Virginia is a place of diverse geographic beauty, from its rolling mountains and valleys, its national forests, parks and parkways, across the plains to the ocean shoreline with beautiful beaches, islands and preserved coastal lands. Virginia’s population is, likewise, beautiful in its diversity. But, rather than allowing this diversity to encourage and strengthen the whole, Virginia’s diversity has long been used to advantage some and disadvantage others. Poor Virginians have always lived in the shadow of great wealth, their needs overshadowed by the desires of the powerful elite. Virginia is also known as the cradle of American democracy; here, it was first argued that all citizens should participate in the decisions that affect their lives. It is this latter heritage that the Virginia Organizing Project is determined to reclaim.