A Faith That Does Justice, Inc.

A Faith That Does Justice (AFTDJ) aims to 1) raise consciousness about social issues affecting the most vulnerable among us; 2) offer opportunities for people to walk in solidarity and serve those who may be marginalized by our society; 3) exist as a resource for vulnerable people in our community through action-oriented programming.
Specific priorities include:
- Conceptualize and implement new AFTDJ action programs focused on underserved people
- Develop programming in which our target audiences want to engage
- Improve racial, ethnic, and lived experience diversity of AFTDJ board and volunteers
- Inspire follower engagement and action
- Increase engagement of immigrant population in need
- Increase participation in our workshops, community meetings, and live stream events
- Strengthen processes/operational efficiency to drive effectiveness and scale across ESOL student and volunteer community
- Expand and deepen our engagement to reach new ESOL students and establish complementary partnerships
- Develop ESOL content and delivery tools to optimize results, learning experience, and retention
- Develop ESOL student advocacy program

The strategies targeting the priorities listed above include:
- Develop leadership positions to attract volunteers from the communities we serve
- Work with program leaders to create and publicize calls to action
- Develop partnerships with local organizations, parishes, or churches to recruit students for ESOL programs
- Work with Hispanic leaders and organizations to tap into established Spanish speaking audiences
- Review best practices for promoting and increasing attendance at virtual events
- Expand awareness/partnerships with faith communities and immigrant support agencies
- Develop excellence in student recruitment
- Establish and expand engagement with Correctional and other underserved populations
- Launch Pre-Beginner/Literacy Class
- Enable student access

With a dedicated base of supporters and donors, AFTDJ has a strong track record with fundraising, resulting in available capital to execute our strategies and organizational priorities. AFTDJ is also fortunate to have a core group of committed and passionate volunteers who has succeeded in running and growing AFTDJ’s programming since its inception. An experienced and engaged board of directors, under the leadership of Fr. Peter Gyves, is focused on broadening the scope and impact of AFTDJ programs.

At the close of 2021, approximately 3300 people subscribed to and followed AFTDJ’s communication/education efforts, and the ESOL program filled nearly 80 seats in its English classes. The ESOL program has experienced increasing enrollment every year since it began in 2018, and it is expected that 2022 will be no exception. As of 2020, a team of several Student Relationship Managers (SRMs) were added to the core volunteer team to serve as mentors for the growing number of ESOL students. SRMs support students in their learning process, help students manage obstacles to learning and class attendance, and improve student retention. Looking forward, AFTDJ aims to add a Director of ESOL programming as the first paid employee of the organization with the mission to expand the possible reach of our program and services provided to the students participating in the program, and to create and maintain partnerships with other similarly missioned organizations in Boston.