I am just delighted to announce that Jac Archer has joined our staff team as PJALS Organizer!
Jac (they/them/theirs) is an experienced organizer and leader who brings a depth of analysis, knowledge, and skill. For me it’s especially wonderful that we can hire a graduate of our Young Activist Leaders Program!
Many folks in our Peace and Justice Action League community already know Jac from their role as a PJALS Steering Committee member or from their leadership within Spokane Community Against Racism and the Platform for Change coalition as well as Smart Justice Spokane. As a student at Eastern Washington University, they served on the Multicultural Coalition from 2015-2017, where they represented the Black Student Union and Scary Feminist Club, at the same time as participating in the PJALS Young Activist Leaders Program. Now, Jac is a member of the board of Spectrum Center, the City of Spokane Human Rights Commission, and the Washington State LGBTQ Commission, and they were the 2021 Activist in Residence at Eastern Washington University.
Jac is also an insightful and powerful writer, as you may have already seen in their recent Inlander columns “Collective, decisive action on multiple fronts is the only way Spokane will successfully confront homelessness” and “Equity vs. Equality: It’s all about fairness and the recognition that different people may need different tools.”
Please join us in welcoming Jac to their new role!
— Liz Moore, Executive Director
A message from Jac:
I’m excited to announce that I have taken a job as the new Organizer for the Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS). This is an exciting new step for me and my family, one that allows us to create the work-life balance we so need as a unit that now includes Baby Raven.
I feel extraordinarily lucky and blessed to work for the first organization I ever volunteered for when I moved to Spokane.
I first volunteered for PJALS in 2015 in order to get tickets to see Chris Hedges. I was a new Eastern student who was completely unfamiliar with PJALS and its mission. But when I heard PJALS leader Taylor Weech bring the crowd to cheers for the end of the “racist, sexist, capitalist hetero-cis patriarchy” I turned to my spouse and said, “I think we found our people.”
I continued to get involved with PJALS, graduating from YALP in 2016. I then joined the Steering Committee in the fall of 2020, where I served just over a year before taking the job as Organizer.
PJALS brought me some of my first connections in this city, and has helped nurture my skills as an organizer for the last seven years. Thank you Liz Moore and Shar Lichty for giving me a chance to be a part of this team. I’m excited to continue my journey with PJALS in this new capacity.