Location: SEIU 615, 2nd Floor (26 West Street, Boston, MA 02111) MAP

The world is full of complicated issues that impact our lives, especially during tough economic times – critical issues like affordable housing, neighborhood crime, youth development, and health care. Too often, potential community activists experience the problems within their own communities, but are unaware of their power to create solutions to those problems.

Organizing for Change helped leaders, board members, and staff of community-based groups strengthen their own internal capacity to advocate for change in their community. Featured presenters Mel King and Lew Finfer shared their deep knowledge and experience in educating, organizing, and mobilizing neighborhoods and communities into action.

This training helped participants to:

• Understand how to seize an opportunity to organize a constituency around a common problem and solution;

• Identify allies, build coalition, and communicate effectively about your solution for a winning campaign;

• Learn from veteran organizers Lew Finfer and Mel King, who have stories to tell and lessons to share.

This Organizing for Change program was a condensed public session, provided as a “Sampling” of a more in-depth Intensive Leadership Program offered by the Academy. Sponsoring organizations are Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Academy and Mel King Institute for Community Building.

Speaker Spotlight:

Mel King is a legendary community organizer in greater Boston and a special guest at the Academy’s first Organizing for Change training seminar. Sharing his “maximum feasible participation” coalition model, he’ll tell the story of a successful community campaign to stop the highway – I-95 – from going through neighborhoods in Cambridge, Somerville and Boston and how that coalition momentum helped create a network of Community Development Corporations across the state. For over 50 years, King has been an activist and community leader in Boston, and he is the founder and current director of the South End Technology Center. He’s a former Massachusetts State Representative, founder of the Mel King Institute, and a committed voice for justice and opportunity.

Lew Finfer is a celebrated organizing leader across the state and co-founder of the Academy. He’ll describe how, using King’s coalition model, he’s helped change policy at both the public and private institutional levels in parallel. Lew’s coalitions,for example, have persuaded private industry to provide jobs to young people and simultaneously secured funding for the youth jobs initiative from the state Legislature.

Finfer has worked as a community organizer since 1970 and is the director of the Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN). He’s led neighborhood improvement campaigns in Dorchester and Somerville, is a vocal housing advocate, and a beloved community-builder across the state.

Date: December 8, 2011
Time: 9:30am-4:00pm
Location: 122 Dewitt Community Room (122 Dewitt Drive, Roxbury, MA 02119)
Instructor: Heang Ly, Teen Empowerment

“Great workshop, I learned so many great interactive activities!”
“This will allow me to think about the dynamics/barriers within a group before making a meeting.”
“My coworkers and I are planning to facilitate a monthly meeting soon, we will definitely consider these techniques!”
            -Training participants

This workshop demonstrated the depth and richness of several interactive exercises, and their ability to increase positive participation, create and maintain relationships, and discuss challenging topics – all while engaging the hearts, minds, and energies of participants. Team leaders and group facilitators learned techniques to make meetings, seminars and workshops more dynamic and constructive. The training was conducted using entirely interactive methods, with learning taking place through the direct experience of various interactive activities.

• Morning Session: Interactive Techniques to Jump Start Your Group
• Afternoon Session: Designing and Facilitating Engaging Meetings

This session was led by Heang Ly, Director of Consulting and Training at Teen Empowerment. Heang has extensive background in group facilitation, youth development and community organizing.

For more information on interactives to jump-start your meetings, look at the Teen Empowerment website and the Moving Beyond Icebreakers manual!

Date: November 17, 2011
Time: 9:30am-4:00pm, 9:00am breakfast and networking
Location: 122 Dewitt Dr., Roxbury, MA 02119 (Note: the location has been changed from 757 Shawmut Ave.)
Instructor: Harry Smith, Director of Sustainable Economic Development at Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

“Clear and engaging. Great workshop. Harry is great!”
“Loved the little group exercises. Funny and felt comfortable being engaged in the conversation.”
“Facilitation was excellent! I appreciate the connection to “real world” situations and interactive style. The presenters were very helpful.”
            -Training participants

This training course provided organizers and other CDC staff and leaders with an introduction to the basic principles and practices of organizing within a CDC context.  The training addressed several fundamental elements of community organizing including:

• Basic concepts of community organizing
• Understanding the differences between organizing, direct service and advocacy models
• Identifying issues to organize around
• Understanding the role of organizers and leaders
• A panel discussion with veteran organizers sharing their experiences on the keys to developing leaders and implementing successful organizing initiatives at their CDCs

The training was an intensive, hands-on session, with a mix of brief presentations, role plays, and small group discussions.

For a full agenda, please click here.