and coalition building; a professional support staff of three part-time employees who possess skills in development and community organizing; a nine-person Board of Directors who provide professional insight and organizational oversight; a 12-person Steering Committee that has a combined 167 years of institutional knowledge and actively participates in the day-to-day activities of the Network, and a cadre of volunteers psychologists, teachers, lawyers, writers, facilitators, and mediators who support the work of our action arms.
A key facet of our mission includes building a movement in the suburbs to lead, serve, and teach about the importance of community organizing. We are accomplishing this through expanding the internal capacity of our Network through education so that we may broaden our base and collaboratively build a coalition of groups and individuals committed to similar aims.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the twenty-nine years of the organization's existence, the Network for Social Justice has grown to become a respected and valued "go to" resource for Winchester and neighboring communities, with both organizations and individuals regularly seeking assistance. Particular areas where guidance is provided include race, religion, disability, and socio-economic status. Unfortunately, we are seeing throughout Massachusetts and the country an increased openness in the manner in which hostilities to those who are "different" are being expressed.
The challenge more than ever is to strengthen an open inclusive civic dialogue that addresses the underlying reasons why this is happening, and to work systemically to dismantle those structures which perpetuate the lack of equity and inclusion in our town and society. We also seek to understand how the work of movement building, particularly around issues of racial justice, occurs in the suburbs so that we may inform similar suburban groups about this process.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Network for Social Justice
Board of directorsas of 07/28/2021
Mrs. Susan Lewis
Nashoba Brooks School
Term: 2019 - 2021
Michael Bettencourt
Winchester Select Board
Charlie Danzoll
Consultant-International Development
Sahar Awerbuch
Brio Integrated Theatre
Deirdre Giblin
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Wei Han
Winchester School of Chinese Culture
Jon Swan
Boston Consulting Group
Robin Smith
Pediatrician
Juanita Zerda
Consultant-human rights and social justice
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data