Our mission is to confront the growing threat of authoritarianism with non-violent resistance, compassion, and civic resolve. We serve Arvada and beyond by fostering informed citizens, encouraging active participation, and defending civil liberties. We believe progress depends on equity, justice, peaceful participation, mutual respect, and transparency in government at all levels.
Like many Americans, the founding members of Arvadans for Progressive Action (APA) felt crushed by the sheer amount of work that needed to happen in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. We knew that he didn’t merely present a threat to the few gains the country had made from environmental and labor protections to race, gender, and LGBTQ+ rights; he was a threat to people’s very lives. We had worked in our individual capacities for many different progressive causes, but it was time to come together and create a coalition of progressive ambitions to fight defense and offense, on all progressive battlefields, simultaneously.
APA’s first meeting was a response to an email from Working Families Party and sent by Rachael Smallwood, and was simply intended as an invitation for neighbors to come together – the organizers weren’t yet aware that they were about to start an influential organization that would continue to organize to this day. The first meeting was supposed to be in a neighbor’s living room, believing that the RSVPs would reach around 7. Over 50 responded. Some quick planning had to happen in order to accommodate such a crowd, but the organizers were able to secure the First United Church of Arvada as their first meeting space. The group of neighbors met, some for the first time, on November 26, 2016.
The organizers were taken aback when everybody demanded to know when we would meet again. They had not counted on people wanting to continue organizing for change. But they were surprised and pleased with the spirit of the group.
We arrived at the name Arvadans for Progressive Action after discussions and a democratic vote. We wanted the name to reflect who we were and what we were striving for. However, the name is not entirely accurate. We have many members from all over, including Westminster, Wheat Ridge, and even as far-flung as Boulder. We have people on our email list from North Dakota, California, and Iowa.
The spirit of APA is a coalition of progressive voices given the opportunity to pursue what is most important to them. In this way, we have been able to develop the foundation of our group: action teams that consist of smaller groups of APA members that focus on advancing that specific issue. These action teams consist of Affordable Housing, Climate, Healthcare, Education, Anti-War, Immigration, Rally/Protest, Social Connections and Political Action.
APA is currently led as a group by the leaders of these action teams. Their leadership enables APA to have the space and tools to advance local causes and enables the group as a whole to meet on a monthly basis to learn about and discuss important progressive issues.