Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development

OCCORD’s mission is to build the power of historically marginalized communities in Orange County. OCCORD utilizes community organizing and policy research as strategies to build leadership and a collective voice. We pursue policy changes that lead to an inclusive economy, community-driven education, and responsive democracy.

OCCORD envisions an awakened and organized community with responsive local government, building systems and policies that lead to a community-centered, economy, neighborhoods, and schools. Founded as a community-labor alliance in 2005, Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) combines community organizing, civic participation, strategic research, and advocacy to engage residents, workers, and stakeholders in local government decisions that impact economic opportunity, community health, and overall quality of life.

OCCORD promotes inclusive public decision-making in a region where a profound civic disconnection exists between our region’s governing class and the increasingly diverse constituent base it seeks to represent. We concentrate our efforts in communities such as Anaheim and Santa Ana where working families and immigrant communities have not fully participated in government decision-making processes and long-standing community needs have gone unaddressed.

We have big dreams for Orange County and will keep pounding
the pavement until they are realized. Ultimately, we measure
our success by the trust we build with our members who see
OCCORD as a political and cultural home. Together we achieve so
much. In recent years, OCCORD has:

• Assisted more than 3,000 residents in securing citizenship
and engaged over 14,000 residents in voter registration
and elections.

• Organized to develop The People’s Map and put district-
based elections on the ballot leading to greater accountability and representation on the Anaheim City
Council.

• Protected our community during the pandemic by
distributing PPE, helping folks access rental assistance,
and hosting vaccination and testing clinics.

• Hosted public education clinics, town halls, and teach-ins
so that our neighbors know their rights related to housing,
immigration, employment and more.

OCCORD builds the power of historically marginalized communities across Orange County so that residents have a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their lives. Through citizenship and naturalization services, family preparedness, neighborhood organizing, voter engagement, leadership development, and coalition building, we help immigrant, working-class, and historically excluded communities access resources, exercise their rights, and lead change in their communities.

Today, the need for this work is especially urgent. Families across Orange County are navigating rising costs of living, housing instability, threats to immigrant communities, misinformation, and growing uncertainty about their rights and futures. At the same time, nonprofit organizations like OCCORD are being asked to respond to more complex community needs with increasingly limited and restricted resources.

OCCORD’s greatest need is flexible funding that allows us to sustain the people, infrastructure, and organizing capacity behind everything we do. General operating support helps us retain experienced staff, keep our office and community programs running, maintain the technology and systems needed to serve residents effectively, provide timely outreach and trusted information, train community leaders and volunteers, and respond quickly when new needs or crises emerge.

Flexible support also gives OCCORD the ability to invest in the less visible but essential work that makes lasting community impact possible, from financial and administrative systems to staff development, communications, coalition coordination, and long-term organizational sustainability.

Every contribution strengthens OCCORD’s ability to remain a trusted, responsive, and consistent presence in Orange County. Your support helps ensure that community members are not only connected to critical resources, but are also equipped to advocate for themselves, organize alongside their neighbors, and shape the institutions and policies that affect their families.

By investing in OCCORD, you are investing in strong communities, grassroots leadership, and an Orange County where all residents, regardless of immigration status, income, or background, have dignity, opportunity, and a seat at the table.

Orange County, North Orange County, Anaheim, Santa Ana

As the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first person in my family able to vote, OCCORD’s mission is deeply personal to me. I grew up watching my parents work hard, contribute to their community, and navigate systems that were not always designed with families like ours in mind. Their experience taught me that belonging is not simply being welcomed into a space, it is having the information, support, and power to shape what happens within it. Now, as OCCORD’s Executive Director, I carry that lesson with me. For more than two decades, OCCORD has helped residents become citizens, exercise their right to vote, protect their families, understand their rights, and organize for greater representation and accountability. Behind every number is a person who found their voice, a family that felt more prepared, or a resident who stepped forward to lead. At a time when the rights and dignity of immigrant and working-class communities are under attack, this work could not be more urgent. Our responsibility is not only to respond to immediate needs, but to build the lasting community power necessary to create a more just future. I invite you to stand with OCCORD this Together We Belong Giving Day. Your support allows us to meet families with care, provide trusted and accessible resources, and ensure that residents have a meaningful seat at the table. We have big dreams for Orange County, and together, we will keep pounding the pavement until they are realized. With gratitude, Ivon Peña, Executive Director, OCCORD