ACT NOW sees an America where people work to eliminate the root causes of poverty, racism, and the forces that bolster the social inequities that undermine and threaten too many of America’s communities.
The conversation started with Emmett Till, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Amir Locke, and the deaths of so many other African Americans throughout our history.
That conversation continues among a group of national thought leaders, funders, and social action experts seeking to listen and learn from the people most affected by the conditions in their communities that produce such tragic outcomes. What they heard is that “the people” must take charge of their lives and their communities. They must act to create the type of community safety they want. And, they must ACT NOW!
The People's Commissions
ACT NOW has learned that change happens at the neighborhood level. Local groups and organizations are building networks from the ground up to take on the challenges and opportunities they confront in their communities.
People’s Commissions consist of these neighborhood groups and organizations – from civic, faith, and local business leaders to ordinary residents – seeking to reject the status quo and mobilize to act! ACT NOW helps to equip these networks with the tools they need to build capacity and actualize civic engagement with their self-directed, shared vision of “community” as their north star.
ACT NOW is a national initiative that supports community groups and organizations working together to reimagine what their communities can become.
We have learned that these groups and organizations are not only re-envisioning policing as “community safety,” they are also reimagining housing, employment, healthcare, education, and so much more of what makes a community – safe! They are “taking action” in their lives and the lives of their communities.
Our time is spent listening, learning, and supporting diverse communities throughout the nation.
The ACT NOW sites represent different stages of development in reimagining these communities’ policing, housing, educational systems, and more to realize their visions of community safety. 
You, too, have the power to shape the future of your community with ACT NOW.
The conversation started with policing, but it can’t, and won’t end there.
It ends when those with the most at stake, individuals and families alike, take charge. It ends when neighbors decide how they want to live. It ends when the community mobilizes to ACT NOW.