The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization with regional offices in all 50 states. In 2019, ACLU planned to host a three-day convening of the ACLU Southern Collective with the purpose of (1) clarifying collective priorities within the areas of Criminal Justice, Voting Rights, and Reproductive Freedom, and (2) developing strategies for programmatic challenges facing the collective, including messaging tailored to Southern audiences, building effective campaigns to advance goals, building a culture of belonging, and providing policy support for issue advocacy.

Converge designed the convening based on discussions with the planning committee to ground the Southern collective in a racial equity and power-building analysis and framework for action. We facilitated the three-day event with over 120 ACLU staff from affiliates and national staff. In 2020, Converge supported ACLU in developing and managing a Southern Collective Steering Committee to support content development for the peer learning communities, planning and facilitating of a virtual convening in December 2020, and initial planning for in-person convening in May 2021.