Adapted from the work of world renowned community organiser and Harvard Kennedy School lecturer Professor Marshall Ganz, the Leadership, Organising and Action Workshop is a four-day intensive training on 17-20 March in Naarm (Melbourne), bringing global best practice in community organising into the Australian context.
Effective community organising requires an understanding of how to identify, recruit and develop strong leadership, as well as how to build community around that leadership and harness the power and resources of that community to create change. This workshop will equip you with the skills, strategy and story to do exactly that: deepen your organising practice, build collective power and drive systemic change.
You will join a dynamic cohort of mid-to-senior level leaders from non-profits, unions and grassroots movements who are ready to take the next step as organisers, campaigners and movement builders.
Applications will close on Friday, 27 February and late applications will be placed on a waiting list.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The program is built around five core organising leadership practices:
STORY — How to articulate a story of why they were called to lead, a story of those whom they hope to mobilize, and a story of action: self, us, and now.
RELATIONSHIPS — How to build intentional relationships as the foundation of purposeful collective actions.
STRUCTURE — How to structure their team with shared purpose, ground rules and roles for effective leadership.
STRATEGY — How to strategize turning your resources into the power to achieve clear goals.
ACTION — How to translate strategy into measurable, motivational, and effective action.
The Leadership, Organising and Action Workshop is designed for you to learn and apply your skills in real-time to grow as an effective organising leader. Each session will involve a hands-on reflective learning process that will introduce you to a core organising leadership practice, put it into action and debrief to draw meaningful insights.
Throughout the workshop, you will work in small teams with ample opportunity to apply and refine each of the core organising leadership practices. You will also be supported by a dedicated community organising coach who will guide and facilitate your learning each step of the way.
KEY DATES AND LOCATION
The Leadership, Organising and Action Training will be delivered in Naarm (Melbourne):
Tuesday, 17th March — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEDT
Wednesday, 18th March — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEDT
Thursday, 19th March — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEDT
Friday, 20th March — 9:00AM to 5:00PM AEDT
WORKSHOP LEADers
Noorulain Masood | Lead Trainer
Founder and CEO, Center for Social Innovation in Developing Countries (CSIDC) | Lead Trainer, Leading Change Network
Noorulain is Founder and CEO of CSIDC, a Global South organisation that specialises in providing training and facilitation services to enhance the practice of leadership and organising in campaigns, particularly those in the climate, energy, and gender spaces.
After getting a Master's degree in International Development from Harvard University in 2009 as a Fulbright scholar, Noor has trained and coached over 1,500 campaigners and social justice leaders across South Asia, East Asia, Australia, Africa, and the United States.
She first taught with Professor Marshall Ganz at Harvard in 2012, and since has been teaching and leading teams in the instruction of Marshall Ganz’s Organizing and Heifetz’s Adaptive Leadership with Harvard University, LCN, and other institutions. Prior to founding CSIDC, Noor ran a rural leadership program; led a 1.2M USD non-profit called Teach For Pakistan; worked in the poverty and equity practice at the World Bank headquarters; and supported the Pakistan Mission in United Nations General Assembly proceedings.
Néha Madhok | Pod Leader
Chair, 350 Australia and Co-founder, Democracy in Colour
Néha (they/them) is a seasoned community organiser, anti-racism strategist, and political communicator with over 15 years of experience building people-powered campaigns across Australia. They’ve worked as a political staffer, at unions, on the Equality campaign for marriage equality. Most recently, Néha co-founded Democracy in Colour, where they led national efforts to dismantle systemic racism and build the leadership of people of colour in movements for justice. Néha has run large-scale digital mobilisation campaigns, trained hundreds of organisers, and advised unions, NGOs, and advocacy groups on messaging, power-building, and racial justice. Their work sits at the intersection of race, climate, class, and gender. They believe deeply in the power of movements to transform culture, systems, and ourselves, because how else are we going to win.
Stephen Donnelly | Senior Trainer and Pod Leader
Founder and Director, Dunn Street
Stephen Donnelly is a community organiser and founder of Dunn Street – a campaign house driving social change through data-driven community organising, leadership development and power building. Straight out of university, he began his career as a Research Officer for the SDA – the retail and fast-food workers’ union – and was quite terrible at it. His career was saved when he was offered an organising role at the union and, thankfully, made something of it. Those hard-won organising skills became the foundation of his life’s work.
In 2012, Stephen was appointed Assistant Secretary of Victorian Labor, where he founded the Community Action Network—an unprecedented grassroots movement that mobilised more than 10,000 volunteers to hold millions of values-based persuasion conversations with targeted voters. That effort was central to the election of the Andrews Labor Government in 2014 and its re-election in 2018.
With more than 30 years’ experience across Australia and in over 30 countries, Stephen specialises in strategy, power-building and developing leaders to win change. He serves as a Teaching Fellow for Professor Marshall Ganz’s Leadership, Organizing and Action course at Harvard Kennedy School.
COST
$850+GST: Small Non-Profit | Individuals - For non-profits with an annual budget in Australia of less than $500,000, as well as individuals not affiliated with an organisation.
$1,400+GST: Regular Non-Profit - For non-profits with an annual budget in Australia between $500,000 and $3 million.
$2,100+GST: Large Non-Profit - For non-profits with an annual budget in Australia of over $3 million, local/state government offices and political offices.
$400+GST: Partial Scholarship - For individual community campaigners who lack any organisational support. Scholarships are very limited, and their availability is subject to sponsorship procurement. Full scholarships are also available.
ACCESSibility
The Leadership, Organising and Action Workshop will be delivered entirely in-person with no online components.
We will work with you to ensure that you can fully participate in the workshop. If you are a successful applicant, we will ask you for any access needs during the on-boarding process.
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Location - The venue will be located at Balam Balam Place in Brunswick, Melbourne.
Wheelchair accessibility - The venue will physically accessible and no stairs required to enter the venue.
Accessible bathrooms - Accessible, gender-neutral bathrooms will be available.
Catering - The workshop will be fully catered with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
Breaks - Breaks will be organised regularly throughout the workshop.
Breakout spaces - We will use breakout spaces, with group sizes of up to six.
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Other additional support - In your participant info form, we will ask you for your access needs. If you require something in place that is not already arranged, or if you need more information about any part of the fellowship, we will work with you to provide this.
If you have any questions about accessibility, please contact us at at info@australianprogress.org.au.