President
Henry Phillips
Open Door House of Prayer

Vice-President
Yolanda Arroyo
St. Linus

Secretary
Christina Peoples
Coalition United for Families

Treasurer
Shirley Robinson
First Thessalonians

PACT seeks through the congregations and community organizations of San Joaquin County to build a powerful, democratic organization, which will be the voice of low and moderate-income families.  PACT helps leaders build their own local organizations capable of acting on issues of vital importance to their community and families. PACT is developing a network of leaders who have developed their expertise and organizational skills and who are acting to improve our county.  PACT is a 501©3 nonprofit. It is nonpartisan, nonsectarian, and open to all who wish to work toward improving their community.

PACT helps leaders build their own local organizations that increase their capacity to act on issues of vital importance to their community and families. PACT is developing a network of leaders who have developed their expertise and organizational skills and who are acting to improve our county. PACT uses the PICO National Network community organizing model, which consists of the following basic pattern:

Each community leader meets with members of his or her neighborhood to discover the issues the community wishes to address. Leaders come together to research the problem in depth and discuss possible solutions with community members. Leaders then organize large public meetings with community members and public officials. These meetings are designed to encourage participation from the average resident who is not involved in the community, and they are highly structured to allow orderly, effective participation and to build a sense of community. At the meetings, public officials and the community commit to concrete actions toward solving the problem.

After each meeting, leaders discuss the outcome: what aspects of the meeting went well, what could have gone better, and what could be changed for the next meeting. In this way, leaders are always learning and developing.

Community leaders are the foundation of the organizing process, and developing leaders is the focus of PACT’s work. Leaders are members of the community. They are people who commit to reach out to their neighbors (in “one-to-one” meetings) and work for the common good. They help make ordinary residents more knowledgeable about civic issues and discover the issues that are most important to members of their community. Leaders support each other. Leaders come together and share feelings about their progress, their victories, and their disappointments. They also learn from each other. They reflect on their experiences with other leaders and become more effective in serving their community.
Leaders help move the community forward. They work to create a dialog between members of their community and public officials, and they help lead both groups towards action that addresses community concerns.

Local and National Training

PACT periodically offers federated trainings and workshops for leaders of all its members.

PICO offers national training for leaders several times a year in different parts of the country and occasionally regional trainings are also offered.