The Gamaliel Foundation is a Chicago-based organization with over 60 local and regional grassroots affiliates in the United States and South Africa. It is one of the largest networks of  faith-based community organizations, representing over one million clergy and lay people and 1,600 congregations.

Gamaliel is known for its effective trainings in community organizing as well as its approach to regional equity issues.

Metro equity campaigns are defined as: a campaign that prevents urban sprawl by significantly stopping the flow of public or private money away from older communities at the center of the region into sprawling, segregated suburbs. Gamaliel engages in metro equity campaigns to prevent environmental degradation and to increase social justice equity.

Gamaliel’s metro equity victories include:

• Establishing regional transportation authorities in Indiana and Michigan.

• Establishing and winning seats on a new land use commission in Michigan.

• Establishing a legal agreement between five Minnesota cities, mandating 15% affordable housing in all new development.·

• Winning two suburban bus lines in Wisconsin.

• Securing state tax credits for investment in distressed communities in Missouri as well as winning state maintenance for city of St. Louis arterial roads.

At the heart of Gamaliel's work is a tested methodology, its hallmarks include:

Involvement by environmental allies in Gamaliel's social justice agenda - Gamaliel has worked on environmental issues, which we identify as metro equity issues, for many years. The President of the Sierra Club was present at our annual national meeting.

The Gamaliel Strategic Partners - john powell, Myron Orfield, and David Rusk, are all among the

nation's top experts on metro equity strategies. They provide training for grassroots leaders in metroequity strategies. All of Gamaliel's Strategic partners are also involved with local and national

environmental groups. They use these relationships to assist Gamaliel leaders in building relationships with environmental organizations, such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense.

Quality, cutting edge campaigns in a faith-based setting - Gamaliel is a leader in faith-based organizing. It pioneered the use of a national organizing focus, metro equity, and leads a national coalition with the Transportation Equity Network, a project of the Center for Community Change (CCC) St. Louis leaders won an additional $3.3 million in Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) funds for their region and Detroit leaders won nearly a million dollars in federal funding for their regional transportation initiative, DARTA.

For more information: Laura Barrett, 314-443-5915, lrbrrtt@aol.com