Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment

SOCM is a member-run organization that encourages civic involvement and collective action so that the people of Tennessee have a greater voice in determining their future. The mission of SOCM is to empower Tennesseans to protect, defend, and improve the quality of life in their communities across the state. SOCM is working for social, economic, and environmental justice for all. We are committed to the journey of becoming an anti-racist organization. Recognizing our interdependence, SOCM is committed to overcoming social and institutional racism and embracing our diverse cultures.

We believe there is strength in organization, in people working together with their inherent power and right to affect the course of their lives and surroundings. We are committed to developing and using this power to improve the quality of life in our communities.

We believe that we have the right to know about and have a voice in developments for the common good. We acknowledge our interdependence and interconnectedness and therefore take responsibility for inspiring growth and change for the common good. 

Those who engage in enterprises, commerce and industry have a responsibility to be accountable to the communities in which they operate, as do politicians and government officials. Recognizing the dignity and rights of all people, we work together across lines of age, race, and income for social, economic, and environmental justice.

SOCM envisions a society where people of diverse backgrounds are empowered through community action and leadership development to achieve changes that improve their quality of life by organizing for social, economic, and environmental justice. SOCM envisions a Tennessee with clean air and water, decent housing, adequate food, affordable health care, good educational opportunities, a fair tax system and a living wage with good jobs for all people. We envision a Tennessee where all people are treated fairly and equally across lines of age, race and income. We see a Tennessee where our communities are preserved and protected with a sustainable environment and where corporations and all public officials are held accountable to the people.