In her nearly 15 years as Executive Director of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS), Liz Moore quadrupled the budget and staff capacity while growing membership and strategic partnerships to conduct many successful social justice campaigns.

For example, last fall PJALS joined forces with Justice Not Jails PAC to defeat Measure 1 (for jail expansion). It was a landslide victory with 63% of the county voting NO. Volunteers, canvassers and phone bankers made 48,500 contacts with voters. During the last six weeks, PJALS hired 17 Organizing Interns to educate people with texts and telephone calls about why they should vote NO on Measure 1. Liz noted that it was a pleasure to see these young interns, many of whom were new to voter outreach, grow their confidence and skills.

As an organizer, educator, leader and consultant, Liz believes that everyday people have the power to build a just and nonviolent world. By looking at the world through a nonviolent lens, it is easy to see how materialistic and militaristic “business as usual” is harmful. To change that can seem hopeless, but working towards improving community safety and wellness can bring people together with shared values. And once you have shared values, you begin to build relationships and a sense of belonging. This shared humanity and sense of belonging is a basic human need. And joining together in shared activities can be very powerful.

Liz Moore is no stranger to INUUC members or to UU principles, including “The inherent worth and dignity of every person” and “Justice, equity and compassion in human relation.” These complement the PJALS values that “ask us to honor and respect our web of different life experience to work collaboratively, sharing power and decision-making.”

Both groups are passionate about social justice. Both groups believe in the value of learning how to best bring it about. Many of our INUUC members have attended PJALS’s BOLD Academy, and another class is scheduled for this spring. BOLD’s goal is “to build grassroots power to address racism and poverty in Spokane County by increasing the number of people acting together.” There are two parts: learning and acting. “First, we’re coming together to gain a shared understanding of how racism and poverty are intertwined and used by the reactionary rich to oppress and divide our community. Next, we take this analysis into the community, initiating conversations about racism and poverty with our neighbors, and inviting them to join us in the struggle against oppression.”

For more information about how Liz and PJALS are making a difference, visit their website at pjals.org.