Why I'm riding
From September 15–19, I'm going to try to ride my little bicycle 326 miles across Ohio, from the shore of Lake Erie in Cleveland to the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati.
If I can try to ride across the longest paved trail crossing any American state, can you back the Ohio organizations doing the difficult, year-round progressive community work that national political groups and local philanthropies rarely fund? Every dollar goes to the Ohio Giving Collective.
I care about this because I'm the son of immigrants who bet everything on the idea that this country would give its people a fair shot. I want Ohio to be a place where that bet still pays off — for working people, for immigrant families, for anyone who can't buy themselves an outcome. Right now it's moving the other way, and I'd rather do something about that than watch.
In 2008, I knocked on doors for Obama and was part of making my native Ohio tilt left. The years since have been harder to watch. I was working at the University of Cincinnati last year when the Ohio legislature passed SB 1, making Ohio a place where DEI offices and scholarships at every public university in the state are illegal, faculty are barred from striking, and schools are prohibited from taking positions on "controversial" topics — like immigration and climate policy(!).
This year, I joined the Ohio Giving Collective — seventeen Ohioans, from across the state and across lines of race and class, who got tired of watching the money in Ohio go into television ads and vanish the morning after an election. We're raising a pool of $50,000 to $100,000 and giving all of it away in grants of up to $15,000. Applications are due October 1, the money is out the door by January 15, and we decide collectively where it goes — no program officer, no strings on how it gets spent.
Here’s what that actually means — the criteria for groups that get funded:
- A real say over local decisions. Campaigns that put ordinary residents' hands on the things being decided without them — how a city spends its budget, what happens on a vacant block, whether a data center or a surveillance contract sails through council on a short agenda.
- Groups that build members, not mailing lists. Organizations that add dues-paying, meeting-attending people every year, so they are stronger in the next fight than they were in the last one.
- Things that outlast a campaign. A building, land, a community hub, a free store, a co-op — assets that are still there in ten years no matter who holds office.
- Leadership from the people carrying the cost. Working-class Ohioans and Ohioans of color running these organizations, not being consulted by them.
Know an Ohio group that fits this? Point them at the grant application — it's short, answers can be a few sentences, and it's open until October 1.
Not one candidate. Not one campaign. Not one election. Work like that is how the hope I felt in 2008 gets built from the ground up this time — so it doesn't leave when a campaign does.
Chip in for the ride
The goal is $3,260 — $10 for every mile I ride. You’ll be a part of the movements you fund, whether you can give 1 dollar or 326.
Whatever we raise goes out this winter as grants of up to $15,000, decided collectively by the cohort rather than by a foundation. You can read the full funding criteria at ohiogivingcollective.org.
Stay in touch
If you donated, let me know here — including how much — so I can keep you posted on where the money goes and what the Collective is funding.
If you want to follow along on my ride LIVE, ask for a password below. I'll send you a link to a real-time tracker: where I am on the map, how far I've gone, photos from the trail, and a board where you can leave me something to read at lunch. You don't need to donate to get access to the real-time tracker.
Quick note: the tracker shows my location in real time, so passwords are unique to each person… please don’t share! 4 people are following along so far.