Action Team

The ACLU of Ohio’s Action Team is a cohort of engaged grass roots activists who work closely with our Policy & Advocacy Team to use their voice to push for change in their communities and across Ohio. Actions Teams are a force multiplier actively pursuing policy change and energizing the masses to be a more engaged democracy. Focusing on training, equipping, and empowering our volunteers to act in the public arena, we work to radically change the landscape of Ohio for the better.

Current advocacy priorities:

• Engaged Democracy
• Individual Freedom & Dignity
• Smart Justice
• Free Speech, Free Country

The ACLU of Ohio’s Action Team is over 10,500 strong and growing every day!

Sign up to join thousands of Ohioans in the pursuit of justice and equity in Ohio.

Northeast (NEO)
The Northeast Ohio Action Team is comprised of the Cuyahoga and Portage Counties. The Cuyahoga team, formally established in 2018, is the founding action team chapter in the state. Members have directly lobbied Ohio legislators and judicial stakeholders, launched civic school programming, hosted redistricting teach-ins, facilitated listening sessions, represented the ACLU of Ohio at public events, submitted letters-to-the-editors and opinion pieces, conducted Know Your Rights trainings, and organized both virtual townhalls and in-person events.

• Focus areas include efforts to reduce the number of people in prison and jails and dramatically reduce racial disparities within the criminal legal system; including campaigns to combat police violence and excessive force, protect Ohio’s existing cannabis laws, and combat attacks on bodily autonomy and LGBTQ+ people.
• Lead: Melekte Melaku
  Senior Advocacy Strategist
  pronouns: she/her/hers
  [email protected]

Northwest (NWO)
The Northwest Action Team is comprised of Lucas, Ashland, Defiance, Lorain and surrounding counties. The Lucas County Action Team is the founding NWO chapter, with a history of advocating for pretrial justice, drug policy reform, death penalty repeal, and non-partisan voter empowerment. Members have facilitated listening sessions, submitted testimony, lobbied to state officials, tabled community events, conducted Know Your Rights trainings, hosted voter empowerment townhalls, and represented the ACLU of Ohio on panels.

• Current focus areas include efforts to protect Ohio’s existing cannabis laws, protect immigrant rights, and challenging sweeping restrictions on academic freedom and speech.
• Lead: Melekte Melaku
  Senior Advocacy Strategist
  pronouns: she/her/hers
  [email protected]

Southeast (SEO)
The Southeast Ohio Action Team is made up nearly 500 activists from across the region and is growing each day. SEO Action Team members have collected thousands of signatures, knocked hundreds of doors, submitted public testimonies, hosted workshops, and have helped pass local resolutions. And we’re just getting started!

• Current focus areas include ensuring that trans and gender non-conforming members of our community have access to affirming accommodations, working towards community control over police surveillance, and educating people on their rights and their power.
• Lead: Natalie Johnson
  Advocacy Strategist
  pronouns: she/her/hers [email protected]

Southwest (SWO)
The Southwest Ohio Action Team is comprised of over 1,000 activists in Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Greene, and Montgomery counties. Our team has collected thousands of signatures, facilitated listening sessions around the region, hosted Know Your Rights trainings on a large range of civil liberties issues, written Op-Eds and letters-to-the-editor, hosted public meetings and community conversations, and so much more.

• Current focus areas include LGBTQ Rights and advocating for single occupancy restrooms to be gender neutral, working to establish community oversight and input over police surveillance technology, and educating our communities on their rights and their power.
• Lead: Riley Taylor
  Advocacy Strategist
  pronouns: she/her/hers
  [email protected]

Campus Action Teams (CAT’s) are university or college-sanctioned clubs formed and led by students, with the guidance and training of ACLU of Ohio staff. Chapters work in collaboration with the affiliate to advance strategic goals like engaging democracy, preserving freedom and speech and intellectual discourse, ensuring reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy, expanding LGBTQ+ rights, protecting immigrant rights and due process, and reducing harms associated with the criminalization of poverty.

Campus Action Teams boost the health and vitality of mission-aligned organizations and communities on and off campus. We operate at the intersection of grassroots movement building and policy strategy, equipping campus leaders with the skills necessary for campaign planning, executive decision-making, and responsive field mobilization.

Campus Action Teams support the ACLU of Ohio’s mission in three ways:

1. Leadership Development – Campus Action Teams serve as vehicles for cultivating the next generation of social justice leaders, investing in student ability to analyze political landscapes, understand policies and issue-cuts, forge connections between past and present struggles for constitutional rights, embed campus voices in messages and media, and harness power to win state and local campaigns.
2. Field Mobilization – Campus Action Teams strengthen our ability to effectively respond and turn out student bases; CAT’s receive training on fundamental organizing principles, tools, and practices to mobilize stronger coalitions for justice, advance regional projects and campaigns, and represent student values and interests in the legislature, local government, and broader campus life.
3. Political Community – Campus Action Teams foster a civil liberties oriented community through intentional engagement, shared norms, community agreements, regular meeting rhythms, and meaningful collaboration with partners, faculty, subject-matter experts, and communities most directly impacted by the issues we prioritize.

Campus Action Teams (CATs) operate under a distributed organizing model, activating a core group of executive leaders to bolster and scale the network of students. Distributed organizing empowers chapters to take initiative and leadership within campaign cycles, practice co-governance, and take action to address escalating threats to Ohio’s democracy. The ACLU of Ohio will provide a framework for meaningful action, along with resources to help build and maintain collective power and institutional knowledge.

Campus Action Team Partnership Requirements

To be recognized as an ACLU of Ohio Campus Action Team chapter, students agree to shared guidelines, norms, and expectations. The requirements are not intended to discourage your activism but to provide the framework necessary for chapter success.

1. Campus Action Teams must participate in power building directives for ongoing state, county, and municipal campaigns or projects spearheaded by the ACLU of Ohio, including active campaigns to engage and strengthen democracy, reduce the harms of the criminal legal system, protect bodily autonomy, and defend free speech.
2. Campus Action Teams are expected to build and maintain a membership base. This involves regular General Body and executive committee meetings, executive team elections, hosting of programming and events, participation in voter mobilization efforts, canvassing, phonebanking, lobbying, public actions, and outreach to partners and allies.
3. Campus Action Team chapters must adhere to democratic practices and commit to a code of conduct outlined in your school handbook. Members must abide by shared norms and rules outlined in the Campus Action Team Toolkit, chapter bylaws, and constitution.
4. Campus Action Team leadership must respond to ACLU of Ohio staff on a timely and consistent basis. All chapters and executive committee members are required to participate in the Statewide Campus Action Team network.

Where are the ACLU of Ohio’s Campus Action Teams Located?

• Kent State University | @ksuaclu
• The Ohio State University | @acluosu
• The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law | @acluatmoritz
• Oberlin College | @oberlin_aclu
• Ohio University | @aclu.ohiou
• University of Cincinnati | @acluatuc

To start a campus action team at your Ohio College or University, contact ACLU of Ohio Senior Advocacy Strategist Melekte Melaku, [email protected].

For the most up-to-date schedule of events please visit the ACLU of Ohio events page.