The Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA) is an alliance of faith, labor, health education and community organizations dedicated to building a base of everyday civic leaders to effectively stand for change they want to see in their communities.

We organize people power to create a better Edmonton for all.  

You’ll find us working for change from the bottom up: door-to-door and in living rooms, in congregations, union halls, community centers.

We work to hold both public and private power holders accountable for their public responsibilities –at the city and provincial levels. We don’t expect others to do for us - we initiate actions of our own to address community and economic problems.

GEA is a multi-issue organization.  

The issues we work on change from year to year, arising directly from the concerns of the thousands of people in our member organizations, lifted up through shared stories.

We cross economic, faith and neighborhood lines to find common ground and act on our values.

For over ten years, GEA’s leaders have worked to promote access to affordable housing, advocate for seniors, and protect local food production, among other issues.  

While collective action is a critical part of what we do, GEA’s primary work is leadership development to equip members to be effective, active, civic leaders.  Hundreds of people have invested in their own development through GEA’s 2-day and week-long Leadership Institutes since our founding in 2005.

GEA is non-partisan and non-profit, supported by the dues of our member organizations, individual donors, and foundation grants.  

Goals

GEA has three primary goals:

• Effective everyday civic leaders with the skills and confidence to advocate on their own behalf on issues of their choosing.
  
  
• Strong member organizations that apply the tools and practices of relational community organizing internally

• Thriving communities working for the common good through collective action

Affiliations

GEA is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation(IAF), the oldest and largest network of community organizing alliances in the world.  We are also part of the IAF Northwest, a region that includes affiliates in Oregon, Washington, Montana, New Zealand, and Australia.We have formed IAF Canada along with our sister organizations in Calgary, Vancouver, and Victoria. 

Through these affiliations, our members gain access to an organizing philosophy and practices developed and tested over the last 75 years. They have the opportunity to further their community leadership skills and mix with other civic leaders from around the region and country by participating in regional and national intensive trainings.