Industrial Areas Foundation

The Industrial Areas Foundation is the umbrella organization of civil society organizations in the U.S. that operate according to the method of community organizing. Headquarters of the Organization is Chicago.

Formation

The Industrial Areas Foundation ( IAF) was. , Kathryn Lewis and Joseph Meegan founded in 1939 by Saul Alinsky, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago's Bernard J. Sheil, Marshall Field III in Chicago. The goal was the professionalization of community organizing that had been previously developed by Alinsky in conjunction with the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. The IAF should support as an advisory and coordinating body the work of civil society organizations that were active in the ghettos of the North American cities. The IAF was also featured to Alinsky financial protection to enable him to repeat the method he had used Yards neighborhood in the Back of the other places. Under Industrial Areas Urban Areas are to understand. The name of the foundation is thus to be understood as a commitment to Urbanism as a Way of Life by Georg Simmel and Louis Wirth.

In 1968, the IAF has been converted into a training center for full-time organizers. The aim was to train each year in a 15 - month course of up to 25 Organiser and thus ensure that Alinsky's method could be widely disseminated. The students were funded through a scholarship program of the auto parts manufacturer Midas Muffler Corporation. The 15 - month training was only a few years later reduced to four months, as Alinsky succeeded to the conclusion that the prospective organizer needed more practical experience rather than theory knowledge.

Modern IAF

As Alinsky died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1972, his student and long -time collaborator Edward T. Chambers took over the management of the Industrial Areas Foundation. Under his leadership, the IAF was in an umbrella organization of civil society organizations that work according to Alinsky method converted. Today, the network comprises the so-called "modern IAF " 57 associated local organizations in 21 states across the U.S., Canada, UK and Germany. The member organizations are bound by contract to the IAF and receive the membership fee to be paid in return for assistance by a professional organizer, consulting and training programs. Instead of the training course for professional organizers, interested can apply to a multi-year apprenticeship with the IAF. In addition, the IAF offers three times a year so-called " 10 -day training ", which is mainly addressed to the volunteer management level of local civic organizations. They are intended to convey the effectiveness of the method Alinsky among local activists and thus to organize in their attempt to support. The modern IAF sees itself as non-partisan, multi- ethnic, interdenominational and intercultural, emphasizes the equality of men and women and the different social classes. However, the younger generation of IAF organizers representatives have the Christian churches more involved in the work of their local organizations as it did Saul Alinsky, who looked at the churches primarily as a source of money and multiplier. This has meant that since the IAF is often referred to as Church -Based Organization ( CBO) perceived by the public.