Community OrganizingMassachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA Training

Tuesday, July 27th 2010

What you’ll get

Understand the definition, forms, stages, and components of community organizing

Learn Practical Skills Like One-ON-Ones and Power Mapping

Use Your new skills to solve a real Life Problem

Workshop Overview

defining community organizing

building new leadership

One to Ones

Power Mapping

real-life organizing scenarios

Community what?

• Community Organizing is a long-term approach where the people affected by an issue are supported in identifying problems and taking action to achieve collective solutions. It changes the balance of power and creates new power bases.

Community Organizing and Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTAs

Second years:how do MACC Vistas help people identify problems and achieve solutions? What does Creating New Power Bases mean in the campus context? How do VISTAs empower students, faculty, and community?

But changing the balance of power isn’t in my work plan!

• Examples of Organizing across the spectrum of power around food justice

accepts existing power relations

challenges existing power

relations

DIRECT SERVICE SELF-HELP EDUCATION ADVOCACY DIRECT ACTION

Organize volunteers for a

Food Bank

Coordinate Food Co-op,

Time Bank to share

backyard produce

Teach financial

literacy and nutrition classes

Organize students to

advocate for locally grown

food in cafeteria

March in a local rally for farm

subsidy legislation

change

Primary Components of Organizing

Inclusion (collective)help people figure out their motivation and their strategy

Ownership challenge people to take responsibility

Relationship buildingdevelop new relationships out of old ones

Leadership developmentidentify, recruit, and develop leaders

Reflection & celebration

Action

Where Do I start?

Six stages of Community Organizing:

1. Assess the community

2. Create an action team

3. Develop an action plan

4. Mobilize to action

5. Implement

6. Evaluate

Seeing and Cultivating New Leadership

To Empower a community, we have to give up power to build leadership

Why do we resist delegating?

What are the challenges of letting others lead?

Developing Leadership: second years

How do you identify leaders and Potential leaders to meet needs?

How do you create opportunities for leadership development?

One-On-Ones

• A purposeful conversation with an individual to learn about their concerns, interest level, and resources. Focused on getting commitments to specific actions.

One-On-One Questions

How long have you been involved in this issue?Why did you get involved?Who do you partner with?Who do you see as the big players? What would you like to see happen on this issue?What is possible? Would you be able to (insert commitment/action)?Could you give me the names of other people to talk to?

Power Mapping: Solving Problems through relationship building

• Step 1: Problem Location

• Step 2: Map Major Institutions

• Step 3: Map Individuals Associated with the Institutions

• Step 4: Map All Other Associations with these Individuals

• Step 5: Determine Relational Power Lines

• Step 6: Target Priority Relationship

• Step 7: make a plan

Power Mapping Practice

• students throw out tons of clothing and furniture into dumpsters at the end of the year. Use Power Mapping to identify who has the power and resources to stop this practice and link to the people who can make a better alternative.

Review

What is Community organizing?

What are some of its primary components?

How is community organizing used by MACC VISTAs?

What are one-on-ones?

What is power mapping?

Organizing in Practice

Split into 4 Groups, with one group of second years

5 minutes: Choose one person to take notes on flip chart, one to keep time, one to report out

20 minutes: Use organizing skills (one-on-ones, power mapping, stages of organizing) to create an action plan

one person will Report Out your Action Plan

Action Plans

Final Thoughts on Organizing

power rests in relationshipsnever do for others what they can do for themselvesaction in reflectionno permanent allies or enemies, only interestsself-interest motivates usgo in stupid, come out smartpower defines the rulestake people where they are/stay within experiencerelationships are reciprocalchange involves tensiondefine the situation and you’ll control the outcomeorganization is not about issues, but people who care about issuesrewards go to the people who do the workwhen in doubt, do one-to-ones

TEXT

QUESTIONS?