Edward Thomas Chambers (April 2, 1930 – April 26, 2015) was the executive director of the Industrial Areas Foundation from 1972 to 2009, a community organizing group founded by Saul Alinsky. Chambers was born in Clarion, Iowa to Thomas Chambers and Hazella Downing. He is credited with developing systematic training of organizers and leaders of congregation-based community organizations, and establishing relational meetings (or "one-on-ones") as a critical practice of organizers. He is the author of Roots for Radicals: Organizing for Power, Action, and Justice (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 0-8264-1499-0.). A memorial article in The New Yorker called him "community organizing’s unforgiving hero." He died of heart failure in Drimoleague, Ireland in 2015.
References
- Brazil, Eric (January 11, 2004). "A grassroots radical works for democracy". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (May 1, 2015). "Edward Chambers, Early Leader in Community Organizing, Dies at 85". New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
- "Bowling with organizers: real-world answers to academic worries about the breakdown of community". City Limits. January 1, 2004. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
- Freedman, Samuel G. "Ed Chambers: Community Organizing’s Unforgiving Hero." New Yorker, May 6, 2015. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/edward-chambers-community-organizings-unforgiving-hero