Here are summaries of some of the workshops I attended today:
Organizing Across Communities: Age & Youth in Action by the Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington
A workshop run by a sweet group of older (wise) people focused on bridging the gap of age in activism and building an intergenerational movement. Gray hair = gray panthers. Some critical thoughts on organizing with age in mind:
- #1 = Build Common Values!
- utilize mentors – teach activist history, learn from older movements and successes
- Listen! old and young listening to each other
- Build skills – young activists can learn from old
- Mutual RESPECT
- Both young and old, ask each other for what is needed
Movement Building: Storytelling, Framing and Messaging by: Dream Act
Caught this workshop at the end with YP4 2008 Fellow, Sonia Guinansaca! Working with the Dream Act, Sonia spiced up the Youth Space (Basement of Cobo Hall near Michigan Rooms) with some excellent tips on telling your story to build support. She focused on making your cause personal. Awesome work!
Growing Wings – Evolving out of the Nonprofit by: The Movement Strategy Center (MSC)
Tackling the concept of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex elegantly with a fun skit, one of the key members of the MSC who helped build the YP4 blueprint curriculum, Jidan Koon and colleagues from Serve the People, APAL, and Anak Bayan packed the 7th floor room of the Wayne State University Student Center. The building’s shifting and shaking could not deter the young leaders’ voices as they talked about operating within and without non-profits. Some key concepts to take away:
- Meet people where they are: house meetings, coffee shops, events at clubs
- Connect to project with field trips
- Create a collaborative/ cooperative organizational model
- delegate responsibility
- distribute leadership
- collective decision-making/ agreements
- build family/ organization culture of helping each other
- create voluntary levels of involvement
- Have a 40/60 gender rule to keep balance
Alex B. Hill 