FAN ORGANIZER COALITION
The Fan Organizer Coalition is a community of fan organizers passionate about the power of fan activism for social change. The coalition was founded in 2021 as an effort co-directed by Fandom Forward and Black Nerds Create, with fiscal support from Pop Culture Collaborative. Its purpose is to foster strong relationships among fan organizers, share and exchange resources, work as a united effort to build a more equitable world, and support the next generation of fan organizers.
If you’d like to be involved in the coalition, please send an email to angela@fandomforward.org so we can get you connected!
CORE VALUES
INTENTIONALITY
We are intentional in the ways we interact with, engage in, and support each other across fandom spaces. We believe that fan communities are powerful, purposeful, and help to shape the broader world through their influence on mass media and fans. We shape our fan communities to reflect the world we want to live in. As such, our communities intentionally center the experiences of marginalized people and provide space for fans to create, learn, and share. As a coalition, we seek to engage and support one another by sharing resources, knowledge, and opportunities across organizations and fandoms.
IMAGINATION
Fandom is meant to be fun! We give ourselves permission to play and imagine beyond the original source material. We believe that imagining new worlds and ways of doing things in fandom influences and helps change the broader world. By valuing fan creation and imagination, we model a world where everyone’s story matters and can change their community and the world for the better.
ACCOUNTABILITY
We approach this work with the knowledge that we will make mistakes. We are open to learning and understand that our ignorance is not an excuse for perpetuating harm, but an essential opportunity to help ourselves and our communities grow and do better. We are committed to listening to, learning from, and using our platforms to elevate marginalized voices rather than speak over them. We commit to working together to prevent harm, to provide genuine apologies and behavior shifts when harm is done, and to learning in public.
COMMUNITY CARE
We practice empathy and generosity, and prioritize accessibility across fandom spaces. We support the work that individual creators and fans must do to care for their health and wellbeing, but we reject the capitalist model of “self-care.” Alternatively, we support community care in the form of sharing, confidence-building, activism, learning, and the commitment to be there for one another as we co-create welcoming, long-lasting fan communities.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
ALEXIS SANCHEZ / LATINX GEEKS
BAYANA DAVIS / BLACK NERDS CREATE
ERICA ITO / SEAWEED BRAIN POD
JANAE PHILLIPS
JAY JUSTICE
JEREMY COBB / THREE BLACK HALFLINGS
JESSIE BLOUNT / HASHTAG RUTHLESS PRODUCTIONS
JOHNNIE JAE / A TRIBE CALLED GEEK
JOY PIEDMONT / REALITY BOMB POD
KATIE BOWERS / FANDOM FORWARD
LARK MALAKAI GREY / HASHTAG RUTHLESS PRODUCTIONS
PORSHÈA PATTERSON-HURST / BLACK NERDS CREATE
ROBYN JORDAN / BLACK NERDS CREATE
SHAWN TAYLOR
TAE PHOENIX / TREK THE VOTE