JALSA has a long history of creating, joining, and staffing coalition efforts to maximize our effectiveness. Current coalitions include:
Raise Up Massachusetts
Member Organization and Steering Committee Member
http://raiseupma.org/
Raise Up Massachusetts is a grassroots coalition of community organizations, religious groups, and labor unions committed to reducing economic inequality. The Coalition is focused on three issues of critical importance to working families in Massachusetts: raising the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 per hour, paid family and medical leave, and passing the Fair Share constitutional Amendment. Both the most recent raise in Massachusetts’ minimum wage and the Earned Sick Time ballot victory were the result of Raise Up work.
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
Member Organization
http://www.gbio.org/
The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization works to coalesce, train, and organize the communities of Greater Boston across religious, racial, ethnic, class, and neighborhood lines for the public good. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious groups work together on issues chosen by the members. Affordable housing was the key issue of this summer’s Community Preservation Act (CPA) ballot victory; criminal justice reform is the key concern going forward into the next legislative session.
Mass Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence
Founding Member and Member Organization
https://mapreventgunviolence.org/
The Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence started in 2013 after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. As an umbrella organization, the Coalition brings together organizations and institutions across MA to address the epidemic of gun violence that plagues our communities and takes the lives of so many of our citizens, in suburbs, in rural areas, and certainly in cities. The Coalition had a major role in the passage of the most recent Massachusetts legislation to prevent gun violence.
Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance
Member Organization
http://www.massedjustice.org/
MAJE includes students, educators, parents, school staff, and concerned community members across Massachusetts who are committed to building a stronger and better public school system driven by community voices. This youth and parent driven coalition is committed to working with elected and appointed officials and holding them accountable to the actual needs of Massachusetts Public Schools.
To read more about our issue work, check out our “Issue Areas & Campaigns” tab.