ABSTRACT
One of Legislative Education Action Program (LEAP) most lasting accomplishments, through its work and that of its affiliates, has been the creation of an important space in the public policy agenda of Connecticut into which activists can assert progressive and social justice issues. Although the issue of inconsistent participation by people of color received considerable attention from LEAP's leadership who launched several initiatives to address the problem, it remained a major shortcoming. Foundation support became critical to LEAP's ability to maintain itself and this support required a great deal of attention to sustain. Moreover, it was at times difficult to hold some politicians accountable and to get them to vote favorably on those economic issues that were important to labor. Since LEAP trained many individuals on the mechanics of running campaigns and provided a model of how to involve organizations' members in political activity, many organizations in Connecticut now routinely mobilize constituencies on political issues.
