This spring MRG grantees are hitting the road, and using MRG Travel Grant funds to connect with other social justice groups across the country. In the last few weeks, we've awarded several grants for travel:

• Rural Organizing Project and PCASC are sending leaders to the Rights Working Group membership meeting in Washington D.C. in May, where they will join other grassroots leaders from across the country who are connected to the Racial Profiling: Face the Truth campaign, which seeks to ban all forms of racial and religious profiling by law enforcement. The gathering will include speakers, skills-building workshops and trainings, caucus sessions, and a day of meetings on Capitol Hill with lawmakers.
• Center for Intercultural Organizing is sending a leader to the Allied Media Conference in Detroit, June 18-20 (the weekend before the U.S. Social Forum). The Allied Media Conference will bring together over 1,000 grassroots organizers and activists to "unite the worlds of media and communications, technology, education and social justice." (MRG communications director Kathleen Pequeño will also be there to connect with other folks working in grassroots media and communications.)
• Portland Jobs with Justice is sending leaders to the upcoming U.S. Social Forum in Detroit June 22-26. The Social Forum, the second in the U.S., is expecting over 10,000 people from communities of struggle across the country for marches, self-organized workshops, skills-sharing, music and more. Their tagline: "Another world is possible. Another U.S. is necessary."

MRG is proud to get to support Oregon leaders as they connect social justice work here with work happening on the ground across the country. These leaders will share what we are accomplishing here and bring back energy and new ideas from others.

Travel grants are only available to current MRG grantees, and we have only a small amount of funding remaining between now and June 30th. Learn more about our travel grants at http://www.mrgfoundation.org/apply/travel-grants

Image courtesy of Allied Media Conference