More than 130 New Jerseyians, representing 20 of our 21 counties, spent their Saturday at the 8th Annual New Jersey Grassroots Organizing Conference in New Brunswick, NJ. The event brought together high school and college students, retirees, volunteer activists, and full-time organizers to connect and learn. More than a dozen professionals with expertise ranging from how to best work with the media to issue experts in food insecurity led sessions throughout the day.
NJPIRG Students partnered with 18 non-profits to host this event and help Garden Staters turn their concerns into action with opportunities. They took photo-petitions and signed petitions on active campaigns, met other people from their communities, and planned actions with what they learned from the conference.
“It was great to learn from the staff at the Garden State Repair Cafe,” said Peter Maroun, Freshman and Chair of NJPIRG Students at Rutgers – Newark. “I’m hosting a Repair Cafe on my campus as a part of a campaign to give people the Right to Repair their stuff and I’m excited to take what I learned back to my campus.”
The day was focused on giving people the tools they need to identify a problem and successfully advocate for solutions with the time and resources they have.
“It was truly inspiring to see so many people from across the state learning and working together to advocate for a better future,” said Doug O’Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey. He shared the latest update on the plight of the North Atlantic Right Whale and policies that can help save the critically endangered species.
The day started with an energetic keynote from Assemblywoman Collazos-Gill (LD 27) who got her start as a student activist with NJPIRG at Rutgers-Newark. Throughout the day, folks attended sessions, panels, and workshops held at the Rutgers Labor Education Center located in New Brunswick.
“I learn a lot about the problems in my classes, so it was great to spend a day focused on the solutions,” said Giana Rivera, Freshman and NJPIRG Students Chair at Rutgers – Camden.
Attendees were encouraged to take what they learned on Saturday and apply it in their communities beyond the weekend by getting involved with one of the 19 co-sponsor non-profit groups or launching their own campaign. PLAN provided students with access to the Break Free From Plastics Pledge Toolkit and the Student PIRGs invited students to sign-up for their Summer Leadership Training Program.