About the Quixote Center
Who We Are
"A gathering of people who work and pray with laughter, to reach for stars that seem too distant to be touched, or too dim to be worth the effort. We try to be friends with people in need, and to celebrate life with people who believe that the struggle to be like Jesus in building a world more justly loving is worth the gift of our lives."
The Quixote Center (pronounced "Kee-ho-tay") is a band of "impossible dreamers" who joined together in 1976. We are a multi-issue, grassroots social justice organization with roots in the Catholic social justice tradition. Independent of church and government structures, the Center operates with an understanding that an educated and engaged citizenry is essential to making social change. For over 30 years, the Quixote Center has gathered together people of faith and conscience to organize highly effective campaigns for systemic change.
Our Dreams
We draw inspiration from the satiric idealism and gentle madness of Cervantes' dauntless Don Quixote. We trace our roots to the Gospel and the Catholic social justice tradition; but today, we gather people of faith and conscience from many diverse traditions to share our common quest for justice and peace.
We work on issues of justice with people who have few other resources. By laughing a bit in the midst of struggle, we gain strength and heart to sustain our efforts for a more just and peaceful world.
Our Friends
The Center counts more than 70,000 people as friends, associates and donors. Their bold spirit and persevering support give the Center and its projects life, enthusiasm, and persistent feedback.
How We Function
The staff functions as a collective based on consensus decision-making. Staff members receive the same base salaries and share common daily chores.
QC Underpinnings
The Quixote Center provides housing, incorporation, tax-exemption, legal status, accounting and technological services for a wide range of social justice projects.
The Quixote Center has a strong board of directors and staff who plan, nurture and implement our work for justice.
Center programs have educated and mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to end the U.S. Contra War in Nicaragua with a citizens’ campaign of peace and material aid, supported democracy and reforestation in Haiti, promoted women’s equality and countered homophobia in the Roman Catholic Church and civil society, and more.