Jeff Ordower
Part 1 —
March 27, 2024
Interviewed by Lindsay Zafir
Part 2 —
April 19, 2024
Interviewed by Lindsay Zafir
Part 1 — 3/27/2024
This is Part 2 of Jeff Ordower’s oral history: Jeff Ordower was an ACORN Organizer, Head Organizer and Midwest Regional Director from 1993-2010. In this interview he describes how, in the mid-2000s, ACORN was really trying to figure out the nuances of how power worked — specifically, the limits of relational power with elected officials vs. people power. He also speaks about what he thinks is missing in organizing today that existed with ACORN. He talks about his personal ideology and its relationship to ACORN’s strategy. He has one main lesson for young organizers: do the work!
Part 2 — 4/19/2024
This is Part 1 of Jeff Ordower’s oral history: Jeff Ordower was an ACORN Organizer, Head Organizer and Midwest Regional Director from 1993-2010. In this interview, he lays out the nuts and bolts of ACORN’s organizing model in step-by-step detail, and explains how you started an ACORN chapter. He talks about his organizing style and how he developed it — learning to listen to members and working in the background as members made decisions. He describes ACORN’s “remarkable” minimum wage campaign, which the organization lost, but which also changed the political weather for future living wage work. He shares what that campaign taught him about organizing and power. He also describes ACORN’s culture as one where members could step into conflict with one another and learn from each other, saying how the organization had a unique ability to facilitate decision-making through internal discussion.