Organising to Win

Organising to Win is a training course for organisers delivered over two weekend workshops and one midpoint evening session. 

An accessible training course for organisers in a range of social movements. Organising to Win will equip you with foundational knowledge and skills and a supportive network.

Organising is being increasingly embraced by many groups working for social and ecological justice. There is a growing recognition that in order to create lasting change there is a need to build deep, broad and sustained people power. That’s not an easy project! Skilled organisers are needed to connect people, build commitment, and catalyse effective action.

There are different approaches to organising and it can be challenging for new organisers to know where to start. Those who have been intuitively organising for years can miss valuable frameworks and theoretical foundations. This course welcomes organisers at different points in their journey to reflect, learn and prepare for future action together.

The course includes:

• Two weekend workshops
• Mid-point evening session (offered online for interstate or regional participants)
• One-to-one mentoring session
• Collaborative online space for small group projects, resource sharing and troubleshooting
• Comprehensive collection of readings and practical resources

This course is a great fit for you if:

• You are in a paid role as a community, issue or workplace organiser
• You are a voluntary organiser working to build power in the community
• You are a volunteer or grassroots activist who is growing in leadership, for example convening an action group

The full program will reflect the particular needs and interests of participants but at this stage we envisage the following elements.

Details

Workshop 1: Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 March 2018 

• Building relationships
• Sharing experiences of organising
• Definitions and different approaches to organising
• Conversation skills
• Understanding power and how to shift power relationships
• Case studies of collective action
• Relational meetings

Evening Session: Monday 23 April 2018

• Intersectional organising case study
• Building critical consciousness through organising
• Review and insights from the course so far

Please note the date of this session may change depending on what suits the majority of participants. The session will be offered online for regional & interstate participants.

Workshop 2: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May 2018  

• Identifying issues with organising potential
• Models for scaling up
• Developing leaders
• Deepening conversation skills
• Organising tactics
• Developing organising plans for growth, leadership development and campaign outcomes
• Workshopping key challenges
• Ongoing development as an organiser

Each weekend workshop will have an optional film screening and discussion on the Saturday evening.

We encourage you to make time available outside the course session for reading, practice and reflection, in order to get the most out of the experience.

About the presenters

This workshop is presented by Holly Hammond and India Prior.

Holly is the director of Plan to Win and co-convenor of Plan to Thrive. Over the past twelve years she has provided training and facilitation services for many of Australia’s campaigning organisations. She draws on her background as a issues campaigner and union organiser in her training and mentoring of organisers.

India Prior is an experienced organiser who has built and supervised volunteer teams, and led other organisers in their work with action groups. She has led multiple trainings to prepare volunteers for campaign activities.

Find out more about Holly and India. Guest speaker details coming soon.

Testimonials about our organising training

• “After 12 years as a union organiser for 3 different unions in Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A I studied the Graduate Certificate in Community Advocacy in 2014, including the Community Organising in the 21st Century unit developed and led by Holly Hammond. The course turned out to be the best professional development training I have been lucky enough to do in my field as an activist and organiser. Holly and the team have structured the course to cover the best organising and campaigning techniques and frameworks from local and international leaders and case studies. I have been able to directly apply many of the frameworks and ideas to my work, use better planning frameworks, and undertake more effective mentoring of union delegates. Generally I have gained a new motivation and resilience for the work that I do!”
  Eleisha Mullane – Recruitment, Training and Campaigns Manager at the Australian Education Union Victoria branch.

• “I’ve been involved in activism for over five years and have worked for several organisations involved in creating social and environmental change. Over this time, Holly Hammond has supported and empowered me to develop my activism through campaigning and community organising training and mentorship. Without Holly’s excellent training and mentorship, I would not be the activist I am today. She has equipped me with the understanding, the patience, and the toolset I need to be an effective organiser. I’ve learned more from Holly than I could in years on my own. Holly Hammond is easily one of the best activist trainers in the country.”
  Maxwell Smith – Community Organiser for the Australian Conservation Foundation

• “India ran a number of Campaign Schools for us in 2016, setting up our members with the campaigning and organising skills they needed for the election year. Our participants loved the intensive format and the ‘crowd sharing’ approach to sharing skills and knowledge between participants. It had a huge impact in kick-starting our campaign year.”
  Naomi Blackburn – Head of Campaigns for the Victorian Greens

• “India’s training was a great opportunity to refine my skills and it energised me while deepening my commitment to organising work. I loved the sense of camaraderie and training with people who feel so passionately about making change.”
  Participant at the Victorian Greens Campaign School 2016

• “I have had the good fortune of volunteering on two political campaigns India Prior led. As an experienced community organiser and campaigner who has run sophisticated and winning campaigns India is able to impart excellent know-how on how to devise campaign strategies to build community leadership, capacity and power.”
  Apsara Sabaratnam – Neighbourhood Organiser

Location

Organising to Win will be held at the Save the Children meeting rooms, 33 Lincoln Square South, Carlton in Victoria. Plan to Win appreciates the support of Save the Children in making this training accessible.

We welcome interstate and regional participants. If you are unable to travel to Melbourne for training Plan to Win is available to provide mentoring sessions via telephone or online, as well as resources and study materials to support you in your development.

Fees and Inclusions

Fees are on a sliding scale of $600-$1800 per person for the full course ie $600 for low income individuals and participants from unfunded organisations; $1200 for average waged individuals and participants from medium sized organisations; $1800 for well waged individuals and participants from larger organisations with a solid financial base. Please self-assess where you fit on this scale, considering your means, privilege and dependents, and factoring in what you would normally expect to pay for a comprehensive training course.

If money is a barrier to you participating please let us know in the application survey and we will contact you to discuss. Sponsorship is also appreciated to make reduced fees possible.

Pay the Rent: Free places in this workshop are available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Lunch and morning and afternoon tea are included and we will cater for the range of special food needs. Please state your dietary requirements in the registration form. NB if you participate in the optional evening sessions on Saturdays dinner will not be provided but there are a number of restaurants within walking distance.

A collection of training resources and further reading will be provided.

Register

Registrations open Monday 29 January. Please complete this survey to register by Friday 9 March. Earlier registration is encouraged, we will confirm your place in the workshop as soon as possible. No payment at this stage, we’ll issue an invoice when we confirm your registration.

If you have queries about this workshop contact India Prior: india (AT) plantowin.net.au