Forward Together

Forward Together is a multi-racial organization that works with community leaders and organizations to transform culture and policy to catalyze social change. Their mission is to ensure that women, youth and families have the power and resources they need to reach their full potential. By developing strong leaders, building networks across communities, and implementing innovative campaigns, they are making their mission a reality. Strong Families is a home for the four out of five people in the United States who do not live behind the proverbial picket fence – whose lives fall outside the outdated notion that a family consists of a mom at home and a dad at work. While that life has never been the reality for most of the families, too many of the policies that affect them are based on this fantasy. From a lack of affordable childcare and afterschool programs, to immigration policy and marriage equality, the way they make policy and allocate resources needs to catch up to the way they live. Forward Together also trains allied organizations in a mind-body practice they call Forward Stance, in order to support movement-building efforts. On a local level, they have been doing youth organizing and leadership development with Asian young women in Oakland since 2005 and with Asian young men since 2011.