What Does A Community Organizer Do?

If you are like many, if not most, people the title "Community Organizer" has a somewhat fuzzy definition in our minds. For this reason I reached out to Ginka Tarnowski to help give us clarity on this topic.

Ginka Tarnowski

I became aware of Ms. Tarnowski through an editorial she had written two weeks ago to the Duluth News Tribune (DNT) pertaining to a hot topic that was coming to a head in the subsequent city council meeting two Monday's ago, August 16. The hot topic of that meeting was with regard to the Mayor's push to have a Twin Cities agency replace most of the promotional functions that Visit Duluth, a local team, had been managing for more than 80 years.

Having worked closely with Visit Duluth these past several tears as part of the Duluth Dylan Fest committee, I couldn't comprehend the necessity for the move in the first place. Nor did I agree with the process. 

The DNT published a lengthy statement by the mayor defending the decision, and also printed a well-crafted response by a young woman whom I was unfamiliar with. Her opinion piece was titled Local View: Mayor Larson taps out-of-town consultants for lots of fixes.

Ginka Tarnowski's bio at the end of the piece read "Ginka Tarnowski of West Duluth is a community organizer who assists with her fiance’s consulting work." This led me to reach out to learn more about the role she plays in our community. 

EN: You self-describe as a community organizers. What does a community organizer do?

Ginka Tarnowski: I think it's a common experience for many who try to fix a wrong to be pushed aside and told their voice doesn't matter. Sometimes people will have respect to tell it to your face: "You're just one person, do you really believe you can make a difference?" Sometimes, from what I've experienced in Duluth, it's by polite inaction: 'Sorry for the last minute email, my wife has an upset stomach/our turtle ran away/our dog lost their ball, can we reschedule?' And sometimes, the worst feeling can come from no action at all.

That's where a community organizer comes in, and why I describe myself as one. An organizer is someone who has their ear to the street -- a community member who listens to their neighbors. And its not just listening to your neighbor's words, but hearing what's in their heart. But that isn't enough to be a community organizer.

A community organizer has to go a step further. They don't listen endlessly, sympathize greatly, and sit empathetically; that's not enough and that's never been enough. A community organizer leads.

So why do I call myself a community organizer? Because I've spent enough time hearing from my neighbors about how we deserve better. It's time we do better, as a state, as a city, and as neighbors.

I like to think that my first experience as an organizer was when I helped save an assembly during my senior year at Denfield. We were auctioning off seniors to hang out with freshmen as a way to raise money for cancer research. The ‘cool’ seniors would hang out with their freshman, giving them food and piggyback rides throughout the day. They’d only managed to raise $7 before I realized I could do a better job by whipping up some excitement, so I grabbed the mic, leaped up to the freshman balcony, and by the end of the day we managed to raise over $1,000 for cancer research. I didn’t care about people knowing me; I cared about raising as much money as we could in a way where people would be happier when they walked out of the assembly and that they felt a greater sense of community.

When I was a student at Scholastica, the administration proposed cutting a sexual assault prevention program. That was not something that I felt was good policy, so I organized my friends to go across campus and present to the administration stories from sexual assault survivors. Within a week we were able to get the administration to reverse their position.

These days, I spend my time listening to my neighbors and identifying solutions. I’ve been meeting with elected officials and policy makers to find how I can continue to make a difference, because all throughout Duluth I hear issues which would not be happening if only our city government put Duluthians first.

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Thank you, Ginka, for the work you are doing 

to make a difference in this community.