PICO National Network

PICO National Network

Motto	"Unlocking the power of people"
Formation	1972
Founder	John Baumann, SJ
Type	Nonprofit
Purpose	Community organizing for progressive public policy change
Headquarters	Oakland, California
Methods	Faith-based community organizing
Executive Director	Scott Reed
Revenue (2013)	$8,242,723
Website	www.piconetwork.org

PICO National Network is a national network of progressive faith-based community organizations in the United States. The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California, with additional offices in San Diego and Washington, D.C. Its stated mission is "to increase access to health care, improve public schools, make neighborhoods safer, build affordable housing, redevelop communities and revitalize democracy."

PICO supports full citizenship for immigrants who are in the United States illegally. The organization also supports universal health care.

PICO National Network was founded in 1972 by John Baumann, a Jesuit priest, as the Pacific Institute for Community Organization (PICO), headquartered in Oakland, California. In the late 1960s Baumann had worked with community organizing projects in Chicago, where he became familiar with Saul Alinsky’s ideas. During the 1970s, PICO worked with five neighborhood-based organizations, recruiting individuals and families. As neighborhoods experienced the economic and social upheavals of that decade, the neighborhood-based model of organizing became less viable as communities fractured.

Following a staff retreat in 1984, PICO shifted to a congregation-based model based in part on the experience of COPS, a federation in San Antonio, Texas developed by Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation. As it expanded beyond the West Coast, in 2004 PICO characterized its acronym as standing for People Improving Communities through Organizing. In 2005, it renamed itself PICO National Network, emphasizing the autonomy of its affiliated organizations, and its role developing national strategy, training, and consultation.