Leah Woodward
Associate Organizer, FAST
St. Petersburg, Florida
DART Organizers Institute '05 graduate
Leah Woodward graduated with her BA from Florida A & M University and
then received her Masters of Mass Communication from the University of
Florida. Leah also served as the President of the Black Graduate Student
Organization and produced several short documentary films. Her primary
reason for pursuing a career in organizing came into focus as she saw
the limitations of consciousness-raising without action. When reflecting
on this realization, Leah writes, "It wasn't until I was introduced to
DART that I had discovered the power of organizing. Before then, I had
imagined myself making prolific films that would agitate people, but I
learned that this is not enough. DART doesn't document problems in our
communities and prays for action, it teaches people how to organize to
win." Last year, Leah helped community leaders mobilize 2,000 people to
take action. As a result, County Commissioners agreed to create a $10
million dollar housing trust fund to build housing that low- to
moderate-income families can afford.
Jeff Modzelewski
Associate Organizer, BREAD
Columbus, Ohio
DART Organizers Institute '06 graduate
In 2002, Jeff Modzelewski began a career that promised financial
rewards but little meaning. In this position he stood out as a top
performer among a staff of 120 people and his supervisors raved about
his work when evaluation time came. But working as a debt collector did
not represent Jeff's values, so he began to search out more
gratifying employment. When considering this time in his life, Jeff
writes, "I enjoy being productive in whatever job I am doing and I was
productive at my previous jobs. But I didn't feel there was any point to
the work. I have always wanted a job where I could be remembered for
making an impact on the community." Jeff is currently fulfilling these
interests by staffing a campaign focused on payday lending operations
that prey upon the poor by charging exorbitant fees and interest on
short-term emergency loans. Through new statewide legislation, Jeff
expects to reign in an industry that is crippling families and
communities throughout Ohio.
Virginia Lynch
Lead Organizer, PEACE
Lakeland, Florida
DART Organizers Institute ’04 graduate
Virginia graduated in October, 2005 from the DART Organizers Institute
and was placed with the PEACE organization in Lakeland, Florida. Her
primary assignment upon graduation was to organize a major meeting with
key legislators and community leaders to discuss an expansion of
healthcare services for the poor in Polk County. At a community action
meeting with 700 community representatives from PEACE in attendance, the
organization won commitments from county staff and commissioners to open
at least one primary healthcare clinic a year for the next five years,
moving towards providing quality healthcare services to 45,000 patients
a year. These clinics will also be open nights and weekends and have
bilingual staff in order to serve a large migrant farm working
population in the area. Previous county capacity provided services to
1,700 people out of 120,000 living without healthcare.
