Neighborhood Partnerships is pleased to announce that applications are now available for the second round of our Advocates College, thanks to the commitment of our lead trainer, Patrick Bresette of Demos, and the generosity of our funders. The first Advocate’s College was a huge success, and has had immediate benefits for participants. We’ve written about the first round of the Advocate’s College on our blog here, here and here—read all about it! Round Two of the Advocate’s College will:
- First and foremost, our goal is to support established leaders and communications professionals who are working to create an Oregon which offers its diversity of residents opportunities to thrive, pathways out of poverty and disenfranchisement and adequately supported public systems and structures as shared tools for these goals.
- Second, we want to train and support an emerging cadre of leaders and communicators as they work on issues and in cross-issue coalitions to develop messages and materials that resonate and move an advocacy agenda. We will select participants who have a clear issue focus and advocacy or campaign plan, a commitment to strategic communications, and a recognition that building public support for governmental action and resources is an underlying priority. This session of the advocates’ college will prioritize individuals who are doing grass roots organizing or voter engagement.
- And third, we intend to improve communications across issue silos. We want to build our ability to advance a broadly shared view of what it takes to build a state and communities where opportunity is real, asset building is a priority and citizens are engaged in creating the future. We hope to support one another’s efforts to address critical needs, and together address the underlying resource and public will challenges that hamper all of our success.
Dates:
Sessions will be held in Portland from 10 am to 4 pm on four dates:
- Thursday October 27, 2011
- Thursday December 8, 2011
- Thursday January 12, 2012
- Thursday March 15, 2012
Patrick Bresette of Demos will be our lead trainer, assisted by Dr. Liana Winett of Portland State University and Janet Byrd of Neighborhood Partnerships.
Selection Criteria:
Download the full description of the Advocate’s College. The application is now available, and is due at Neighborhood Partnerships by September 9, 2011. Our application and pre-training questionnaire are designed to help us select the cohort most able to put these skills into use, and to tailor our sessions to support their progress.
Questions about the Advocate’s College, the application process or anything else? Email Alison or read more about it.