Overview
re:power Fund’s Grassroots Organizing School is an 18-week course built to provide BIPOC grassroots organizers with the training and support necessary to develop a baseline of relational organizing skills.
The curriculum, based on Professor Marshall Ganz’s successful “Leadership, Organizing, and Action” program, is designed to take participants through a full campaign learning journey and includes sessions on public narrative as a leadership tool, building organizing relationships, creating interdependent leadership teams, developing campaign strategy, and taking action with your community.
Relational organizing is at the heart of Grassroots Organizing School’s approach. At re:power Fund, we believe that movements must center base building in all their strategies and that engaging new people, developing their leadership capacity, and placing them in positions of real responsibility is essential to long-term success beyond any individual campaign. With that in mind, our entire curriculum is built to enhance our organizers’ relational skills and their capacity to distribute responsibility and develop the leadership of others.
Who is the course for?
- Organizing professionals who are doing work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support organizers who are currently part of a campaign effort or are seeking to build one. Ideal candidates are actively responsible for building out a base of people in order to engage them in political work.
- Leaders who are excited to build relationships, to invest in the leadership of others, and to build teams of purpose-driven leaders.
- Movement activists who are looking to make a substantial investment in themselves and their work
What will you learn?
Course modules include:
- Introduction to Organizing
- Coaching as a Leadership Practice
- Public Narrative: Stories of Self, Us, and Now
- Relationship-Building
- Building Interdependent Leadership Teams
- Creating Shared Strategy
- Tactics & Timeline
- Mobilizing for Action
Structure
The course will launch with an in-person convening. Following that, we will meet virtually every week from June 9 until August 18. Participants will also be required to meet once every 2 weeks with an assigned small group of peers to complete a group assignment (a Skill Practice Assignment, or “SPA”).
We’ll close with a final in-person convening.
Expectations
This is an intensive, interactive course, with high expectations for participation.
During lectures & sections:
- We ask participants to write in the chat box, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion.
Outside of class time, participants will be asked to:
- Apply their learning to their work in real time,
- Complete required readings,
- Write biweekly reflection papers, and
- Complete biweekly short group projects alongside a small group of other participants.
Participants should expect to spend about 5 hours a week for coursework—including attending live webinar sessions and completing assignments.
There are limited spaces available for participants in this course. Please be prepared to meet these expectations if you apply.
Make-up Policy
In case of a work or family emergency that cannot be rescheduled without putting jobs/health in jeopardy, participants may miss up to two scheduled sessions (lecture or sections). Make-up work will be required.
