Executive Director

Kirk Noden has worked as a professional organizer for twelve years. Kirk began his organizing career in Chicago first working for a neighborhood based community organization on the west side tackling issues such as abandoned buildings, school overcrowding, crime and safety, and quality of public parks.

Kirk then moved on to start and direct one of Chicago's strongest broad-based community organizations, the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, an alliance of 27 dues paying member institutions including churches, mosques, schools, and ethnic associations on the northwest side of Chicago. The organization, located in one of the most diverse immigrant areas in the country, was recognized as the "Emerging Organization of the Year" in 2002 by six area foundations including the MacArthur Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, the Woods Found, the Wieboldt Foundation, and Kaplan Family Foundation.

From Chicago, Kirk moved to England to work with the Citizen Organising Foundation to build an organization in Birmingham, England's second largest city. In just under three years, Kirk help found Birmingham Citizens, a coalition of 33 institutions ranging from churches to mosques to gurdwaras to schools and unions. The organization was well known for work around issues such as a Living Wage, Youth Resources, and Affordable Housing.

Upon returning to Ohio in late 2006, Kirk worked with faith based organizing efforts in Youngstown, Cleveland, and Cincinnati and consulted with the Raymond John Wean Foundation on the development of its Capacity Building Initiative. Kirk currently directs the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative.

Kirk graduated from Kent State University in 1997 with a degree in Philosophy and completed an Honor's Thesis examining black liberation theology and the growing radicalization of Martin Luther King Jr.'s politics in the latter stages of his life. Kirk is married to Rosa and has two sons named Roberto and Emiliano.

Articles by Kirk Noden about community organizing:

• Building Power in Forty Languages: A Story about Organizing Immigrants in Albany Park (pdf)
• Related Chicago Tribune Article (pdf)
• From Olympic People's Guarantees to a Living Wage, Organizing Takes Root in the UK (pdf)
• Related Guardian Article (pdf)