Tom Gaudette

Who was Tom Gaudette?

Thomas A. "Tom" Gaudette was a community organizer who worked in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. Originally a businessman, Gaudette became interested in neighborhood organizing through his Catholic Church activism. Gaudette helped form a neighborhood group, along the lines of those organized by Saul Alinsky, on the far west side of Chicago called Organization for a Better Austin. OBA was concerned with poor schools and neighborhood decline.

He also founded the Mid-America Institute for Community Organizations, and trained notable organizers like Shel Trapp and Gale Cincotta.