Grassroots DC first meeting on June 3rd 2013

Our origin story

In 2010, the community organizing nonprofit Empower DC received a year’s worth of funding for a program called the Grassroots Media Project.  Through the Project, Empower DC members received the training necessary to produce media reflecting member concerns such as affordable housing, education and childcare.  Between 2010 and 2013, over 50 videos (including 3 documentaries), 14 audio podcasts and 8 digital stories were produced through the Grassroots Media Project.  In all, 43 members received in-depth technical training, six of whom found work in media-related fields and two others who went on to pursue post-secondary media-related degrees.   

But the Grassroots Media Project was funded for just one year.  In April 2013, after three years, the Grassroots Media Project separated from Empower DC.   However, in its three years of existence, the Grassroots Media Project had built a dedicated constituency.   As a result, a little more than a dozen people met consistently over two months in May and June 2013 to continue and expand the program, ultimately incorporating and formalizing the structure of the new organization, Grassroots DC.  

Grassroots DC’s first home was the Potomac Gardens Public Housing Complex.  We were surrounded by potential program participants who were knowledgeable about many of the issues we were working to cover.  It would prove to be an ideal location to create news media by, for and about the community.  We discovered, even in our first year, that Grassroots DC’s impact could reach beyond supporting the District’s progressive social change community by telling their stories and covering their issues and campaigns.  We learned more about providing training to individuals from under-resourced communities than we ever did under the auspices of Empower DC’s Grassroots Media Project.  Our impact to the immediate community and the individuals who engaged with our work was greater than we anticipated.

  • In May 2013, Grassroots DC began setting up shop in the Potomac Gardens Public Housing Complex. Our intention was to provide media production training to members of DC’s under-resourced and traditionally-oppressed communities, as our mission stated. But as we moved into Potomac Gardens we realized two things. First, many Potomac Gardens’ residents did not have access to the Internet and needed basic computer training. Second, many Potomac Gardens residents who wanted to participate in our media production training program wouldn’t be able to do so without access to the Internet and basic computer training. So, we decided to add both to our programming.

  • The future is bright! Stay Tuned!