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When the People Lead,

the Leaders Follow
The Backbone Campaign specializes in the creation of spectacle imagery, innovative messaging and political theater. Most of our work involves what we call Artful Activism, in which we engage progressive activists and organizers in the strategic use of creative tactics such as festival arts, flash mobs, music and other theatrical forms of nonviolent direct action.

Tuesday, 21 February 2012 23:21

Backbone Campaign Calendar

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Backbone Imagery Penetrates Mainstream Coverage of Occupations

Backbone Campaign's recent mission in DC to provide messaging for the Freedom Plaza occupation resulted in a dozens of mainstream press hits. We actually had 2 images in the NYTimes in one day! Our purpose was to associate the Occupation movement with values most of the 99% identify with. Here's a collection of many of them along with some other photos from various actions.
Backbone Images In the Press - via Occupy DC/Freedom Plaza

Published in Announcements

Staff

Executive Director: Bill Moyer Bill Moyer co-founded the Backbone Campaign in 2003 with friends from an artist affinity group. He has dual and intersecting paths as both an activist and artist. His involvement with social change work stretches back to the 80's, when as a student he was deeply involved in the anti-nuclear movement and the anti-interventionist movement. After a a few years of studying political science and American philosophy at Seattle University, Bill went to Big Mountain to assist Dineh elders refusing to relocate off their traditional land, attended the Institute for Social Ecology, and briefly lived on an organic vegetable farm in Vermont. On returning to the Pacific NW to live on Vashon Island, activism was replaced with performance and study of music as a percussionist and sound designer. The G.W. Bush administration inspired him to apply lessons of the arts to social change. Backbone Campaign has been a vehicle for much growth and Bill has emerged as a leader in the theory and practice of "artful activism." He designs and produces creative political actions and provides trainings in grand strategy and creative tactics around the country. Bill (AT) BackboneCampaign.org
Managing Director: Yve Susskind Yve works in partnership with Bill Moyer to manage and run the day-to-day activities of the Backbone Campaign. Yve is responsible for long-term planning and project management; and board, volunteer, fund and organizational development. She also is responsible for tracking all expenditures, and works closely with the organization's part time bookkeeper Rob Peterson, to provide reports to the Board of Directors on cash flow and budgeting. Yve is also Principal with Praxis Associates, LLC, consulting with nonprofits and schools in the areas of youth-adult partnership, youth involvement and student-centered education. She was the founding director and currently serves on the board of Vashon Island Youth Council (VYC), an inter-generational community organization near Seattle. She is also on the board of Development of Island Teens. She holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan's interdisciplinary Planning Program. Yve (AT) BackboneCampaign.org
Project Organizer: Jared Middle Calf Jared was born and raised in Southern California, and lived in poverty for much of his upbringing. He spent four years of his high school education in military school, believing that he was seeking a new future. On weekends he worked at his stepfather's restaurant, expecting to continue in the military. Sept.11 2001 changed his plans. He says, Being told by recruiters that I wasn't going to see war and then finding out the truth about the conflict helped me decide not to continue. He currently leads a different lifestyle by organizing street actions, freeway bannering and builds, street theatre, cross country tours, Procession for the Future Trainings and all the materials needed for these activities. Jared also has 10 years of experience in retail management and working in a hardware store where he learned about tools, many of which are needed for artful activism. Jared (AT) BackboneCampaign.org
Office Assistant: Judy Olson Judy comes to Backbone as a recent retiree, with 26 years of small business ownership and management experience. The “dumbest president ever” is responsible for her involvement in the progressive movement. In ’04 and ’05, she served as the treasurer and membership chairman for the Seattle Green Party. In ’06, she was one of the founders of the Dirty Hands Co-op – a group of 20 families organized to collect used cooking oil from Seattle restaurants in order to “brew” their own biodiesel. She served for five years as the treasurer of Dirty Hands. In ’07 she was active in the counter-recruitment movement, doing educational tabling work at Cleveland High School, when the military recruiters were present. She is delighted to be working with people who are dedicated to progressive change. Judy (AT) BackboneCampaign.org
Affiliated Artists
Affiliated Artist/Puppetista : Christopher Lutter Christopher Lutter-Gardella has been making masks, puppets, costumes, sets, floats and various theatrical accoutrements out of waste materials for fifteen years. Having worked extensively in schools, libraries, community centers and other civic organizations as an artist-in-residence, Chris has guided communities in the development of art-making workshops and parades and theater productions. He has extensive experience in facilitating broad and diverse groups of people in the process of collaborative art-making, from conceptualization through to final presentation. Chris has served on the staff of the Heart of the Beast's "May Day Festival" in Minneapolis, serves as artistic director of Puppet Farm Arts, a small non-profit arts education and resource organization. Chris has produced three large puppets for the Backbone Campaign's Procession for the Future including Snowflake, our lovable polar bear puppet. He leads trainings and workshops in Arts for Social Change with the Backbone Campaign.
Affiliated NVDA Trainer: Logan Price Logan Price is a non-violent direct action specialist focusing on both environmental and social justice issues. He has worked regularly with the Backbone Campaign since 2007, as well as other organizations such as the Ruckus Society, Rainforest Action Network, and Greenpeace. Since his days as a student organizer he has traveled internationally, participating in solidarity work and helping various groups pull off safe and effective actions.
Affiliated Artist - 2-D Imagery Design, Construction and Animation Trainer: Steffon Moody Steffon Moody is a founding member of the acclaimed UMO Ensemble and performer for New York's Big Apple Circus, Steffon Moody has performed and created in almost every situation imaginable. 30 years of professional experience as a writer, director, teacher, musician and scenic artist give him the depth of vision to take on almost any task. Steffon uses the theater arts as a tool for transformation with groups of all ages, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. He is the co-Founder of Vashon Island's Islewilde Arts Festival, now in its 18th year. Islewilde is a Bread & Puppet style community building celebration. He also directs an entertainment production company, Chameleon Performance. Steffon is the creator of Backbone's We the People, We the Corporations, and a number of other images and leads image design and creation workshops for the Backbone Campaign.

The Backbone Board:

President: Stan Sorscher Stan

Stan Sorscher, a PhD physicist and high level labor representative with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace has spent a great deal of time on the battlefield of economic globalization. Whether around the negotiating table or crafting policy Stan employs his insights into the failure of markets to protect the public interest.

Stan (AT) BackboneCampaign.org

Secretary: Kyle Tanner

Kyle Tanner is a professional organizer and consultant residing in the South Puget Sound. His worked has spanned electoral politics, organized labor, environmental and healthcare advocacy. He believes in fair play, immutable human dignity and agitational organizing..

Kristen Beifus

Kristen Beifus is the Executive Director of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition (WFTC), made up of 61 labor, social justice, faith, family farm, student and environmental organizations and small businesses throughout WA state calling for a more equitable global trading system. She has worked to promote fair trade commodities and policy both in the US and abroad. Kristen also coordinates the SweatFree Washington Campaign, which passed a SweatFree Purchasing Policy in the City of Seattle in 2010, with a view towards passing a similar policy in WA State. She is also on the national board of SweatFree Communities.

Denise Henrikson

Denise Henrikson is a seasoned grass-roots instigator. Working in fields as diverse as community arts celebrations, event organizing, and street theater, Denise pulls together effective teams to inspire the masses. She also has a professional life as a project manager, workforce training consultant, policy analyst and volunteer manager. She believes in the power of art to impact social change and is excited to apply her skills towards supporting the work of the Backbone Campaign.

Denise (AT) BackboneCampaign.org

Sandra VanderVen

Sandra VanderVen is a Senior Organizer at Fuse Washington, where she works to put the power back into the hands of the people. After graduating from The Evergreen State College, she spent ten years teaching middle school science. It was then she got an eyeful of how economic injustice can make life harder for kids in struggling families. She resolved to find solutions and began organizing with MoveOn.org, and now both volunteers with MoveOn and works at Fuse.

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