Francis Calpotura

Francis Calpotura: Oakland, California; Founder and Director, Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action (TIGRA).

"Francis has spent the past twenty-four years as a community organizer, trainer, administrator, and writer. His current organization, TIGRA, seeks to develop a model of global organizing based on the experiences of immigrants in the United States. Francis worked at CTWO from 1984 to 1999, founding some of our most innovative training and organizing projects, such as MAAP and People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO). From 1990–1999 he was a Co-Director of CTWO with Rinku Sen, managing the organizing staff in offices in Oakland, Portland, Denver, and Sacramento. Francis is a founding member of numerous organizing initiatives including the National Organizers' Alliance (NOA), Californians for Justice, Alliance for Philippine Concerns (APC), and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. In 2003, he completed a study funded by Ford Foundation entitled “Bi-National Research Project on Social Change Initiatives in the Philippines and the United States”. Francis is a native of the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. in 1977."

• Director, Center for Third World Organizing