Rental Partner: Earshot Jazz presents
Sasha Berliner / Sidney Hauser
Two Distinctive Voices in Contemporary Jazz
Town Hall Seattle and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom US present
Post Midterms: Across Social Justice Movements, What Comes Next?
A Panel Discussion
EVENT NOTES
Doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM. Town Hall events are approximately 75 minutes long.
An election can change who holds power. Movements determine what happens next.
The 2026 midterms will leave the country at a national inflection point. Some of us may be celebrating. Others may feel discouraged, angry, or uncertain. But whatever happens at the ballot box, communities and movements working for justice continue to face many of the same interconnected challenges – and a critical question: What do we do next?
This conversation brings together leaders from across the social justice spectrum – not for another round of post-election analysis, but to look forward. What changed, and what didn’t? Where are communities most at risk? What aren’t we paying enough attention to? And what can we do together that we’re still doing separately?
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At a time when movements are often divided by issue, constituency, and strategy, this panel will explore intersections. To think across movements, to understand where communities and issues can converge in new ways, and to consider what this moment requires of all of us.
Linda Low is the Executive Director of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom US (WILPF US). WILPF has been opposing war, lifting democracy, and building peace since 1915, with 40 branches across the US and in 40 countries around the world. With members ages 18 to 109, we build cross-generational power through feminist peace analysis and action. Whether you’re new to activism or have been mobilizing for decades, there is a place for you in WILPF. Prior to WILPF, Linda served the International Red Cross in natural disasters, global health emergencies and conflicts. She was a Rotary Peace Fellow at the Duke-UNC Rotary Peace Center where she focused on depolarization, facilitating dialogue across difference, and received the Rotary Global Champion of Peace award for her work in peacebuilding through dialogue and belonging. She is the proud daughter of immigrants. More at WILPFUS.org
Michael T. McPhearson is a U.S. Army veteran, peace activist, and nonprofit leader who has spent decades organizing at the intersection of anti-war advocacy, human rights, racial justice, and democracy movements. He served as an officer in the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division during Operation Desert Shield/Storm and left the Army as a Captain. Michael currently serves as Executive Director of Veterans For Peace and previously served as National Coordinator of United For Peace and Justice and Executive Director of the South Seattle Emerald, an independent online newspaper. His professional background spans the corporate sector at Hallmark Cards, the restaurant industry, and industrial metals sales, as well as public media and anti-bias education. A founding co-chair of the Don’t Shoot Coalition in St. Louis following the police killing of Michael Brown Jr., he continues to organize for peace, justice, and human dignity.
Kathleen Carson is the president of Seattle Indivisible. Seattle Indivisible was founded in 2017 and is an all-volunteer, progressive, inclusive and persistent grassroots organization inspired by the nationwide Indivisible Movement. Our mission is to defend democracy and build a just, equitable society through constituent advocacy and grassroots action. Seattle Indivisible believes collective action is needed to effect meaningful and lasting progressive change and that there is a role for all of us in that collective action. Kathleen has been involved in community organizing and electoral politics for the past two decades. In her day job, she is an applied social science researcher, focused on community-based research and what makes communities thrive.
Maria Abando’s organizing is rooted in the love, service, and resilience of those who came before her. For over a decade, she has advanced community advocacy through student organizing, ballot initiatives, voting justice, cultural visibility, and electoral campaigns. Her work centers equitable access to education and policymaking, empowering communities to shape solutions. In 2024, she helped pass Renton’s minimum wage initiative and received the International Examiner’s Leadership in Community Award in 2025.
Today, Maria organizes with Whose Streets? Our Streets! (WSOS), a BIPOC-led workgroup of the Seattle Streets Alliance building community power around public safety. Her work spans transportation and climate justice, surveillance education, and outreach addressing violence against immigrant communities.
As a Black and Filipina woman, Maria brings lived experience and a deep commitment to collective liberation, envisioning communities where historically oppressed people can experience joy, dignity, and safety.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom US.
Events are offered for informational, entertainment, and educational purposes only. Read Town Hall’s Program Content Policy.
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