San Jose Grassroots Organizer Receives Fellowship Funding

SAN JOSE, CA -- Raj Jayadev thinks global and acts local -- for the betterment of others in trying times. The grassroots organizer was named this week as one in 25 people selected to receive $625,000 over a five-year period as seed money to keep up his efforts helping families and individuals facing prison or deportation.

Jayadev, 43, works with a core group of 30 staffers and volunteers dedicated to the cause -- a rewarding yet demanding challenge. The name of his non-profit advocacy group is San Jose-based Silicon Valley De-Bug, which uses community resources and storytelling through various media to provide support for those who need it. The agency essentially puts a human element to the criminal justice system.

"We dissolve the walls of court. It's such a sterile environment," Jayadev said.

Silicon Valley De-Bug grant funded, so this latest windfall from such a well-known philanthropic organization will help the outfit grow substantially from a local and regional presence to more of a national platform.

"It's so nice. We didn't have a strategic plan for this, but we're going to assess where the money is needed," he said. He further admits there are worse problems to have than a windfall of cash to continue the mission.

The goal is to train organizations across the country to endorse a participatory defense where family members are included in the process. Needless to say, Jayadev expects to "be real busy" in the coming months as a crackdown on immigration and increase in social justice issues are catapulted out of the federal government.

"Participatory defense could be the driver that could end mass incarceration," he said.

The hardest part of the award is the strict guideline to keep it under wraps. He could only tell one person for days. He told his wife. But it was hard to go to work without sharing the good news with his colleagues.

"I'm fortunate and grateful to work with people in the movement," he said.

More information on the foundation's "genius grants" may be found by visiting https://www.macfound.org/.

The criteria for fellowships includes: using exceptional current creativity, the promise of future advancement and the potential to do subsequent creative work. Since 1981, 1,014 fellows have been named.

--Image courtesy of Charisse Domingo