The Leap and the Leap Manifesto

What is The Leap?
Launching in 2017, The Leap is an organization dedicated to advancing and deepening the bold vision for climate justice articulated in The Leap Manifesto, while strengthening the bonds between movements for climate, racial, and economic justice.

The Leap is a global project, backed by the same organizing team behind the manifesto.

Who is the Leap team?

The same people who has been driving the organizing around The Leap Manifesto since its launch in 2015 (with a few additions).  Currently our full and part-time team is made up of Jody Chan, Avi Lewis, Katie McKenna, Bianca Mugyenyi, and Rajiv Sicora.  Naomi Klein advises and helped catalyse both projects but draws no salary.

What is the difference between The Leap Manifesto and The Leap?

The Leap Manifesto is a fixed, unchanging document, written by a coalition and launched in September 2015, now with over 200 organizational endorsements and close to 45,000 signatories.  The Manifesto has always been a document, not an organization — and the fixed nature of the text limits the new initiatives, projects and positions we as organizers  can support in its name.

Becoming an organization inspired by the manifesto will allow us to advance its vision in  line with current global events, without implicating every signatory or organization who has put their name to the manifesto (and who may or may not agree with each position we take).  

One of the great strengths of The Leap Manifesto is the broad and growing coalition behind it, and every signatory and endorsing organization should feel free to share their vision for how it should be advanced.

Finally — as part of our transition to becoming The Leap, we’re reaching out to every endorsing organization of the manifesto to fill them in, and get their input and advice on what we should prioritize working on in the year ahead. So far the reactions to this step have been extremely positive.

Where has the funding for The Leap Manifesto come from?

Overwhelmingly from individuals who believe in its vision. The organising around The Leap Manifesto began as part of the social movement outreach efforts around Naomi Klein’s book and Avi Lewis’ film This Changes Everything, a multi-year engagement project intended to break down silos between climate and economic justice movements and spur ambitious organizing towards a rapid, justice-based transition to a clean energy economy.  

Naomi’s book came out more than two years ago, and the This Changes Everything organizing project is drawing to a close.  We are forming The Leap to be able to continue our organising, under its own auspices rather than under the This Changes Everything project umbrella.

Since the manifesto launched, hundreds of people from around the world have donated to keep the Leap organizing going, and support the small team behind it — and we are so grateful for your support.