Moses "Mo" B. Lacy

Moses "Mo" B. Lacy is an American community organizer and political strategist renowned for his work in grassroots mobilization and urban policy advocacy. His career, spanning over three decades, has focused on empowering residents in historically marginalized neighborhoods, particularly within the Midwestern United States. Lacy's strategies have influenced local political campaigns and community development initiatives, earning him recognition from civic organizations and policymakers.

Early life and education

Moses Lacy was born in 1968 and raised in the South Side of Chicago. His formative years were shaped by the socio-economic challenges and vibrant community activism of neighborhoods like Englewood and Auburn Gresham. He attended Chicago Public Schools, where he first engaged in student advocacy. For his undergraduate studies, Lacy enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Political Science with a focus on American politics. He later earned a master's degree in Public Policy from the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, where he studied under noted urban scholar John McKnight.

Career

Lacy began his professional work in the early 1990s with the Woodlawn Organization, a historic community development corporation in Chicago. He quickly gained a reputation for effective canvassing and coalition-building, techniques he later applied as a field director for Carol Moseley Braun's successful 1992 U.S. Senate campaign. In the late 1990s, he founded the Midwest Civic Action Network (MCAN), a non-profit focused on voter education and economic justice issues across cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. His "Block-by-Block" organizing model was adopted by several Democratic campaigns during the 2008 presidential election. Throughout the 2010s, Lacy served as a senior advisor to the Chicago Mayor's Office on neighborhood development and has consulted for national groups including the Center for Community Change and the NAACP.

Personal life

Lacy resides in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. He is married to educator Dr. Alicia Vance-Lacy, a professor at Northeastern Illinois University. The couple has two children. An avid supporter of the arts, Lacy serves on the board of the DuSable Museum of African American History and is a longtime member of the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago. In his private time, he is a noted collector of works by Chicago-area artists like Archibald Motley and Kerry James Marshall.

Legacy and impact

Moses Lacy's legacy is rooted in his pragmatic approach to grassroots organizing and his influence on a generation of civic leaders. His mentorship of figures like Chuy García and Lori Lightfoot is frequently cited in analyses of Chicago politics. The Midwest Civic Action Network's training programs have been replicated by organizations such as People's Action and the Gamaliel Foundation. Lacy's writings on community engagement, published in outlets like The Chicago Reporter and Shelterforce, are used in curricula at institutions like the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. In 2019, he was honored with the Jane Addams Award from the Chicago Urban League for his lifetime of service to urban communities.

Category:1968 births Category:American community organizers Category:American political strategists Category:People from Chicago Category:Living people