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About KFTC

by KFTC Staff — last modified March-12-2009 03:57 PM
Janet Tucker
KFTC is a great organization
        and a great family to belong to!

 

KFTC is about people working together to correct things that are wrong, correct injustices and make a better world.  It’s about people finding their own voice. One nice thing about KFTC is that it does have a broad platform.  You get to exchange those ideas and those passions.  When you get involved there’s such a diversity of issues and concerns- it changes people.

-Janet Tucker, Former KFTC Chair

Our Vision


We have a vision. 
We are working for a day when Kentuckians-and all people-enjoy a better quality of life. 
When the lives of people and communities matter before profits. 
When our communities have good jobs that support our families
without doing damage to the water, air, and land. 
When companies and the wealthy pay their share of taxes and can’t buy elections. 
When all people have health care, shelter, food, education, and other basic needs. 
When children are listened to and valued. 
When discrimination is wiped out of our laws, habits, and hearts. 
And when the voices of ordinary people are heard and respected in our democracy.


Our Mission


In 1993, KFTC adopted the following mission statement to
describe the purpose of our organization:

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a statewide citizens organization working for
 a new balance of power and a just society.  As we work together we build our strength, individually and as a group, and we find solutions to real life problems.  We use direct action to challenge—and change—unfair political, economic and social systems. 
Our membership is open to all people who are committed to equality,
democracy and non-violent change.


Our Goals of Organizing

 

KFTC has always articulated our theory or belief about what it will take to make systemic, lasting change through our description of the Goals of Organizing.  These goals and their descriptions have grown over our history as our understanding and analysis have grown. It is important to remember that each goal influences and is influenced by the other eight.  None stand effectively alone and they do not follow one another, but work as a system designed to create and hold fundamental change.  KFTC strives to advance these goals through our strategies and model them as an organization.
 

  • Help people participate – We have always believed that for a democracy to flourish, all people must be active and participate.  A basic premise of our work is that all of us have a right and responsibility to participate in the decisions and process of our self-government.

  • Empower individuals — We develop citizens into community leaders, helping people develop the skills to participate effectively!  Members are urged to try new experiences, learn new skills and celebrate their growth and achievements. We teach leadership and organizing skills, and then give people the chance to practice these skills in a variety of ways.

  • Overcome racism and other forms of discrimination – We have learned that the existence and exercise of oppression of any person or community creates the divisions and barriers that keep all of us from realizing our finest hopes and vision.  We work to overcome the discrimination that creates and sustains these divisions in our society, our organization, and ourselves.

  • Foster democratic values—We believe that all people are created equal, everyone deserves respect and equal opportunities.  Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is shaped, directed and run by its membership.  Our organization endeavors to become a model of the type of democracy we are working for in society.

  • Challenge and change unjust institutions—Our members want to create a shared balance of power and equal enjoyment of benefits within our political, economic and social systems.  We identify and tackle the root causes of social, political, and economic problems to create long-term, systemic change.

  • Build organizations—We make sure that time and attention are given to building local community groups as well as the statewide group.  We believe that strong organizations, founded on and adhering to strong principles, make it possible to achieve these other goals.

  • Communicate a message of what is possible, shift our worldview – to have a better community, we must work for a better community.  To work for a better community, we must believe a better community is possible.  All of us are influenced by the messages that surround us every day.  We work to develop and communicate new messages of what is possible on a large and small scale.

  • Win issues that affect the common welfare—People want to give energy to an organization that deals with real concerns and shows tangible results.  The issues that we tackle are chosen, actively addressed and solved by the membership.

  • Have fun—KFTC is living proof that hard work is not all drudgery.  We take the time to celebrate large and small victories, and publicly recognize individual and group achievements.