Everybody’s In, Nobody’s Out: We believe that everybody in Guilford County deserves what we need to make a good living and to live good lives. No matter where you come from, how you got here, or who your people are; whether you are a white collar worker, blue collar worker, farm worker, at-home worker, full-time worker, part-time worker, work for yourself, are out of work, or unable to work; we believe that you are worthy of dignity and deserve to thrive.
We Need to Fight Corporate Interests and Racism, Not Each Other: We live in a time with deep divisions, where big corporate interests are pitting us against one another and laughing all the way to the bank. This is happening at the same time that people are feeling real hurts, economically and otherwise, from centuries of racism. Our social safety net is not strong enough to catch all the people who are falling, and cuts to critical services and basic infrastructure are happening at the federal, state and local levels. We must stand together to fight for the things all of us need and deserve.
It Takes Democracy and Solidarity: To make Guilford County work for all of us, we need to build a local government that takes seriously its responsibility to care for the wellbeing of all of our people, confronting racism and poverty. We do that through building democracy: specifically through building a democratically run membership organization that will bring democracy and people-centered decision-making to local governance. We also build with solidarity: intentionally working to build trust and repair harm across lines of race, class, sexuality, immigration status, national origin, and gender.
We Must Build Power At Every Level: While many of the struggles people in Guilford County experience are the result of decision-making at the state and national levels, and forces larger than County or City governments, we believe it is the responsibility of local government to work for everyone who calls it home, not just corporations and a wealthy few. Through building power at the local level, in relationship with organizations across the state, we will build the capacity for grassroots, people-centered governance at the state level as well.
For a long time, we’ve been actively denied access to the kind of power that can help us determine our futures. Through building the grassroots political power of Guilford County residents, Guilford for All will make structural and policy changes at the ballot box and in the streets through:
Brandon Wrencher: Brandon is a minister, organizer, writer, and trainer. He works within faith, education, and non-profit sectors at the intersections of decolonizing church, contemplative activism, and local presence to build beloved communities. Brandon is a founding pastor and organizer of Good Neighbor Movement, a multiracial, Black-centered, queer inclusive, justice-driven network of missional communities in Greensboro, NC. Brandon is married to Erica and they have two sons Morris (3) and Phillip (7).
Casey Thomas: Casey lives in the Glenwood neighborhood of Greensboro with her wonderful husband and dog. She has organized around food, immigration, policing, and against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. With roots in New York, South Carolina, Tortola, and Virginia, she made Greensboro her home in 2006. She graduated from Guilford College (BA, Sociology & Anthropology) and UNC-Greensboro (Masters in Public Health). She is the Development Manager at People’s Action, a national network of community organizations.
Isabell Moore: Isabell has lived in Greensboro for all but five years of her life. After decades of organizing for racial, economic and queer justice, she coordinated the Siembra NC Solidarity committee’s first year. The parent of a kindergartener, she organizes with other public school parents and with teachers and serves as Advocacy Chair of the Guilford County Council of PTAs. She is studying North Carolina’s social movements through a doctorate in History at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Jess St. Louis: Jess is a narrative strategist, organizer, and learning somatic practitioner based in Greensboro, NC. She is committed to building power and transforming the conditions of city and county she calls home towards racial justice, economic justice, gender justice, and queer liberation, primarily in the US South. She has worked with local organizations such as the Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative in Atlanta, GA to national networks like the US Human Rights Network. Outside of work, she is an auntie and titi to amazing young people who live in Guilford County and beyond.
Kay Brown: Born in Reidsville, Kay lives in Greensboro and earned her B.S. in Journalism and Mass Communications at North Carolina A&T State University. As local leader, she serves on the Greensboro Criminal Advisory Commission, as the Chair of the NAACP Young Adult Committee and has organizing experience that runs the gamut from voter suppression to police reform. Kay works in the financial sector full time, while mothering two sons, and earning her MBA from Fayetteville State University.
Nikki Marín Baena: Born in North Jersey to Colombian parents, she lives in Greensboro with her partner, daughter and their two dogs. Nikki is the Director of Finance and Economic Development at Mijente, a national Latinx organization, and has worked as a loan officer for cooperatives and the Co-Director of Cooperation Texas. Locally, she organizes with Siembra NC. Her passions include co-ops, popular education, savings circles, telenovelas, potatoes, and making trouble. She earned her BA from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Ryan Staggers: A Guilford County transplant from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Ryan began organizing in hopes to make lives easier for those who needed it most. Living with a very strong identity, he wanted to find a way to uplift and support his base and people. He has worked with local Black Lives Matter movement where was introduced to Southerners on New Ground, and helped create a local chapter. The whole time he continues to serve with the Young Adults Committee of the NAACP.