T4MA believes in movement-building across sectors.
We strive to engage sectors across the Commonwealth to help ensure diverse perspectives are included in policy conversations and decision-making. Our team has developed a variety of strategies to do outreach from grassroots organizing to creating new tables for sustained cooperation, to regional convenings – all intended to consolidate community power.
ORGANIZING SCHOOL
Organizing School is a collaboration between grassroots organizations, alliances and movement funders who believe in base building, who believe in a multi-issue strategy and the power of a grassroots organizing approach, centering people most impacted by our issues.
T4MA is proud to partner with New England Community Project (NECP) for the Statewide Climate Organizing School program as a place where organizational leaders and movement allies share their gifts of knowledge and experience and build a space focused on developing organizing skills.
REGIONAL CONVENINGS
We gather folks in different parts of the state to learn from them and from each other. At these convenings, we activate organizers, develop strategies, and nurture collective power. Each year, we aim to expand our reach and footprint, and go around the state to seek out more partners and allies.
RIDE ALONGS
People move in different ways. Each of these ways offer us a sneak peak of how people live, and the possibilities that are available to them. T4MA takes these trips with community members to hear their stories and experience their challenges first hand. When we advocate, we want to center these stories, and there’s no better way to represent these realities than to experience them ourselves even if it is just for a day.
SHARED SPACES
Shared Spaces promotes collaboration and understanding of the challenges associated with shared spaces – such as bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, and bus stops statewide. We are committed to advocating for safety and accessibility in the design of these shared spaces, with a focus on the unique experiences of individuals with disabilities.
TABLES UPON TABLES
Since 2024, Carolyn Chou (Homes for All MA), Dwaign Tyndal (Alternatives for Community and Environment), Noemi Ramos (New England Community Project), Shanique Rodrigues (MA Voter Table) and T4MA have been forging a deeper alliance and dreaming up a statewide gathering aimed at uniting diverse grassroots efforts to confront urgent challenges and cultivate a movement for lasting change.
THE CHAMPIONS' INSTITUTE
Communities of all sizes urgently need to prioritize people when it comes to designing and building streets so that everyone has an option to stay active and healthy while getting where they need to go safely and conveniently each day. Local elected officials play a vital role in supporting these goals, identifying local needs and advancing the work to build activity-friendly routes to everyday destinations in their communities.
Smart Growth America and Transportation for Massachusetts launched a statewide program to equip elected officials from across the Commonwealth to effectively advocate for and support safer and more complete streets in their communities through providing comprehensive training to help local leaders become champions in their communities to promote just and equitable transportation.
THE YOUTH
T4MA believes the youth are the future of the movement, and that it is integral to invest in both guiding and learning from the next generation of change makers.
In the coming year, under our Movement Grants, T4MA Member, Alternatives for Community and Environment, will be convening a group of youth leaders to integrate youth voices, ideas and leadership into our transportation spaces.
More to come on this work!