Our Mission
Catalyst Montana uplifts low-income and marginalized Montanans through community organizing, policy advocacy, research, and leadership development. We work to build collective power and create meaningful change on issues that impact our communities.
Our Vision
Catalyst Montana envisions policy change that makes concrete improvements in peoples’ lives and organizing that realizes the power of communities to create justice, safety, and dignity for all.
Programs
Organizational History
Catalyst Montana was founded in 2024 after the merger of Montana Human Rights Network and Montana Women Vote. Montana Human Rights Network and Montana Women Vote have spent years working closely together on issues like Medicaid expansion, LGBTQ2S+ equality, and criminal legal reform. Under our new name, we’ll continue to do the work that each organization is known for - organizing, policy advocacy, research, and leadership development - but with added capacity and reach.
Our new name reflects what we have always known: that community organizing is the starting place to realize a future where there is justice, safety, and dignity for all. We seek to be a catalyst for collective power and meaningful change by and for low-income and marginalized Montanans.
Building on A Legacy of Advocacy
At Catalyst Montana, we’re proud to be continuing the legacies of Montana Human Rights Network and Montana Women Vote. Both organizations have been formidable advocates and defenders of justice and equity for decades.
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Montana Human Rights Network co-hosts a drag performance on the steps of the Montana State Capitol in response to House Bill 359, which bans drag performances in public spaces.
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Montana Human Rights Network develops & presents a training on constitutional sheriffs and their connection to militias.
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Montana Human Rights Network hosts first Montana Gender Alliance campout. Montana Gender Alliance is no longer a project of Montana Human Rights Network.
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Montana Women Vote passes Medicaid Expansion again!
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Montana Women Vote works with partners to pass Montana’s first Earned Income Tax Credit, putting more money in the hands of low-income families across the state.
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Montana Women Vote serves as a leader in the coalition to pass Medicaid expansion – and wins!!
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Montana Women Vote serves on the steering committee to defeat LR-126, which would have ended Election Day voter registration.
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Montana Human Rights Network works with partners to pass a municipal nondiscrimination ordinance in Bozeman.
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Montana Human Rights Network works with partners to pass a municipal nondiscrimination ordinance in Helena.
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Montana Human Rights Network works with partners to pass the first municipal nondiscrimination ordinance providing people who face discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity recourse in Missoula.
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Montana Women Vote hosts the first Women’s Policy Leadership Institute, a statewide in-person training for low-income women to build skills in organizing & policy advocacy. This event continues today as Policy Leadership Institute.
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Montana Women Vote was founded by a coalition of scrappy and strategic women and organizations who wanted low-income women and families to flex their muscles at the ballot box and make policy change at the legislature.
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Montana Human Rights Network publishes the report: A Season of Discontent: Militias, Constitutionalists, and The Far Right.
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Montana Human Rights Network works with partners to establish Martin Luther King Jr Day as a state holiday in Montana.
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Montana Human Rights Network was founded bringing together several local human rights groups to challenge increasing membership & recruitment efforts of white supremacist groups in Montana.