by Ed Schwartz

Ed Schwartz at 2005 PSO

When I first became aware of the Internet in 1994, it didn't take long to recognize what a contribution this new technology could make to community organizing. Even without seeing the World Wide Web, which became operational several months later, I saw the enormous potential of email lists—listservs—to permit many-to-many communication within communities, throughout the country, and even throughout the world. This was unprecedented. Organizing is about bringing people together. Listservs made this possible quickly and easily in a way that no prior technology could do. I started my first email list that summer—civic-values—and have been managing lists ever since, including several on YahooGroups in Philadelphia where we have built a network of more than 1,200 community activists and City officials who communicate with each other every day.