Prentiss Haney, Molly Shack Named OOC Co-Executive Directors

Press release from Ohio Organizing Collaborative:

September 15 2020

Haney and Shack had been serving as interim executive directors for nearly a year. The board hired the pair after engaging in a robust process that included reviewing more than 100 applications from a national pool.

“For nearly a year, the board has witnessed the OOC flourishing under Molly and Prentiss’s leadership,” said OOC Board Chair Pastor Michael Harrison. “They’ve guided the organization through a pandemic, economic recession and national uprisings against racial injustices – all the while, laser focused on the OOC’s core mission: building power for everyday Ohioans.”

Both Shack and Haney have deep histories with the OOC. Shack, who lives in Columbus, co-founded OOC member organization, the Ohio Student Association as a member leader. She served as OSA communications director while also organizing students on campuses across Ohio. She has helped to lead successful campaigns around public education and community reinvestment. Later, she worked as OOC civic engagement director, leading one of the largest independent voter engagement programs in the country.

"I believe in the power of organizing to transform our lives and our communities,” Shack said. “I know we can build a future in Ohio where all of us can thrive because of the determination I see in people every day to fight for it. I am humbled to continue serving my state in this new role alongside Prentiss."

Most recently, Haney, who lives in Cincinnati, served as OSA’s executive director, running the organization’s student debt and criminal justice reform campaigns. Haney oversaw a campaign that won back $200 million in Ohio’s budget for higher education - the largest increase since 2009. In 2017, he co-founded the Midwest Culture Lab, which works with young artists of color to increase youth participation in elections.

“Coming into leadership during these unprecedented times is no small feat, yet the power we need for everyday Ohioans to thrive is more clear than ever,” Haney said. “I’m excited to step into shared leadership of OOC. What Molly and I do at the head of the OOC will define the next 10 years of Ohio. My hope is that people from different walks of life -- students on college campuses to small business owners of childcare centers to people of faith across Ohio -- see the OOC as a place where they can practice democracy together and build power for the future we are imagining today.”

Formed in 2007, the OOC builds transformative relational power with everyday Ohioans for statewide social, racial, and economic justice. With members in every major metropolitan area in Ohio, the OOC unites community organizing groups, labor unions, faith organizations, and policy institutes. OOC protected collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, pushed cities to pass fair hiring policies, and spurred state lawmakers to introduce sentencing reform legislation. The OOC has trained nearly 1,000 leaders and registered hundreds of thousands of Ohio voters - especially in low-income, Black and brown communities most likely to be targeted for voter suppression.

This press release was produced by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. The views expressed here are the author’s own.