When Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) launched its Listening Sessions earlier this year, the goal was simple: to hear directly from our members — across 17 congregations — about the most urgent problems facing their communities.
At our October 23 meeting, GCC Strategy Team member Lee Markowitz of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation presented an in-depth analysis of what we heard. Drawing on his background in data analysis, Lee helped turn hundreds of personal stories and community observations into a clearer picture of where GCC’s organizing should go next.
The Power of GCC’s Model
Before diving into the data, Lee reminded members how GCC’s organizing model works.
“Our model transforms broad, urgent problems into specific, winnable issues,” he said.
That three-step process includes:
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Identifying a problem or focus area
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Cutting a clear issue
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Developing a campaign
Lee used the Youth Bindover Campaign as an example. Cuyahoga County sends more youth to adult prisons than the next four largest Ohio counties combined. By focusing on one specific issue — the quality of legal representation for youth — GCC pushed the Juvenile Court to assign more public defenders and qualified attorneys. The result: a measurable and meaningful victory for young people in our county.
From Lived Experience to Shared Priorities
This year’s Listening Sessions aimed to find the next big issue GCC should take on. Seventeen congregations participated — nearly half of GCC’s membership — using either the shared GCC questionnaire or their own. The purpose was to surface urgent community problems from the ground up.
While the Listening Sessions weren’t meant to dig deeply into any single topic, the responses paint a vivid picture of what Cleveland-area residents are most concerned about today.
A Look at the Data
Lee’s analysis compared responses from what he called “Black congregations” and “white congregations” — five and twelve, respectively. This mix closely mirrors GCC’s overall membership and offers an important lens for understanding different community perspectives.
Across all 17 congregations, the most frequently cited concerns were:
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Housing — affordability, homelessness, property taxes, gentrification
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Education — school quality, literacy, opposition to vouchers
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Healthcare — access and Medicaid cuts
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Outlets for Youth — mentoring, civic engagement, positive activities
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Senior Services — isolation, aging in place, meaningful activities
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Public Safety — policing and community security
When focusing on issues mentioned primarily by white congregations, other themes emerged:
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Food Insecurity
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Voting Access & Anti-Gerrymandering
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Environmental Concerns — parks, bike lanes, green space
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Civic Engagement — town halls, advocacy, letter writing
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Immigration & Refugee Rights
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Civil Discourse — restoring respectful dialogue
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LGBTQ Rights
No major issues were mentioned predominantly by Black congregations that were absent from white congregations’ lists — a reflection, Lee noted, of the shared challenges across communities.
What the Findings Tell Us
From Lee’s analysis, several key takeaways stand out:
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Criminal Justice, long a central GCC focus, was not highly ranked by either group this time. This may reflect GCC’s ongoing progress in that area or the emergence of other urgent needs.
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Education resurfaced as a shared priority across Black and white congregations — and one that GCC may revisit.
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Housing, Healthcare, and Youth remain top areas already aligned with GCC’s existing campaigns.
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Voting, a current GCC priority, appeared more often in white congregations’ responses — perhaps influenced by the timing of the sessions.
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Some issues — like Food Insecurity, Environment, Civil Discourse, and LGBTQ Rights — were mentioned mostly by white congregations, though individual GCC institutions across all backgrounds are working on them.
What’s Next
GCC will use this feedback to identify the next one or two major focus areas for organizing. That process may include another round of Listening Sessions to go deeper.
From there, the next steps follow GCC’s proven model:
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Cut an issue — define a specific, actionable target
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Do the research — engage experts and people with lived experience
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Develop campaigns that are clear, winnable, and aligned with GCC’s mission
As Lee closed his presentation, he emphasized that while time has passed since the Listening Sessions, the problems remain pressing — and the opportunity to act is still strong.
“Problems are enduring,” he said. “There’s still time to use this input to decide where GCC should focus next.”
Want to learn more?
Download Lee Markowitz’s full presentation.
