About Us
WHO WE ARE
CLOUT stands for Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together.
We are a non-partisan, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization made up of 24 religious congregations from all parts of the city. We are religiously, racially, and economically diverse.
We are not a social service organization. We don’t provide services to treat the symptoms of problems. Instead, we find solutions to problems, and we bring together large numbers of people to hold public officials accountable to implement those solutions.
Each year, CLOUT’s assembly is the largest gathering of citizens in Louisville to solve serious community problems, with around 1,000 people attending each year.
OUR MISSION
CLOUT’s mission is to build the power of religious congregations to solve community problems by holding systems accountable.
OUR VISION
CLOUT’s vision is a city of justice where its systems assure that all people are treated fairly.
OUR WORK
CLOUT addresses problems that affect large numbers of people and violate a basic sense of fairness, such as the lack of quality education or access to essential quality healthcare, criminalization of children, predatory lending, etc. In our work together toward pragmatic solutions, we set aside labels like red/blue, conservative/liberal, etc. that divide a city, and focus on the common good.
OUR FUNDING
CLOUT’s funding comes from three sources: Membership Dues; an annual Investment Drive (leaders collecting investments from individuals and local corporate CEOs); and Grants (various denominational & foundation grants). CLOUT does not accept government funding.
OUR HISTORY
The video slideshow below highlights CLOUT's first 25 years of work, 1991-2016. Click here for a complete list of accomplishments.
DART NETWORK
CLOUT is affiliated with the Direct Action & Research Training Center, Inc. (DART), of Miami, Florida, which provides training and consulting services to 31 community organizations like CLOUT in 10 states. Through our relationship with DART, CLOUT has benefited from the expertise and experience of the DART staff and these sister organizations.
DART provides regular on-site training and consulting and CLOUT sends leaders from member congregations to training events conducted by DART several times a year. To date, over 1000 CLOUT leaders have attended these workshops. For more information on DART training, click here.
For more information on DART, click here.