Organizing Basics: A Workshop for Activists

1. Organizing Basics: A Workshop for Activists Dr. Greta Gaard Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education (EAGLE) Presentation for the Associated Colleges of the South Environmental Summit Morehouse College, February 11-13, 2005

2. What will you learn in this workshop? • Your own stages of change, from uninformed citizen to engaged activist • What kind of leader are you? • A Checklist for Choosing an Issue • Twelve organizing strategies • A list of resources for activists • Training Institutes • Manuals

3. Rude awakening Reacting to injustice; anger, fear Educating yourself Figuring out you are not alone Realizing authorities won’t protect you Soul-searching, moral outrage Acting on love of community, faith in God, in values Taking personal responsibility Building confidence Learning lessons Finding mentors Making connection to other issues Figuring out that activism is your life Stages of Change:We’re All in Different Places Here

4. What motivates an activist leader? • Responding to injustice • Acting on love of community, of the earth, spiritual faith, moral values *What are some less effective motivations? Effective activist leaders have a clear sense of self-identity, apart from their activism.

5. What do you see as the characteristics of effective leadership? Factual, organized Well informed Gets the job done Works well with people Sustains participation Builds power through networks, allies, coalitions Handles conflict well Eloquent Charisma, vision Four different types of leadership: Structural Human Resources Political Symbolic What kind of leader are you?

6. Exploring the Four Leadership Styles: Structural • Organizations exist to accomplish goals • Emphasizes the importance of roles & relationships • Role specialization encourages higher level individual expertise & performance • Coordination is best accomplished through the exercise of authority & rules • Problems arise when the structure doesn’t fit the situation, & can be resolved through redesign & reorganization • A good leader is someone who thinks clearly, makes good decisions, has good analytic skills, & designs structures & systems that get the job done.

7. Four Perspectives: Human Resource • Organizations exist to serve human needs (humans do not exist to serve organizations) • Organizations are inhabited by people with needs, feelings, prejudices, skills & limitations • The key to effectiveness is to tailor organizations to people • Effectiveness = finding a form that allows people to get the job done & feel good • Problems arise when human needs are throttled • A good leader is a facilitator & participative manager who supports & answers others.

8. Four Perspectives: Political • Organizations are arenas of scarce resources, where power & influence affect allocation • Decisions involve allocation of scarce resources • Organizations are coalitions of diverse interest groups and individuals, who bargain, negotiate, and jockey for position • Power & conflict are central features of organizational life • Problems arise because power is unevenly distributed, or too broadly dispersed • Solutions are developed through political skill • A good leader is an advocate & negotiator who understands politics & is comfortable with conflict.

9. Four Perspectives: Symbolic • Organizations are held together by shared values & goals, stories, heroes, more than rules, policy, & authority • What is most important about any event is not what happens, but the meaning of what happened • Humans create symbols to reduce ambiguity, resolve confusion, increase predictability, provide direction • Problems arise when symbols lose their meaning • A good leader is a prophet & a visionary, who uses symbols, tells stories, & frames experience in ways that give people hope & meaning

10. Four Interpretations of Organizational Processes

11. Leadership Style Workshop • Use the handout on leadership styles to assess your own predominant style. • Get into four groups, based on your style. • Problem-solve, using this style as your foremost strategy for approaching activist and organizational challenges. • Groups will present problem situations and approaches to the whole.

12. Result in a real improvement in people’s lives Give people a sense of their own power Alter the relations of power Be winnable Be widely felt Be deeply felt Be easy to understand Have a clear target Have a clear time frame that works for you Build leadership Build coalitions Set up your group for the next campaign Choosing an Issue: a checklist

13. Talk and listen. Figure out who you should talk and listen to first. Create and distribute fact sheets. Recruit new members. Conduct meetings. Create an organizational structure Set goals. Identify targets. Conduct research. Take direct action. Target the media. Use laws and science to support your organizing. Twelve Strategies for Effective Grassroots Organizing

14. 1. Talk and Listen • People get involved when they feel they have a self-interest in getting involved. • Talking with people means • listening to their stories, • paying attention to what moves them, • noting what other issues come up for them too. • Talking with people means paying attention to the reactions to what information you’ve given them.

15. 2. Figure out who you should talk and listen to first. • Who are the people most directly affected by this issue? • Who are the people for whom you are the best recruiter? Think about your identity and your affiliations: • Race, gender, class, education • Workplace, gym, church, clubs, neighborhood, cafes, coop

16. 3. Create and distribute fact sheets. • Keep it simple! One page is best. • Layout should be clear, uncluttered, easy to skim. • Logo, images, picture, graphic add visual interest. • Be sure to include the names of the authors, your group name, address, contact information. • How can readers get involved? • Where can they go to learn more? • Get a webmaster & a web page with links to your fact sheets.

17. 4. Recruit new members. • Face-to-face conversations make the difference. Go person-to-person. • All organizing is a form of door-knocking. If you go door to door, remember • Select a date and place to meet with those who want to have a discussion. • Consider circulating a petition. This gives you contact info for interested people, and creates an easy way for people to get involved. • Create a “rap” and memorize it so that it flows easily. You need to be confident and credible. • Write down the information people give you. • Create ways for people to get involved: refer friends/other contacts, come to a meeting, invite participation in recruiting.

18. 5. Conduct effective meetings. • Members take part in determining the agenda. • Stick to the agenda/respond with respect. • Educational resources packet/handouts. • Offer food. • Take the meeting to the people. • Seniors/intergenerational appeal. • Diversity / coalitions. • Give people credit. • Assign issues/committees. • Make the meeting fun!

19. Pyramid Structure Efficient for decisionmaking Does not encourage participation or development of members Leaderless Structure Decisions by consensus Assumes everyone is a leader Can be blocked by infiltrators Meetings go on & on Wheel Structure Executive Cmte. Focus Committees Research Actions/Protests Coalitions/Networks Fundraising Publicity Membership General membership meetings for major issues, discussion, decisions 6. Create an organizational structure.

20. What is your mission? Based on the mission, develop goals that are Long-term Intermediate Short-term People come more often and stay with groups if they see the group achieving its goals. It’s important for everyone to define and agree on the group’s goals. Steps for developing goals in a general meeting: Brainstorm goals on a large sheet of paper. Break into smaller groups, & choose 5 goals to work on. Discuss the short list. Let members explain their choices. Vote to select the group’s top five choices. Prioritize the list, and the goals will fall into long-term, intermediate and short-term. Set goals.

21. 8. Identify targets. • Who are the actions and the people that can help you reach each goal? • These are your strategies and allies. • Who are the people who impede the achievement of your goals? • These are the targets.

22. Targets must always be people, not institutions. • To focus on your targets, consider • Who is responsible for the situation you want to change? • Who can make the change you want happen? • How can you convince them to act on your issue? • Remember the Stages of Change. Even government officials and corporate executives go through these stages.

23. 9. Conduct research. • Research is a tool, not an end product. • Research can help you figure out what arguments your targets will use against you. Then research counterarguments! • Research can help you identify where your target is getting money (ie., www.rtk.net ) • When people uncover facts, they “own” them, so find out who in your group • Loves the internet? • Loves the library? • Reads the stock market, & can read corporate manuals?

24. 10. Take direct action. “You may well ask, ‘why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc. Isn’t negotiation a better path?’ You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963

25. Building Direct Actions • Begin with courteous actions: write a letter, invite a target to meet your key leaders, and keep copies/records. • Work to educate, share information, and persuade. • Direct action begins only after your messages are ignored. • What are some direct action strategies you have used successfully?

26. 11. Target the media. • Recognize that you will have to educate the media before they cover your story. • Do this in person. Treat it like organizing. • Write your own press releases, send them to specific contact people, and follow up. • If your action isn’t covered, follow up. Offer to report the story on the phone. Ask for advice on getting coverage. • Keep creating your own media: fact sheets, web page, cable access t.v., grassroots videos, letters to the editor/op ed pieces, public speaking, flyers, etc.

27. 12. Use laws and science to support your organizing. • Advantages of using the courts: • Winning compensations or penalties • Disadvantages of using the courts: • Battle moves into courts & out of community • Group loses members, believing law will win • Problems with scientific information: • “dueling experts” – community drops out because they can’t participate • Need for scientific information: • Gives your group credibility • Helps identify others who may join you

28. Beyond science & law, there is still justice… • History shows that social justice is enacted by organizing, not by lawsuits or the power of scientific data. • The power of public opinion and public pressure creates social change.

29. National Training and Information Center (Grassroots Organizer Training) 810 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL 60622 312-243-3035 www.ntic-us.org/ Green Corps 29 Temple Place Boston, MA 02111 617-426-8506 www.greencorps.org Field School for Environmental Organizing Wellstone Action (Political Training) 821 Raymond Ave. Suite 260 St. Paul, MN 55114 Phone (651) 645-3939 Fax (651) 645-5858 <info@wellstone.org www.wellstone.org George Meany Center for Labor Studies 10000 New Hamphsire Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20903 301-431-6400 info@georgemeany.org AFL-CIO Organizing Institute 815 Sixteenth St. NW Washington, DC 20006 800-848-3021 organizers@aol.com Some are union members only The Highlander Center 1959 Highlander Way New Market, TN 37820 www.highlandercenter.org Midwest Academy 225 West Ohio, Suite 250 Chicago, IL 60610 www.midwestacademy.org Resources: Training Institutes

30. Fight to Win: A Leader’s Manual. CHEJ, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040 Basics of Organizing, by Shel Trapp. Nat’l Training & Information Center, 954 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607 A Manual for Group Facilitators. Published by the Center for Conflict Resolution, 731 State St., Madison, WI 53703 Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards (2005). Resources: Manuals