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Training

Training the next generation of organizers

OAP offers essential community organizing training to community organizations and groups to build leadership, relationship, power, and vision for their justice campaigns. OAP’s training includes more specific racial justice analysis, practical skill building and support for all organizers working for racial, cultural, social and economic justice in Minnesota. OAP’s core training program for entry and mid-level organizing is the apprenticeship class where emerging organizers are offered six months of intensive training focused on community organizing and strategic racial justice leadership, as well as cultural, social and economic justice. In 2009/2010 we are offering training opportunities for both emerging organizers, mid-level organizers and leaders. Because of the current funding environment, we will not be offering paid stipends to organizers this year. But we will offer free training to organizers who can commit to our training program.

Please contact Salvador Miranda at 612-746-4224 or email
miranda@oaproject.org for more information about Organizer Training in 2009 and 2010.

Accomplishments

• OAP has recruited, hired, paid and trained 90 organizing apprentices and provided intensive training to an additional 68 organizers paid by other organizations.
• OAP organizers are creating and have created new organizations in new immigrant communities, building community wealth in neighborhood or culturally focused CDC’s, organizing small farmers for equity in rural Minnesota, organizing youth in neighborhoods and cultural communities and building new youth organizing initiatives, organizing faith communities in urban and suburban Minnesota, creating and running national training programs, organizing politically and fighting for fair elections, organizing within groups that work for American Indians, organizing to close coal plants that are polluting inner city neighborhoods, organizing for new housing, fair housing and renter rights, organizing for public safety and against racial profiling, for jobs, affordable quality child care, affordable health care and for stronger, more equitable public schools.
• The majority of OAP apprentices and trainees have gone on to play significant leadership roles in organizing.
• OAP has provided shorter trainings to nearly 2000 organizers, community leaders and supervisors of organizers.
• Over 50% of all OAP trainees since 2001 have been from immigrant communities of color, and over 50% of OAP apprentices have been from a community of color.
• OAP apprentices and graduates have come from and worked in organizing projects all over Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, the Fargo Moorhead area, in Duluth and the Iron Range, on the White Earth Indian Reservation, in south central and western Minnesota rural communities.

• OAP’s training work has connected farm-workers and farmers, immigrant community organizers and organizers from Native communities, urban organizers with rural or reservation organizers.