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A collage of 21 photos of Black and Brown parent leaders and their advocacy work over 30 years - 30th anniversary

30 Years of Turning Dreams Into Action!

For 30 years, Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) has proven that when Black and Brown parents, especially mothers and grandmothers, have real power and support, they are able to turn their dreams into action!

Our theme captures COFI’s core belief: When parents come together, their collective power transforms their dreams into reality to make our communities, our state, and our nation a better place for all.

From personal triumphs to major policy victories, COFI’s parent-led organizing model, The COFI Way, has trained thousands of parents and helped transform communities and entire systems. Our 30th Anniversary celebrates three decades of parent power and the next generation of change we’re building together, and we hope you join us!

Learn more about COFI's history here

June 4, 2026: Save the Date for COFI's 30th Anniversary Event!

Details are coming soon! If you’re not on our mailing list, sign up here for the latest updates.

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30 Stories for 30 Years

Since 1995, COFI’s family-focused organizing model, The COFI Way, has trained thousands of parents to be powerful leaders. We’ve heard incredible stories about the impact of COFI and our training on individuals, families, communities, and policies and systems. We aim to highlight a few of those stories throughout our anniversary year. Check back here for updates! 

Individual Stories

COFI has always believed that leadership begins from within. These stories highlight the impact of COFI trainings on individual parents as well as individuals who have taken trainings at The COFI Center for Action and Learning and incorporate The COFI Way into their own social justice efforts.

Strengthening My Family

Through our trainings, parents become stronger leaders in their families. Parents support one another in gaining skills and confidence as family leaders, and also learn to set goals with their family members. These stories highlight how COFI has impacted parents and their children.

Local Organizing

COFI-trained parents work together to create change. To make their community more family friendly, parent leaders meet with neighbors, find common ground, develop new programs, organize community-wide campaigns, and realize the power of a collective voices. These stories highlight how COFI started training parents in Chicago and rapidly expanded statewide.

Changing Policy & Systems in Illinois

COFI-trained parents create a cross-community policy agenda that starts with common concerns raised by parents, such as childcare, safety, or school quality. Together, parent leaders organize to communicate their ideas and concerns to public decision-makers. These stories will highlight POWER-PAC IL’s collective dreams and wins since its founding in 2003.

Building Parent Power Beyond Illinois

With the COFI Center for Action and Learning and with partners across the country, including those in UPLAN, COFI is catalyzing a national parent-led movement for economic and racial justice. These stories highlight the dreams and goals of parents outside of Illinois.

Dreaming Forward

Stay tuned for the last part of our series! We’ll share reflections and visions for the next 30 years of parent power.

Help Us Celebrate and Fuel Parent Power for Another 30 Years!

Become a sponsor

Become an event sponsor today and help underwrite tickets for COFI-trained parents and their children! Your sponsorship will be recognized on this website, our social media pages, and in our email newsletters. Join us in building a world where racial, economic, and educational justice prevail, and all children and families have an equal opportunity to succeed in life.

Sponsorship Form

Donate

Please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to sustain our work today. COFI is a grassroots nonprofit and every gift helps develop parent leaders who are taking action and winning critical victories for families. 

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Purchase an event ticket

We’d love to celebrate in person with you! Registration will open in the Spring. Please check back here in March or sign up for our mailing list to get notified about ticket sales.

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