Wild Project

For this week's Wild Wednesday, I'm excited to share my friend and mentor, Marshall Ganz's new book called PEOPLE, POWER, CHANGE: Organizing for Democratic Renewal. As y'all know Marshall has been an inspiration through the organizing framework we use for all the Wild trainings. Recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read. And here's a personal message from him. "In these critical moments in which the fate of our democracy hangs in the balance, little could be more urgent than to organize, organize and organize. In this book, I share ways to practice effective organizing rooted in 60 years of practice, learning and teaching. I draw on the values, ideas and skills that drive how to do it: building sustained relationships, fueling motivational narrative, strategizing turning resources into power, taking effective action, and designing dynamic structure. Rather than offering a blueprint of what to do, I offer a road map for learning how to do it, share it with others, and bring purpose, skill, and craft to its practice. In fact, the craft this book shares grew out of the interaction of so many of you, your organizing, and your campaigns rooted in values we share." Check it out!

️🔥 International Youth Day ️🔥 Gratitude for all the young leaders who have the courage to stand up and have the imagination to envision a more hopeful world. To learn more about our Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) and how we engage young people to create and execute strategic campaigns that tackle urgent challenges in their communities, campuses, and schools, visit: https://lnkd.in/gKrGcSfB

🎉 A huge congratulations to GROWW on their incredible win last week for Housing Justice in western Wisconsin! 🎉 🏠 In their first move for Housing Justice, the GROWW community turned out to tell their stories and support the Dunn County zoning amendment for permitting Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), sometimes called "mother-in law cottages." They walked into the Dunn County Boardroom unified and purposeful and walked out having turned months of division into unanimity. With 27 "yes" votes and 0 "no" votes, the ADU amendment passed! ADUs give locals the freedom to be part of the housing solutions we desperately need, allowing small-scale development on their own properties. In the face of a national housing crisis caused by private equity's profiteering and some corporations rigging rule, local leadership and action are more important than ever ✊ In their own words: "There is magic in winning. It gives us reason to believe that when we are organized, people can win. It is an antidote to cynicism."

For this Wild Wednesday, lifting up the Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN) in the midst of their 10th Annual Summer Summit which has been a way for their growing statewide network to come together annually to celebrate their victories, reflect on key learnings, invite new members into the mix, and develop clarity on next steps. Something we at Wild continue to appreciate about WPEN's founder and ED, Heather DuBois Bourenane and leadership team is that they continue to experiment with what it looks like to engage more of their people in the strategizing process. Another way to distinguish elements of organizing versus mobilizing. Not just the typical ED and a small insular circle drafting a strategy and then delivering it to their people, but an approach inviting creative thinking from the various teachers, administrators, parents, and others who are being impacted on the ground in districts across the state. Yesterday, Wild Founder and Coordinator, Dan Grandone, was there helping facilitate one of the nine small groups of 75 people that were working through some of the central strategy questions we introduce at Wild training. As you will see in the attached pic, WPEN used their campaign chart with the current upcoming peaks & tactics that are already set as an organization, but then left a number of the other peaks on the timeline open for input on creative tactics that could be used. That’s one of the small group brainstorms we worked through. Maybe something to consider in your own organizing?! Look forward to hearing what comes out of it all for WPEN on the road up to the biennial budget!

For this week’s Wild Wednesday, we turn your attention to SEIU Local 2015 representing long term care workers developing their organizing muscle to engage more than 200,000 members across the state of California. Another concrete example of the opportunity when moving beyond just mobilizing to engage the resources and commitments of members. Under the leadership of Jacob Waxman and Mafe Cabello of the Workplace Justice Lab, with many of the Wild training team members in the mix (Nneka Akubeze, Kortni Malone & Dan Grandone), two significant trainings were recently held in California to scale up the leadership capacity of the union. From May 6-9th, 50 staff representing six regional teams made up of staff went through the 3-day organizing training and then went out a recruited 26 district leadership teams across the state of who participated in the July 8-12 training in LA. 28 new facilitators were trained with 124 members who are going to lead key campaigns up and down the state on the path to more bargaining power for homecare workers statewide. And most immediately, turn out the vote in key local races and the Presidential in CA! Very cool to see this organizing effort scale up and the commitment from the union who has invested in creating a weekly individual coaching structure so all of the team leads are supported in taking their next steps. #Labor #Organizing #LeadershipDevelopment

During the first half of 2024, teams of leaders from nine states participated in Wild’s signature organizing training. Let’s give a shout out to these organizations who made a real investment in their people! 🎉 Wild’s 2024 training calendar is filling up quickly, but if your organization is still interested in growing the capacity of your people this year, please reach out to us and we’ll find a time to explore further. All the best with your organizing this summer! ☀️ Contact us ➡️ wildproj.org/contact-us Dream.Org Safe Families for Children Black Leaders Organizing for Communities  Catholic Relief Services Citizen Action of Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Education Network Progress North Southside Organizing Center Wisconsin Conservation Voters Wisconsin Democracy Campaign  Detroit Action  Hope CommUnity Center

Much to learn about how to respond strategically in moments of crisis from our friends in Michigan. Lifting up our partners at We The People led by Art Reyes who were instrumental in helping get over 100,000 "uncommitted" votes in the Michigan primary to protest President Biden’s stance on Gaza. This was part of a broader campaign, Listen to Michigan, that united various communities, including Arab Americans, progressives, and young voters, demonstrating significant dissatisfaction with current policies. The organizing effort resulted in Vice President Kamala Harris calling for a cease fire a few days following the primary. Read more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/g69TQTut

WE ARE BACK with Wild Wednesdays! Each Wednesday, we will be featuring an organizer spotlight or campaign as a way to continue to lift up the strength and learning from this growing community of practice. This week... Freedom, Inc: Freedom Inc, based in Madison, WI, is a Black and Southeast Asian non-profit dedicated to achieving social justice for low- to no-income communities of color. Their new "Invest/Divest" campaign aims to divest funds from local policing and militarization and invest in a “Healthy Community Initiative", addressing basic needs like housing, healthcare, and education. The campaign is responding to a proposed building of a $50 million police training facility in Fitchburg, WI, which would disproportionately impact communities of color. Freedom Inc. will use their multi-approach organizing model, coupling radical direct services with leadership development, political education, organizing, and community mobilization to achieve their goals. Learn more about their campaign here ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gr4vuExH

✊ Honoring the legacy of Jane McAlevey, who believed in the power of organizing for change. She taught us that ordinary people have the strength to create a better world. As she reminded us, “Class struggle is not easy. It is, however, urgent and ongoing.” #Organize #Activism #Labor

📢 Milwaukee is hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention from Monday, July 15-Thursday, July 18 📢 ➡️ Swipe through this post for need-to-know info about the convention and resources for supporting demonstrations. 🙌🏾 Donations can help cover protest supplies, water bottles, first aid kits, and legal fees. Donate securely with Cashapp: $MarchOnRNC 📸 Photo credit for Coalition to March on the RNC 2024 image on pg. 5/6 to MIZZY Resources: 🌟 ACLU of Wisconsin https://lnkd.in/gGw8Z3UQ 🌟 https://lnkd.in/gnjn8Epx 🌟 City of Milwaukee https://lnkd.in/g3qjGunP 🌟 https://lnkd.in/ghUCw6f3 🌟 https://lnkd.in/gqgUns6r 🌟 https://lnkd.in/gdZk5EFB 🌟 https://lnkd.in/g2WW7ryT 🌟 https://lnkd.in/deBjjRG #RNC #RNC2024