Nick Shillingford, raised by a socialist father, joined Socialist Alternative in 2006 while he was a college student in Wisconsin. Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, had had a huge impact on his political consciousness making clear the extreme level of income and racial inequality that exists in the United States. Initially involved in the anti-war movement in 2006 he organized against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was involved in work with Youth Against War and Racism which coordinated numerous Walkouts against military recruiters in high schools. After the National Equality March on washington in 2009 and the disappearance of most of the anti-war movement after Obama's election Shillingford turned almost all his attention towards organizing around LGBTQ Freedom and Equality and got involved with Join the Impact - Twin Cities which organized a number of local events and protests including the annual Harvey Milk Day March and Rally. Shillingford was also involved with the struggle against anti-union laws in Wisconsin that brought hundreds of thousands to the capital in Madison and helped popularize the idea of a general strike put forward by Socialist Alternative and the IWW at the time. He was also involved with Occupy MN from day one of the planning of the occupation and went on to play a role in Occupy Homes in 2012. In 2015 Shillingford spent time sleeping at the 4th Precinct Occupation, after working evenings at a hospital, to protest the killing of Jamar Clark. Currenty Shillingford is primarily focused on Labor and Community Organizing and recording Socialist News and Views which now comes out monthly.