About DUHC

Mission
Organizational History
Program Areas
Projects & Current Activities
Who We Are

Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County has gone through many permutations since our inception in 1996. We started as a study group of citizens interested in uncovering the history of democracy and corporate rule. We were so inspired and energized by what we learned that we decided to create a formal organization devoted to dismantling corporate rule at the local level. The first major project the group conducted was a three-city (Eureka, Arcata, Redway) series of well-attended public forums to reframe the USDA Organics proposal as a symptom of corporate rule.

In 1998, our work inspired a ballot initiative in the town of Arcata - the Arcata Advisory Measure on Democracy and Corporations (Measure F). However, as a project of a non-profit, DUHC does not engage in organizing political campaigns. So a spin-off group was formed, Citizens Concerned About Corporations (CCAC) to run and campaign for Measure F. DUHC continued to exist alongside CCAC, offering educational materials, workshops and organizing events.

After the victory of Measure F many of the founders of Democracy Unlimited moved on. Paul Cienfuegos ran and operated DUHC solo for a number of years, keeping the name alive and continuing to lead workshops, speak at local rallies, write articles for publication, and provide other educational materials. In July 2000 he was joined by Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, who interned with DUHC while she took a semester off from college. Within a few months she was hooked and decided to stay on to work with Paul and re-build the organization.

Ryan Emenaker, David Cobb and Hannah Clapsadle joined Kaitlin in 2002 when we formed a Steering Committee, and Paul stepped out of leadership. Jared Wilken joined our Steering Committee in 2004 and Shannon Tracey came on board in the summer of 2006.

Democracy Unlimited is once again a thriving and active organization. We work together as a collective and strive to share decision-making authority and responsibility democratically. A number of our projects also involve other volunteers. We practice democratic process in all of the work that we do.

Please join us as we educate, agitate, organize and strategize to build a grassroots movement for democracy and against corporate rule!