United Vision for Idaho Bridges Divides to Heal Democracy in Rural Communities

Using a new model for organizing, United Vision for Idaho (UVI) unites rural communities to build a healthy democracy.

“Democracy is a word everyone throws around, but there really isn’t a consensus about what it means. At UVI we think of it as a verb—as a practice that requires ongoing engagement and participation,” says Adrienne Evans, executive director of UVI.

With a mission to uphold democracy, UVI aims to change the systems that have for too long silenced or suppressed the voices of Indigenous, Black, other communities of color, immigrant and refugee populations, and poor and working-class folks of all backgrounds.

Many in our region are being served badly by our country’s system of governance—a reality that is especially apparent in rural areas, which have been targeted by far-right interests exploiting unmet needs and fueling an “us versus them” outrage. That strategy polarizes working-class white communities in opposition to people of color and immigrants.

UVI is an Idaho-based progressive social justice network that centers people in rural areas. It’s part of a broader national movement that aims to locate and lean into the shared interests that link these divided populations to achieve a truly democratic and just future.

Among its goals is strengthening the foundation of a healthy democracy to allow everyone—including those in rural communities—to have a voice and to thrive. To achieve that, UVI prioritizes listening, building trust and civility, and creating real relationships across differences—all of which together promote the possibility of shared decision-making.

The challenges are deep—and are reflected across the country.

“Right now we’re experiencing multiple crises—social, political, cultural, climate,” says Evans. “We’re on the verge of losing our democracy, and our fate is collectively bound.”

Disinvestment over the decades has erased many rural communities and created a void of resources and support for others. Anti-democracy extremists—e.g., hate groups who embrace exclusionary practices—have filled the void. They cultivate outrage by sowing distrust of democratic institutions and focusing blame on other communities who’ve been left out.

There is good reason for everyone to care about organizing in rural communities. State legislators—many of whom are elected by rural voters—echo the authoritarian influence of far-right perspectives. The result has been polarizing laws that are then enforced by an increasingly politicized judiciary.

But authentic connections—the core of UVI’s approach to organizing—are a form of healing and a way to foster accountability to rural communities no matter the identity or political orientation of the folks who live there.

The approach is simple and crucial: real human connection.

“To cast people as good or evil based on their community or point of view oversimplifies the reality: most people are much more complex than that,” Evans reflects. “Recognizing and holding those complexities is the first step to forging real relationships based on shared core values.”

UVI’s approach is to find those common values and use them to build a democratic movement of a scale to heal our democracy. Toward that end, UVI practices a new model of organizing that’s built on authentic relationships—i.e., “relational organizing.” Its goal is to truly understand the concerns and struggles that inform beliefs.

Identifying shared views across real and perceived differences to unite communities—rural or urban—can redirect past and current pain into a collective power to build a movement.

The pandemic prompted UVI to innovate new ways to use technology to reach people with the same authenticity as face-to-face, in-person conversations. It’s been using tech-based outreach in sophisticated and responsive ways to share its foundational practices: authentic relational conversations (ARC) and authentic relational organizing (ARO), approaches that depend on real human connection.

“The ARC and ARO training brings people together on a shared plane, and it creates a safe space,” Cullen observes. “That’s organizing.”

Justice is at the core of democracy, but it requires everyone to get behind and push.

“UVI is doing the hard work of actually having conversations with people who are often ignored,” says Reverend Erica Williams, a Tacoma-based spiritual leader, national social justice organizer, and international human rights advocate who founded the Set It Off Movement. “That’s a key factor in this fight because we’re just so disconnected in this country. It’s going to take that deep work of building real community to help us change.”

UVI’s distinctive model of organizing finds ways to heal divides, combat extremism, and channel voice and resources to communities that have been denied them.

Organizing in Idaho, and then sharing what works with others.

It boils down to this: UVI connects the diverse tapestry of rural people in Idaho across cultural, social, and political differences. Its methods include deep listening, relationship building to humanize and personalize the implications of our politics, and creating authentic relationships and community around shared interests and values. Those efforts combine to promote the possibility of a civil society with the collective power to meet the challenges of the present and the promise of a just future.

UVI shares its model of organizing with other groups across the nation, further advancing its successful efforts to support systems change and self-determination in pursuit of a healthy, just, and inclusive democracy.

The Foundation embraces continuous efforts to listen to and learn from our change-leading grantee partners. UVI’s work reminds us how we can support lasting and long-overdue justice for our priority communities—and, by extension, for all.