Leading by example: Stoney Bergman
If you’ve had anything to do with the Fund’s canvass between 2005 and now, chances are you’ve had the pleasure to meet – or at least have heard of – legendary Denver canvasser John “Stoney” Bergman. We wanted to take a moment to honor Stoney’s remarkable contributions to the craft of grassroots organizing and to building Public Interest Network organizations through funds raised and leaders developed. If you have the chance to meet him, we think you’ll agree his kind soul, knack for telling a good story and refreshingly positive attitude are traits to admire.
His direct impact speaks for itself: Over the years, Stoney has inspired thousands to take action for the environment and the public interest. Specifically, Stoney has:
Canvassed well over 3,000 CMDs (shifts);
Knocked on more than 100,000 doors;
Spoken with over 50,000 people at the door;
Received over 9,000 contributions;
And personally raised over $700,000. And that doesn’t even include how much the staff he trained or the crews he led raised!
Perhaps most importantly, Stoney has trained hundreds of new staff over the years.
Additionally, in the two years that Stoney has been calling with the TOP, he has:
Contacted 12,850 members;
Generated 1,959 contributions for 54 different organizations;
And raised a total of $129,400.
Here’s more about Stoney, in his own words:
Stoney (left) and fellow canvass staff at Treasure Falls on a camping canvass trip to Durango, Colorado, in 2016.
Let’s start at the beginning. What are your roots?
I was born and raised in Denver/Aurora, Colorado. I went to Overland High School.
Ok, we have to ask: how did you get your nickname?
My full name is John Stoneman Bergman, Jr. Being a ‘Junior,’ my folks didn’t want to call both me and my dad John so they shortened my middle name and I’ve been called Stoney my entire life.
Describe your first politicizing experience. Why did it have such an impact on you?
I was a part of the Boy Scouts growing up and through that I learned to love and enjoy the outdoors, especially backpacking and fishing. I’ve become an avid fly fisherman. While I was a Boy Scout, I remember visiting a high alpine lake I’d never been to before and when we got there, it was trashed. Wanting to protect places like this is why I started organizing.
How did you get your start working with the Fund and what appealed to you about working here?
After school, I was an auto mechanic for about 10 years, but got tired of smelling like oil and gasoline all the time. So I was looking for something else to do and saw an ad in the paper: “Protect Colorado’s waters, get paid.” It was for Clean Water Action. My observation day was a cold February day, and it was kinda rough, but I really liked the person-to-person outreach and getting the public involved in the political process. I liked how genuine people were and how thankful they sometimes were that I was out there. I started to realize that this was how a movement happens. Then I started seeing victories and man, playing a big part in passing a bill really felt like I was doing something for the greater good. Over time, I developed relationships with families out there, getting to know people, seeing their kids grow up. People shared with me that getting canvassed by me every year even helped form their kids’ identities and helped them raise kids who cared about nature and the political process. That means so much to me.
After I had been working there for about seven and a half years, Clean Water Action closed that canvass office. Luckily, I ran into someone I knew from Clean Water and she told me she was canvassing with Environment Colorado and suggested I check it out. I went in and met the canvass director, Joe Rupp, and ended up working in that office for the Fund starting in August 2005. We were canvassing with the Sierra Club at the time. I started field managing on day 2. Over my time working with the Fund I have canvassed for HRC, Sierra Club, CoPIRG and Environment Colorado and I learn something new every time I go out.
Some wintery weather during a 2019 summer solstice camping canvass to Steamboat Springs.
What has kept you going, doing this work for over 20 years?
Watching the staff, the people I work with, grow. Seeing people who come into the office, stuttering through the rap their first couple days, and then watching them evolve and bloom into well-rounded organizers. And I love seeing the people who get it, who see they’re building a movement. Canvassing is breaking many social taboos, really: talking to strangers, asking for money, and talking about politics. That’s how it’s done. I love getting to watch new staff grow to the point where they’re leading out their own crews. The dynamic and energy of the canvass office is also great, and unique. Sometimes, like on bad weather days, we are literally weathering the storm together. We work as a team towards our goals.
What have been some of the challenges you’ve come across, doing grassroots organizing as long as you have?
Getting the “masses off their asses!” You gotta break through to people when they feel an issue doesn’t directly affect them or they can’t do anything to change it.
Then there’s been the pandemic, of course: March 13, 2020, our last day in the office. After a time, the Fund set up remote work through the TOP. It was a big shift, to learn a whole new skill set. For example, there was no body language to go off of when talking to people on the phone, and judgement is harder, but your ear gets trained over time. It has been neat to expand my organizing skills. I’ve been doing the phone canvassing full time since 2020. We have a great directing team. I don’t miss the commute into downtown Denver but I definitely miss talking to people face-to-face, having that really personal connection, plus getting to watch the sunset from wherever I was, out on turf. I hope to get back to in-person canvassing if I can get some plantar fasciitis I’ve recently developed to resolve.
Some houses you just have to pass up – “DNC” due to fauna, Breckenridge 2019.
What have been some of your favorite memories or greatest achievements over the years of organizing?
Some of my favorite memories are from having been able to lead the camping canvasses over the years. It’s powerful, organizing in towns across Colorado that don’t typically have much political clout and adding those voices to the thousands of others statewide to send a unified message to decision makers about issues that affect all of us. Being able to accomplish this while living in a tent week after week has certainly had plenty of challenges: logistics, weather, crew dynamic, to name a few. Looking back, having led over 100 of these trips, most have been very successful with few exceptions. I also make a badass pot of jambalaya periodically, which is always welcome in camp!
What skills or lessons have you picked up over the years?
The ability to read people through non-verbal communication: body language, voice inflection etc. Not being afraid to ask someone for something – they might say no but most times they say yes; just ask.
What are you most excited about in your current work?
Taking on the next issue or problem that needs to be addressed and poking a collective finger in the eye of those who need a strong message from the public at large.
What else would you like people to know about you?
I’m a Denver native living in Aurora. I enjoy camping, hiking, fishing, biking, reading, shooting pool, throwing darts and skiing. I like good coffee, good beer and all types of food. I also have three big dogs that have allowed me to work for them on a daily basis. People who want to get in touch can reach me at jbergman@fundstaff.org.
Canvass staff with Stoney (right) on a camping canvass to Telluride in 2016.
