Organizing Komité - A space for community leaders
Launched in late Fall 2025, Organizing Komité is one part of the leadership development work we do to build up our community’s leaders, and a key pillar of AFIRE’s Organizing Program. Filipinx/a/o community leaders come together to support AFIRE’s base-building efforts like Seeding AFIRE, Baklaan, and Mabuhay! Meeting, to raise awareness about issues that directly impact Filipinx/a/o people in Chicago.
Filipinx/a/os are the second-largest Asian community in Illinois. Our diverse communities have long shared stories of barriers and stressors that prevent access to supportive resources. Most of the Filipinx/a/o community in Illinois are widely disbursed and without a clear channel to connect and advocate around our rights. Organizing Komité is one way to meet that need, and serves as a reminder that many of us desire justice and our voices are powerful together.
“Organizing Komité is a way for community volunteers to regularly support AFIRE and their initiatives. For me, it is about giving community members a voice in guiding AFIRE’s efforts. Through event planning, organizing opportunities, outreach and so much more, we help AFIRE expand and reach more people together. It started last winter. At one of the Mabuhay meetings people gathered around topics they wanted to participate in. I saw it forming as a way to help share the load. I think organizations focused on community rights should include the community. While AFIRE leads the effort, the work should be shared by all of us to accomplish our goals.”
- S. Schubert, Organizing Komité Member
The Organizing Komité meets every two weeks as a practice that grows the sustainability of AFIRE’s organizing efforts. Anyone can participate in the komité who is interested in and can commit to doing these types of activities: facilitate short trainings, help plan base-building events, provide feedback on legislative initiatives, mobilize for coalition actions, and conduct outreach, among others. If you are interested in joining the komité, please complete this form.
Please remember you are not alone in the struggle! Here are more ways you can engage:
Thank you for your support, we look forward to seeing you soon!
