Introduction
Marshall Ganz is a key thinker and educator in the field of community organising. The Commons Library includes many materials by Ganz, or inspired by Ganz. This article gathers two videos (an interview and a presentation) and details of other ways to learn from Marshall Ganz.
Videos
Marshall Ganz on Fighting for Social Change
Veteran activist and organizer Marshall Ganz joins Bill Moyers to discuss the power of social movements to effect meaningful social change. A social movement legend who dropped out of Harvard to become a volunteer during Mississippi’s Freedom Summer of 1964, Ganz then joined forces with Cesar Chavez of the United Farmworkers, protecting workers who picked crops for pennies in California. Ganz also had a pivotal role organizing students and volunteers for Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential campaign. Now 70, he’s still organizing across the United States and the Middle East, and back at Harvard, teaching students from around the world about what it takes to beat Goliath.
After some background the interview starts at the 5 minute mark. Screened on BillMoyers.com, May 2013.
Complementary or in Conflict? Community Organizing and Collective Impact
Marshall Ganz, a pioneer in grassroots organizing in the United States, presented this “master class” keynote talk at the 2017 Collective Impact Convening. It is about what we can learn from the history of community organizing and how it can inform our movement-building now. Following the keynote is a panel discussion about how collective impact and other collaborative efforts can work in partnership with community organizers to reach their goals.
After some introduction the presentation from Ganz starts at the 6 minute mark. For more see the transcript and follow up panel discussion video.
Courses & Community of Practice
Harvard Kennedy School
You can learn more from Marshall Ganz through his online courses at the Harvard Kennedy School which include:
- Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling, and Action
- Organizing: People, Power, and Change
- Leadership, Organizing and Action: Leading Change
- Public Narrative: Self, Us, Now
- Public Narrative: Loss, Difference, Power and Change
Resistance School
Resistance School was founded in March of 2017 by graduate students at Harvard who wanted to find a way to contribute to the wave of new and renewed political activism in communities across the USA. The online school includes videos, readings, and resources on topics like community organizing, communication skills, and electoral tactics.
Two Resistance School online courses taught by Marshall Ganz are included in the Commons Library:
Leading Change Network LCN
The Leading Change Network LCN is a vibrant community of organizers, educators, and researchers from all around the world committed to improving people’s lives through leadership development for social change work. Its work is rooted in the organizing pedagogy developed by Marshall Ganz and colleagues. LCN holds regular events to connect people who have been trained by Marshall Ganz.
For more resources view the Leading Change Network collection on the Commons Library or visit the LCN site.
Explore Further
- Marshall Ganz Quotes and Wisdom about Leadership, Hope, Organizing and Narrative
- The Power of Story: The Story of Self, Us and Now
- Learn About Organising from Marshall Ganz – Online course by Marshall Ganz
- Guide to Organizing from the Leading Change Network LCN – LCN is the international network of organisers trained in the Ganz model.
- Organizing: People, Power, Change – A handbook that outlines many elements of the Ganz approach to organising in an accessible way.
- Approaches to Organising: The Ganz Model
- Marshall Ganz on the Power of Social Movements by Corey Donahue, Carnegie Commons Blog.
- What is Organizing?
- Public Narrative: Online Course
- Organizing: People, Power, Change
- Learn About Organising from Marshall Ganz
- Faces of Change: Podcast by Marshall Ganz
- The Art of Organizing with Marshall Ganz (Podcast)