A Black man with short hair and beard is wearing a blue zip up shirt. He is pondering the priorities in a First Responder Alternative coalition meeting on a large sticky note page with colorful sticky note ideas.

Photo by Jia Lian Yang

Coalition Support & Strategy

Forward Through Ferguson advances policy and systems change in our Signature Priority Areas–Justice for All, Opportunity to Thrive, Youth at the Center, and Racial Equity–by providing organizing and strategy support to collectives and coalitions. We act as a convener, bringing together individuals and organizations across sectors and geographies to bolster efforts toward a more equitable region. 

How we support coalitions:

Storytelling & Communications

We use storytelling to make human connections to issues impacting the St. Louis region, grounding data + research and amplifying the lived experience of impacted communities and people.

Racial Equity Capacity Building

We provide education and learning supports for changemakers seeking to advance Racial Equity within the region, across various sectors and issue areas. 

Data & Research

We produce trailblazing data and research that ground and support the development of policy recommendations and calls for change.

Learn about the coalitions we co-lead and support below.

First Responder Alternative Coalition

Illustration of diverse community members including a bald masculine person in a trench coat, a healthcare worker in a wheelchair with natural hair and hoop earrings, a person sitting on the ground cross legged with a bob and bangs, someone with a headset and their hair wrapped, and someone standing in the background who has a blunt bob and bangs and a button up shirt. The illustration is in very dark blue and the background is tan.

Forward Through Ferguson convenes the First Responder Alternative Coalition, which seeks to establish trauma-informed, health-centered crisis response programs in St. Louis that rely on community and care, rather than policing and incarceration. The coalition has several goals: 1) build community awareness and buy-in, focusing outreach especially in those areas that may be within the pilot geography, 2) engage in legislative advocacy (to ensure bill passage and/or allocation of funding for the Pilot Program), and 3) support planning and implementation of FRA Pilot Program.

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Defund. Re-envision. Transform.

Defund. Re-Envision. Transform. logo with yellow background and bold all caps black serif font. on the bottom right.

Alongside Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, and Freedom Community Center, Forward Through Ferguson serves as an anchor organization for the Defund. Re-envision. Transform. (DRT). DRT is a grassroots campaign which seeks to defund SLMPD, re-envision public safety, and transform St. Louis. 

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Prosecutor Organizing Table

Introducing: Prosecutor Organizing Table graphic with bold black words over a darker green background with grey gears that have the seals for St. Louis City and County Prosecutor Offices on them.

The Prosecutor Organizing Table is a coalition of organizations leading decarceration and racial justice efforts in St. Louis, Missouri. The Table consists of Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, Freedom Community Center, Forward through Ferguson, MacArthur Justice Center, and Missourians Against the Death Penalty. The Table aims to provide the public with the tools and knowledge to demand accountability from our region’s prosecutors to secure real progressive actions rather than empty progressive promises.

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Honest Elections

Honest Elections Coalition logo with a sunburst on the left side in light green and the background being a forest green. The title of the coalition is bold yellow rounded serif font.

Honest Elections is a coalition made up of the organizations Show Me Integrity, A Red Circle, Empower Missouri, and Forward Through Ferguson. As a coalition, we envision an election system that allows all people to make a difference on issues that are important to them. We aim to design a more participatory election system, by centering communities most impacted by racism and political disenfranchisement and applying a lens of Racial Equity and Economic Equity throughout the election process. 

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