Committees are groups of members who do projects around a certain topic. There are two main kinds of committees.
Standing committees are groups of members who organize around a topic, justice area, identity, or project. This is where much of the work Pittsburgh DSA is known for actually happens.
Administrative committees are groups of members who assist with tasks for chapter officers, who are themselves on the Coordinating Committee.
Members can easily get together to form a new standing committee if they want to organize around a topic we do not list below. More information on forming a standing committee can be found in the bylaws.
Standing Committees
🕊🐷 Abolition & Anti-Imperialism Committee (AAI)
info@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Preventing and undoing harm caused by police and the military industrial complex, both in the US and abroad
- Projects: Solidarity with Cuba, free brake light clinics to avoid “random” police stops, fundraisers and protest support for Palestine, education on BDS Movement, The Deadly Exchange, and Know Your Rights trainings
🏳️⚧️🌸 Bodily Autonomy Committee
info@pghdsa.org
🏳️⚧️🌸 Bodily Autonomy Committee
info@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Organizing to fight for reproductive and bodily autonomy rights such as abortion access, contraception, and gender-affirming healthcare
- Projects: Education on what bodily autonomy is, legislative pressure campaigns, tabling to expose fake “clinics” who pressure people not to get abortions
🌱🤝 Ecosocialism & Mutual Aid Committee (EcoSoc & MA)
ecosocialists@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Works for ecological justice, climate justice, food access, and clean water and air; provides relief to these inequalities by distributing food/water/materials and teaching skills for mitigating air pollution and climate effect in the home
- Projects: Promoting anti-fracking legislation, running a community garden to teach gardening and provide produce, assist with stocking the pantry/resource center at Community Forge Wilkinsburg, run hot food/resource distribution
🗳️✅ Elections & Pressure Campaigns Committee (EPC)
electionsandpressure@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Runs electoral, legislative, and policy campaigns and trains others on the basics of running campaigns
- Projects: Endorsing candidates for local positions (progressive Democrats, Greens, or Independents), endorsing campaigns for legislative change, leading canvasses (door knocking, texting, phone calls), running an Intro to Campaigns series
- Includes Endorsement Sub-committees
🏠♥️ Housing Justice Committee
housing@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Advancing housing as a basic human right in Pittsburgh and beyond
- Projects: Canvassing for pro-housing legislation, advising tenants on forming tenant unions in rental properties, educating about social housing and how homelessness affects different populations
- Includes the Pittsburgh Tenant Organizing sub-Committee (PTOC), a group that trains tenants on how to form tenant unions
⚙️💪 Labor Committee
labor@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Educating, empowering, and building class-consciousness amongst the poor and working class populations of our area
- Projects: Supporting local unions via social boosts, attendance at rallies, offering advice; educating people about unions and labor issues
- Includes Emergency Worker Organizing sub-Committee (EWOC), a group that advises workers on how to form workplace unions
💡📚 Political Education Committee (PolEd)
education@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Provides a place for members and visitors to hone their theoretical and practical organizing skills and learn more about the types of political thought
- Projects: Providing political education segments at general meetings of the Pittsburgh DSA, running reading groups and film showings, maintaining a library of media both physically and digitally
Administrative Committees
💬📢. Communications Committee (Comms)
communications@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Assists the Communications Coordinator with social media, website copy, calendar events, emails, texts, and phone calls.
- Projects: Creating graphics to promote on social media, writing threads/posts on particular topics, speaking to occasional media outreach, regular upkeep of event admin (RSVPs, Zoom, calendar)
🌹💁♀️ Internal Organizing Committee (IntOrg)
membership@pghdsa.org
- Overview: Assists the Membership Coordinators with introducing new people to DSA and engaging with members who have been around longer
- Projects: Running Intro to DSA sessions, welcoming new members to DSA, hosting socials to attract new members, calling and texting members to help with keeping dues up to date and members involved