Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by: Steve Soucy
On October 9th, 2010, the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine held a teach-in called “Stop the Longest War: Ending the War in Afghanistan”. The keynote speaker was Jo Comerford, the Executive Director, of the National Priorities Project, a long time community organizer who has served as Director of Programs at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. In addition to her work there, which included a focus on food security, Jo Comerford has also directed the American Friends Service Committee’s community organizing efforts in western Massachusetts. She holds an MSW in community organizing from Hunter College School of Social Work and is an adjunct faculty member of Smith College School of Social Work.
The National Priorities Project (or NPP) where she serves as Executive Director, is a non-profit research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels.
WERU volunteer Steve Soucy recorded her talk at the Peace & Justice Center’s teach-in last weekend. It has been edited slighting for length. If you would like to follow along with the slides the speaker makes reference to, you can find them at the website: http://peacectr.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Jo-Comerford-talk-slides.pdf — but they are not crucial to understanding her presentation.
FMI: http://NationalPriorities.org.