What's on top?
Happy New Year friends. Here's looking toward an action-packed year, to powerful campaigns and to empowered learning.
Community organising is front and centre for the Change Agency team in 2016. We kick off this year's Community Organising Fellowship early March with a 10 day residential workshop. Already, we've confirmed a fabulous cohort of 25 campaign leaders and an equally impressive line-up of guest facilitators. The Fellowship is in its third year, with 48 graduates putting their learning into action around Australia. Drop us a line if you'd like to be notified in August when applications open for the 2017 Fellowship.
David Hunt is visiting Australia to work with us early in the year. David is an internationally recognised teacher and leader in organising for social change. Using a variety of community organising techniques, David has taught the fundamentals of organising to thousands of people. Teaching and practicing what he learnt as one of four principal trainers of the Midwest Academy (one of the oldest and most prestigious North American social change organising training institutions) from 1998–2012, David has been instrumental in winning many victories for individuals and the communities they serve. On 13 March, David will lead a 1 day workshop on 'Community organising: issues and strategies' in Sydney. Places are limited, so be sure to register early.
A major spin-off from the Fellowship has been an extensive collection of Community Organising training resources. James and Jason have nearly finished drafting our Community Organising Guide - a collection of workshop outlines and resources written for community organisers, activist educators and workshop facilitators. We will launch the guide early in 2016 as the second instalment of the People Power Manual. And we've updated the Campaign Strategy Guide to include an additional process guide to lead your group through the process of assessing political opportunity. Thanks to all our many friends who have generously shared resources and workshop ideas for the Guide! Drop James a line to pre-order your copy.
WELA 2016 has been relaunched and applications are invited. After a soft launch late last year we received strong feedback regarding the branding of the program. We’ve taken this feedback seriously and are excited to announce WELA 2016: Women’s Environmental Leadership in Action. If you’re a woman and an active environmentalist living in Australia then WELA 2016 is for you! WELA 2016 will bring together a cohort of 20 women of diverse backgrounds working on a variety of environmental issues and campaigns from around the country. Participants don’t need to be engaged in formal leadership roles or as paid campaigners to apply. Applications close on Friday 12th February. Apply now.
Finally, we will lead workshops on leadership and community organising in several Australian cities during 2016. We haven't confirmed dates yet. Let us know if your organisation is interested in partnering with us for tailored in-house workshops on these themes.
