Overview
In life, we are all natural strategists. From simple things, like working out the best way to get to an appointment on time, or how to surprise a loved one with a holiday gift, to more serious challenges: figuring out how to meet our work deadlines, how to juggle kids, chores, work, and still finding a little time to rest, how to deal with loss and grief in challenging times.
Strategy is hard coded into our bodies. The question for organizers is: how do we become intentional about developing strategies that bring more people in, enable new people to take leadership, and that can be learned from so you can improve each time.
In this course, participants will learn and practice the Strategy components of our Grassroots Organizing framework. Using practice scenarios, you will have the opportunity to work with others to practice setting goals, doing basic power analysis, identifying key resources, and creating an escalating tactical timeline that moves you towards your objective. Just as importantly, you will have the chance to experience what collaborative strategy can look like so you can bring it back to your community.
Who is this course for?
- Open to new things: Participants should be movement-focused people who want to learn a framework for organizing. We welcome folks who are totally new to organizing, or who have been doing organizing for some time but don’t feel like they have a good structure for it.
- Relational & people-focused: Ideal participants are excited to build relationships, to invest in the leadership of others, and to build teams of purpose-driven leaders.
- Involved in movement work: We seek to support organizers who are currently part of an organizing effort or are seeking to build one alongside others they know.
Ideal applicants come from all walks of life, from seasoned organizers and campaigners looking to sharpen their skills, to beginners who are passionate about organizing and want to start their learning journey. Here are some attributes shared by all our applicants:
Organizing Insight: You don’t need to be a professional organizer but we’re looking for applicants with some experience doing organizing and/or community-building work on the ground. That work can be tied to grassroots, electoral, and/or issue organizing. We seek to support people who are currently part of an organizing/community-building effort or are seeking to develop one.
Dedication to Inclusive Politics and Intersectional Solutions: At re:power, we center race, class, gender and sexuality across all our trainings—it’s part of our practice of inclusive politics. We want organizers to be open to new ideas regarding it and to the ideas and contributions from their fellow organizers who will reflect our diverse communities.
Course Expectations
This is an interactive course with live practice. We ask participants to write in the chat box, share verbally, and participate in breakout group discussion. During breakouts, all participants will be asked to practice. We encourage, but do not require, participants to turn on video at all times, and especially during breakout discussions. If you are unable or unwilling to practice during breakouts, we ask that you let our Lead Trainer know, and you will not be placed in a breakout room. While we will respect that choice, we offer that this course may not be for you as the bulk of the learning happens in the breakout practice.
Lesson Plan
Introduction to Organizing & Leadership; Basics of Leadership Teams
- Learn about the power of grassroots organizing as a power building tool
- Learn about leadership as a practice of enabling others to achieve purpose
- Practice setting up the basic pillars of effective interdependent leadership teams
Strategy 1: Power & Goals
- Learn how to set effective, clear strategic goals that center recruiting others as the main tool for growth
- Practice power analysis: understanding yourself, your constituency, and the strengths and weaknesses of your opponents
- Practice laying out a theory of change and a strategic goal
Strategy 2: Tactics & Timeline
- Learn the principles of effective, engaging, motivating tactics
- Practice brainstorming & analyzing tactics based on the resources available to your constituency
- Practice building a tactical escalation timeline that can guide your strategy
