International Women’s Day Kickoff: Building Branches from the Inside and Out
By Nikki Abeleda (She/They)
WILPF US Inside and Out Initiative
April 2021
WILPF US launched the Building Branches from the Inside and Out Initiative and uplifted International Women’s Day through a virtual kickoff celebration on Sunday, March 7, 2021.
Inside and Out Initiative is a WILPF US initiative based on an adaptation of the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) framework, which is a community organizing model that assesses the community’s – or in WILPF’s case branches’ – strengths and abilities. The ABCD framework was founded by John L. McKnight and John P. Kretzmann at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Nikki Abeleda is an Associate Clinical Social Worker in California and received her Masters in Social Work from Boston College. She was hired as the Field Facilitator for WILPF US to help implement the ABCD framework to support and empower the WILPF branches. Currently, Nikki organizes and builds with several community organizations in the US that are committed to social justice, anti-Blackness and anti-racism, and dismantling oppression. Nikki’s leadership skills in community organizing and activism include: advocacy, capacity building, direct action, content creation, facilitation, and equity, justice, and inclusion work.
Members from six of the participating US WILPF Branches attended the virtual event: Sacramento, San Diego, Des Moines, Rockford, Boston, and Philadelphia. For International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, members highlighted and honored women they admire. This conversation allowed for the Inside and Out Cohort to build community with one another and get to know others in different branches. Also, Nikki introduced the ABCD framework through an educational video and shared the Inside & Out Implementation plan to provide next steps for the branches.
Please stay tuned to follow the progress of the WILPF US Inside and Out Initiative.
Resources for the ABCD framework
Cormac Russell TedTalks – Sustainable community development: from what’s wrong to what’s strong
