A Model Memo to Grassroots Activists
It doesn’t have to be fancy with a constant contact layout or on a letterhead, but it does need to be clear and specific. Please find here in its entirety a memo from from Lew Finfer to his grassroots activists working on youth development, violence prevention and youth jobs. There are 2 main asks to...
First Look – House Ways and Means Budget
This Morning we salute our friends and colleagues at the Mass Budget and Policy Center for the rapid response analysis on the House Ways and Means budget. Find it here. Trust me, its really really good. Faced with a significant budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2013, the House Ways and Means Committee (HWM) proposes to...
The Budget is Coming
And the website where it will be posted around noon tomorrow is below. The Academy will be posting a quick update on some priority issues first thing Thursday morning, and then do a supplement post on Tuesday next that will list proposed amendments. Keep in touch! http://www.malegislature.gov/Budget/
Talking the Talk with Barney Frank: June 12!
Don’t miss what is certain to be a lively presentation about values-based messaging around delicate issues. Congressman Barney Frank will lead the discussion with his experience then and now talking about GLBT issues. From chicken little to the little train that could: Understanding how to develop a sympathetic public persona for your issue using community values...
Do you have Real Clout?
There’s no secret for how to win the policy change you’re looking for, just a series of planning and organizing activities that add up to a campaign. Start by learning how the policy-making process works: the Real Clout textbook was written to serve as a how-to manual for community activists who, for one reason or another,...
Sen Pat Jehlen on the need for t-a-x-e-s to fix the MBTA
So, Senator Pat Jehlen actually used the word in a State House News Video. In an election year. In the face of solemn promises from Legislative Leaders that there will be no new taxes, not to forstall threatened service cuts and fare increases that seem to be inevitable. So says the Transportation Secretary and the MBTA Acting General...
Lew Finfer in a 3 minute Video on Leadership for new and experienced organizers.
Here is Lew Finfer in a very brief, and very powerful 3 minute presentation on what it means to be a leader. I have shown this to community activists to kick off a discussion about how they might strengthen their own leadership skills. Check it out here.
Which Leaves on this Tree will Fall This Spring?
De Leo’s budget chief, Rep. Brian Dempsey (D-Haverhill), told the News Service that a budget released in April by the House Ways and Means Committee will be balanced primarily with program cuts. The other day, our legislative leaders in the House, namely Speaker De Leo and Chair of Ways and Means Brian Dempsey both acknowledged...
Not just the Disabled are Worried about the MBTA’s Ride — Reading about Interest Rate Swaps
” It’s gray, it’s white, it’s balding, and it’s coming.’’ says Christopher Hart of the Boston’s Institute for Human Centered Design about future users of the MBTA’s Ride. Today Eric Moskowitz wrote in the Globe this morning about a current Ride user profiling Penny Shaw… BRAINTREE – Penny Shaw, a former teacher with a doctorate in French...
Meet the Your MBTA Heroes
Oh to be young and bold again. Susan Blair from the Globe did a terrific job with this series of photos. The super group was created not by a nuclear accident or super serum, but by an organization from Roxbury called the Alternatives for Community & Environment. According group, it aims to empower low income...
The Videos: History and Legacy of Welfare Rights with Frances Fox Piven
Here is Frances Fox Piven telling us all the Occupy movement has set the stage for a resurgence of organizing the poor. We hope this very special session in the Organizing to Change series gave new organizers and activists in the Boston area a deeper history of organizing in Boston and some inspiration. Here are...
Leadership Series: Fridays in March
WOULD YOU LIKE TO STEP FORWARD? BECOME A LEADER IN THESE HARD ECONOMIC TIMES! Sign up today for the Academy’s March Leadership Program. Build a successful campaign from the ground up for your issue, even now, during the current fiscal crisis. Walk step by step through campaign planning and practice with Massachusetts advocacy and organizing...
