build power, change policy - leadership for educational equity · build power, change policy:...

Teach For America 25th Anniversary Summit February 5, 2016

Build Power, Change Policy: Making System Change Through Advocacy, Organizing &

Political Entrepreneurship

Turn to Your Neighbor

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What key issues does your venture plan to address in the fight for educational equity?

How did you see this issue affecting your students in the classroom...

...or the broader community?

Welcome Entrepreneurs!

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Facilitators

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Laurel Dumont Senior Director, New Ventures Laurel.Dumont@educationalequity.org

Stacey Jackson Director, Venture Growth Stacey.Jackson@educationalequity.org

Laurel’s Venture: The Center for Collaborative Change

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Agenda

• Introduction and Framework

• Stories from the Field

• LEE’s Venture Fund & Fellowship

• Q & A

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Checklist: Mission Statement

7 Source:

MISSION STATEMENT (Why You Exist)

NEEDS TO…

…be clear and simple

…avoid elaborate language and buzz words

…easily explained by others

…not be confused with a vision statement

…be recognizably yours

LEADERSHIP FOR

EDUCATIONAL EQUITY

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Leadership for Educational Equity is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization

striving to inspire and equip a diverse group of current

and former teachers to engage civically

and politically on behalf of

students and communities.

Policy & System

Changes

LEE’s Theory of Change

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Improve Educational

Equity

Become Decision-Makers

Elected Leadership

Policy Leadership

Influence Decision-Makers

Advocacy

Organizing

Political Action

Policy Research & Analysis

Community Engagement

Public Service

Civic Entrepreneurship

School Leadership,

Teaching

Mentoring, After School Programs, Academic

Enrichment

Anti-Poverty, Wrap-Around

Services, Community

Development

Direct & Community Service

Ed Tech & Innovation

Policy

Electoral Politics

Organizing

Advocacy

LEE Supports Civic Entrepreneurship (Not Direct Service)

Civic Change is activity that has the purpose of changing official systems or policies. Policy

Development

Electoral Politics

Organizing

Advocacy

● A plan, course of action, or set of regulations adopted by government, business or an institution, designed to influence and determine decisions or procedures.

● A set of targeted actions designed to influence government officials when they make laws and regulations, distribute resources, and make other decisions that affect people’s lives.

● The process of bringing people affected by an issue

together to use their collective power to pressure a decisionmaker to make changes that address the organized group’s needs and demands.

● Directly influencing who gets elected and the policies

they support by running for office, funding or working on campaigns or working for elected officials.

Community Engagement

What else? Innovate!

Civic Journalism

Mobilization

● The process of seeking input from members of the community on a decision that may impact them by leaders with formal decision-making authority.

● Turning out large numbers of people for a short amount of time in a show of power -- to show support or make demand for immediate action.

● Reporting on issues so as to increase public awareness, change public opinion, and/or change policies and practices.

● The name of the game is changing policies and systems that end educational inequity. How else can we get there? What new methods can we try?

Other civic change methods include...

Checklist: Mission Statement

13 Source:

MISSION STATEMENT (Why You Exist)

NEEDS TO…

…be clear and simple

…avoid elaborate language and buzz words

…easily explained by others

…not be confused with a vision statement

…be recognizably yours

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

Jessica Stewart Co-Founder & Senior Managing Director GO California

jessica@gopublicschools.org

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Advocacy: GO Public Schools

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Advocacy: GO Public Schools

Oakland teachers

are among the

lowest paid in the

country.

Contract

negotiations have

begun and are likely

to get ugly.

Teacher placement

driven singularly by

seniority.

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Inputs:

• Information is lacking.

• 3-part organizational perspective:

Teachers need a large raise.

Schools need hiring flexibility.

Contract should be settled ASAP.

Activities:

• Great information

• Research

• Opinion pieces

• Mobilize teachers

Future:

• Teacher retention

• Improved district/union relationship

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

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Perspective on why

this matters and what we believe a

great contract would include.

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

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Deep analysis of salary and benefits

information compared to other districts across the state and country

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

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Sharing perspective repeatedly and in a

variety of formats - op-eds, videos of school board member talks,

social media, emails to our network

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

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Relationships with district and union

officials to check facts, vet messaging, etc.

Information shared in easy-to- understand

infographics

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Contract passed with nearly 70% of teachers voting yes

○ Teachers received a 13%+ raise ○ Significant changes to teacher hiring contract

language ○ Contract ratified in early June before school year

ended

Advocacy: GO Public Schools

Electoral Politics: Austin Kids First

Amber Welsh Co-Founder & Director Austin Kids First

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Inequity

Electoral politics → influence school board elections

Electoral Politics: Austin Kids First

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Inputs: • Volunteer

Leadership • Community

Engagement • Money

Activities:

• Build a base of informed citizen-advocates

• Recruit school board candidates

• Endorse best candidates

• Provide resources to endorsed candidates

Future:

Great school board leaders ensuring all our schools are successful

Electoral Politics: Austin Kids First

Electoral Politics: Austin Kids First

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Successes to date ● 5 out of 9 current board members are AKF endorsed ● 2 of the 3 board officers are AKF endorsed ● Raised over 250k to support candidates in the past 3 years ● candidates considering running are proactively reaching out to

figure out how to get our endorsement

Looking forward: ● Sustainable organization with full time staff ● Addition of awareness and organizing activities ● Expand scope of the organization to operate year round

Electoral Politics: Austin Kids First

Organizing: Union Capital Boston

Eric Leslie Founder & Lead Organizer Union Capital Boston

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● Social capital (leveraging networks and

relationships to connect to opportunities) is in

decline, especially in low-income neighborhoods.

● Community organizing builds social capital, creating

power.

○ Power = the ability to act or influence others

○ Organized people = Power

● New methods of organizing need to be developed

for the new world we live in.

Organizing: Union Capital Boston

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Inputs:

• Members from Mission-Driven Partner Institutions

• Relational organizing

• Mobile app rewards program

Activities:

• Build teams of leaders at partner institutions

• Take action on partner goals as well as community issues

Future:

• Equity is achieved through members working towards their own objectives, institutions delivering on their missions, communities organizing for collective impact

Organizing: Union Capital Boston

Organizing: Union Capital Boston

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● Result of the work in 2015 ○ 400 Union Capitalists from 15

partner institutions + 50,000 hours of community investment = $40,000 Rewards earned

○ Diamond Leaders building teams and taking action on member-identified issues

● Looking forward - 3-5 year goal:

○ 5,000 members (5% of low-income population in Boston, 20% reach) organized in 5 Boston communities, impacting Education, Health, Finance/Housing & Community issues

Organizing: Union Capital Boston

Other 2015-16 Venture Fellows

Nicole Baker Fulgham The Expectations Project

Claire Blumenson The School Justice Project

Richard Pelayo GO West Contra Costa

Frank McMillan New Jersey Together

Veronica Palmer RISE Colorado

Milagros Barsallo RISE Colorado

Q&A

Checklist: Mission Statement

35 Source:

MISSION STATEMENT (Why You Exist)

NEEDS TO…

…be clear and simple

…avoid elaborate language and buzz words

…easily explained by others

…not be confused with a vision statement

…be recognizably yours

VENTURE FUND &

FELLOWSHIP

LEE’s Venture Fund & Fellowship

LEE’s Venture Fund and Fellowship - supports LEE members

who have launched a civic venture and provides strategic supports and investments to deepen or scale impact.

The Venture Fellowship - provides intensive supports for up to 12

LEE members including: 1-1 leadership development and coaching, 1-1 technical skills coaching, admittance to invitation-only leadership and technical skills trainings, consultations with LEE content experts, and peer learning opportunities.

The Venture Fund - provides critical stage funding of up to

$100,000 for 3-5 Venture Fellows to fast track their impact and bring us closer to achieving educational equity.

LEE’s Venture Accelerator

Venture Accelerator ● Later-stage (recently launched and more established) ventures

that are now exploring the possibility of adding a civic component to their venture.

● Ventures in the earlier stages (planning, pre-launch) of preparing

their venture for launch. They are still developing their theories of change or other strategic planning documents fully enough to benefit from participating in the Venture Fund & Fellowship.

Participants will engage in early-stage coaching and receive support from LEE’s New Ventures team. The cohort will become a pipeline of leaders ready to participate in the Venture Fund & Fellowship in subsequent years.

LEE’s Venture Fund & Fellowship

Who should apply? ● All LEE members who have founded or are aspiring to found a

civic venture rooted in policy, advocacy, organizing, political or community engagement for educational equity.

● To be considered for the fund, the member’s venture must be

501(c)(3) eligible. ● You may choose to apply for the fellowship only or for both the

fellowship and the fund. There are no restrictions on the legal structure of the venture if applying for the fellowship only, or aspiring to participate in the Venture Accelerator Track.

LEE’s Venture Fund & Fellowship - 2016 Application Cycle

Key Dates

● Now: Pre-Application - you can submit it now!

educationalequity.org/VFF

● Wednesday, June 15th: Application becomes available; members

can see application and begin assembling their applications

● Weekly, June - August: New Ventures team offers development

opportunities and supports to members throughout the application process, ranging from 1-1 coaching to webinars

● Monday, August 15th: Final applications due!

● Late September: Finalists announced; at this time, finalists will be

invited to engage in an interview process with LEE

● December: 2017 Venture Fellows and Fund recipients announced

Q&A

Thank You!

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